Outdoor Adventure

Medically Reviewed by Bill Brown, LCMHC

Clinically Driven Experience

Adventure-based experiences provide a venue for a participant’s clinical work. These empirically-validated models use outdoor activity and the inherent emotional challenges, relationship building, and behavioral choices to explore broader psychological themes, patterns and strategies. Adventure-based activities are an excellent conduit to build positive psychological states, skills and traits. Resilience, resourcefulness, resolve and responsibility all get drawn to the fore and are developed with intention and attention during outdoor interventions.

The outdoor experience is an intervention strategy designed to help clients engage with health promoting skills and behaviors. These activities are an excellent path to developing enhanced emotional insight, awareness and stability. Internalized locus of control, improved self-concept, increased motivation, grit, engagement and healthy relationships are outcomes derived from the outdoor experience. The experiences support positive peer culture, teamwork and camaraderie – skills participants can use in their future.

Health Promoting Activity

Outside time in the natural world is a break for our brains. Sunshine, fresh air and open spaces provide a reset. Research shows exposure to nature can make you feel better emotionally, it contributes to physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. Uncluttered environments and distance from technologies give our minds a chance to re-calibrate, reorganize and rest. It’s an opportunity to truly re-position and listen to oneself without the distractions of everyday life.

Strength in the Outdoors

Outdoor recreation is an avenue for positive, engaging and fun experiences that support and encourage growth. Confluence excursions are available to participants of any skill, experience and fitness level. The outdoor experience is sought to not only disconnect and rejuvenate, but to provide a venue where physical and emotional awareness can take hold. Through the inherent challenges in these activities self-esteem and self-efficacy emerge while participants gain valuable confidence.

Outdoor Experiences at Confluence

Get Going

Outdoor excursions are day trips on Friday and Saturday. Participants work alongside mentors to prepare and organize for each adventure. Provisioning and packing appropriate food, gear and equipment for each activity, whether in the mountains or on the river, is part of the Confluence program. Participants take ownership of preparing for each excursion providing opportunity to work on executive functioning, planning and organizational skills.

Get Out There

Boots and boats are our modes of travel outdoors. Backpacking into some of Vermont’s most beautiful landscapes, forest and mountains provides a frame for the deep introspective and emotional work participants are embarking on. From spring through fall, participants explore scenic rivers and lakes on our canoe paddling trips. In Winter, we access the outdoors by snowshoe and skis and travel to cabins and yurts for lunch and breaks.

Have Fun

At Confluence we guide participants in positive outdoor experiences supporting a participant’s path forward. Fun is at the top of the ticket. The outdoors is an opportunity to engage with new experiences and interact with other participants in novel and constructive ways. Adventures provide an occasion to safely push outside of one’s comfort zone, confront challenges in real time and flex the muscles needed to take on life’s difficulties. The outdoors offer a platform to develop resilience and opportunity for growth.

The team at Confluence helped our son immensely. We couldn't be happier with the results and would highly recommend the program for young adults that are ready and willing to actively engage in making significant progress toward a healthier life.

Quite frankly, our daughter’s transformation at Confluence saved her life. The experience was the most challenging of her life but it has changed her profoundly - she is learning to communicate, know herself and deal with her inner mental self.

Explore Your Health Insurance Benefits

Confluence admissions staff are available to help families navigate and better understand the insurance landscape as it relates to mental healthcare services. Our Residential and Outpatient programs work with insurances, however our coaching and transitional housing services do not accept insurance at this time. Confluence can bill insurance directly and private pay options are available as well.