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Adventure Therapy: Focusing Patients on the 'Here and Now'

By Leslie Davis

Climbing a 30-foot telephone pole and jumping off seems rather unexpected for a therapy session. But for patients at Sierra Tucson who are willing to make the leap of faith, this and other innovative activities can help them focus on issues they were unable to address through more conventional methods.

Sierra Tucson’s use of Adventure Therapy provides patients with a break from the normal treatment modalities and an opportunity to gain new perspectives. By completing ropes courses, climbing walls, and interacting with horses, patients can learn to become more open and gain new awareness of their behaviors.

Adventure Therapy is a metaphorical process used to deliver therapeutic interventions. It is effectively used to treat such behaviors as anxiety, depression, anger, trauma, grief, and relationship and codependency issues.

Processing in the Moment

Adventure Therapy is best used with patients who are willing to explore their behaviors in an unfamiliar setting and who are physically able to participate in the activities, said Drew Prochniak, M.A., LASAC, CET, a therapist in Sierra Tucson’s Progressions Program who specializes in Adventure Therapy.

“Patients never really know what’s going to happen until it happens, and when they process it in the moment, it’s really powerful,” he said. “Adventure Therapy can force people to look at the here and now.”

The act of participating in an activity in the “here and now” directs patients’ attention to their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings, and helps them become aware of their responses to certain experiences. Therapists can help the patients come up with workable solutions to their experiences so they don’t fall back into their problematic behaviors.

“It’s very helpful when patients can transfer the experience they had in Adventure Therapy to the experience they had in life,” Prochniak said.

5 Benefits of Adventure Therapy

For patients who are willing and able to try Adventure Therapy, they will receive five primary benefits, Prochniak said:

1. Reduction of denial. When a patient’s behaviors emerge during an activity, they can’t deny that they behave a certain way. “A patient’s behaviors naturally come out during these activities, so they are better able to process their behaviors in the moment,” Prochniak said.
2. Increased teamwork. Most Adventure Therapy activities are designed to promote teamwork through a group structure. The accomplishment of a common goal can be very helpful to patients.
3. Better communication. A lot of the activities require patients to ask for help from others in the group, and may even require patients to have others guide them through an activity.
4. Building trust. “Patients have to learn to trust their team for physical support and safety,” Prochniak said.
5. Recognizing family roles. How patients behave in a group dynamic is often based on the roles they play in their family. Adventure Therapy can help them address any negative behaviors and communication styles that accompany those roles.

Adventure Therapy at Sierra Tucson

Adventure Therapy is part of a patient’s regular treatment program at Sierra Tucson, with patients typically participating in a therapeutic adventure activity once a week. These are all group activities, though some have an individual component to them that requires the rest of the group to be verbally encouraging and supportive to one member.

Many of the activities are low-impact team-building exercises, like catching and tossing or passing objects through a maze. Other activities are centered on solving problems, which is especially useful for chronic pain patients who have limited mobility.

Patients can always opt to sit out on a particular activity and just observe if they do not feel comfortable participating. “We encourage them to remain open to processing their decision to sit out,” Prochniak said. “We want to make the experience as therapeutic as possible.”

Adventure Therapy activities are conducted on-site at Sierra Tucson, with the exception of a weekly off-site hike, which is offered only through the center’s Progressions Program.