About Adventure Therapy Russia

Adventure therapy is the creation of opportunities to explore the unknown in a safe environment through adventure activities. Often adventure therapy is conducted in a group or family context, though increasingly adventure therapy is being used with individuals. Adventure therapy approaches psychological treatment through experience and action within cooperative games, Trust activities, Problem Solving Initiatives, High adventure, outdoor pursuits, and wilderness expeditions. Some believe that in adventure therapy there must be a real or perceived psychological and or physical risk generating a level of challenge or perceived risk. Challenge can be viewed as significant in eliciting desired behavioral changes. Positive behavior changes, which are synonymous with psychological healing, can occur through isomorphic connections. An isomorphic connection is transferring learning from a specific experience to other life experiences. Isomorphic connections occur through the structure of framing and activity. Framing is the creation of a metaphoric theme for a given activity or a series of activities that relates to a targeted treatment issue. Debriefing or processing the experience is a discussion during or after the activity that is related to the frontload, individual, and group treatment issues designed to facilitate isomorphic connections.

Adventure therapy encompasses varying techniques and environments to elicit change. These include cooperative games, problem solving initiatives, trust building activities, high adventure (rock climbing/rappelling, ropes courses, peak ascents); and wilderness expeditions (backpacking, canoeing, dog sledding, sailing, etc). Wilderness therapy, adventure based therapy, and long term residential camping are the most common forms of adventure therapy.