Description:

The 24-credit Wilderness and Adventure Therapy (WAT) Certificate will prepare degree and non-degree seeking students for work in clinical and non-clinical settings that use wilderness, nature, adventure, and experiential modalities for therapeutic or developmental ends. Settings in which WAT is used include therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness therapy programs, hospitals, community-based mental health programs, and K-12 schools. The program, which can be completed in two years, will: 

1. Include core and elective coursework in Adventure Education and Psychology;
2. Prepare students for “para-professional” positions in clinical settings (working, for instance, as a “field guide” in a wilderness therapy program or “community health worker” in a community-based mental health program) and “professional positions” in non-clinical (quasi-therapeutic) settings (working, for example, as an “instructor” with the Outward Bound Veterans Program);
3. Povides an intermediate step in the training and credentials required to hold a job in the field, which include becoming a licensed therapist (requiring a master’s degree in counseling psychology, clinical social work, school psychology, or a related field) and professional licensure (e.g., LPC, LCSW).

Rationale:

There are several good reasons to start a certificate program in WAT:

1. Though the study and practice of wilderness and adventure therapy dates to the early 1970s, the field’s experienced significant growth in the last decade. This has resulted in:
   1. New employment opportunities for BA/BS-level field staff and other paraprofessionals, in addition to graduate trained therapists and other clinicians. By one measure, the latest Occupational Outlook Handbook (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) predicted the demand for bachelor’s level “recreational therapists” and “substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors” (both of which include people working in WAT) would increase by 8% and 25%, respectively, in 2018-19.
   2. The development of professional associations and interest groups that represent the field, including the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Council (based here in Durango) and the Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group (of the Association for Experiential Education), along with recognition by the American Psychological Association.
   3. The creation of a research center at the University of New Hampshire.
   4. The launch of a new post-graduate (master's level) credential - the Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist (CCAT) credential - overseen by the Association for Experiential Education.
2. There’s student demand:
   1. Adventure Education has offered a special-topics course on wilderness therapy four times since 2007, and it always fills completely.
   2. Some students major and minor in Adventure Education or Psychology (or both) because they’re interested in studying or working in WAT, a related field. Likewise, alumni of both departments have pursued WAT-related careers and continuing education.    
   3. A certificate program like this would be relevant not just to students interested in WAT, but students interested in quasi-therapeutic settings (which apply many of the principles and practices of WAT) like Outward Bound. There are numerous, well-paying jobs in therapeutic settings, especially wilderness-based settings
3. Colleges and universities have introduced undergraduate and graduate coursework, degrees and concentrations, and certificate programs related to WAT. Examples include:
   1. 27(-30) credit Wilderness Therapy Certificate at the University of Maine at Machias
   2. 16 credit Outdoor Leadership-Wilderness Therapy Certificate at Southwestern Community College (Sylva, NC)
   3. Concentrations in outdoor education-related undergraduate degree programs at:
      1. Northern Vermont University (29-33 credit concentration in Therapeutic Wilderness & Adventure Programming)
      2. Prescott College  
      3. Alaska Pacific University (25 credit concentration in Wilderness Therapy)
      4. Southern Adventist University (18 credit concentration in Adventure Therapy)
   4. MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Transpersonal Wilderness Therapy at Naropa University (Boulder, CO)
   5. 15-credit graduate certificate in Adventure-Based Counseling at Prescott College
4. Durango’s home to a leading evidence-based wilderness therapy provider, Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, which generated $21 million in local economic input in FY 2018. Incidentally, they want this certificate, which we learned from a focus group we conducted with their administrative staff in fall 2020.
5. The Adventure Education and Psychology Departments are already prepared to contribute using existing faculty and coursework. To that end, this certificate won’t require new faculty lines nor courses.