At Passages to Recovery we witness over and over again the strength of experiential wilderness therapies that reinforce the lessons of recovery for a new way of life. We witness young men supplanted away from urban noise, experience authentic sober friendships, regain good health through vigorous daily life and retake emotional peace in a place of great serenity. Passages to Recovery is a time and a place of transformation, of enormously hard work and of legitimately experienced and meaningful rites of passage.

With a clinical and support team staff to student ratio of 1 to 3 we can and do offer individualized clinical and wilderness therapies, tailored to the needs of each client. We provide psychological testing and an extensive intake evaluation to root out co occurring disorders that can complicate treatment - and that if left untreated, will almost certainly cause relapse; and we run a clinical program that integrates substance abuse and mental health therapeutics.

Life at Passages to Recovery

The three month recovery journey occurs in three stages

• Preparing for a wilderness experience (10 days)
• Wilderness (40 days)
• Practicing the skills learned in the wilderness (40 days)

After an initial period spent learning wilderness skills and participating in initial therapeutics, men embark into 40 days of primitive wilderness living across 1200 square miles of Utah wilderness.

Guide counselors facilitate experiential learning of recovery concepts while in the wild and master’s level therapists travel into the field to offer frequent therapy sessions.

The final 40 days are spent back at the Valley Site. During the last 40 days, students take on a leadership role, assisting newcomers to the program and leading in group and 12 steps meetings. Students also participate in community and educational group meetings, preparing to transition back into the community. Because boredom is a significant predictor of relapse, young men in this last phase engage in frequent sober community recreational activities.

Psychological Testing

Every man at Passages will receive a comprehensive battery of psychological testing during the second or third week of treatment. Testing is delayed for a couple of weeks to allow each man an opportunity to grow accustomed to the program, to recover from the acute effects of substance dependency and so that he has a chance to understand the testing process completely.

The results of these tests will help clinical staff develop a long term treatment plan, based on individual needs.

The Recovery Program

The Passages to Recovery healing program is based on the 12 steps, on evidence based and integrated dual diagnosis treatments and on 10 educational topics for learning and improvement. The 10 topics are:

1. Gaining an understanding of the disease of addiction
2. Gaining an understanding for what addiction does in and to the brain
3. Understanding how addiction can modify thoughts and lead to “addicted thinking”
4. Learning how to deal with stress
5. Assertiveness
6. Learning the 12 steps
7. Improving emotional health
8. Gaining an understanding of your personal spirituality
9. Understanding the stages of change model
10. Relapse prevention

Family participation

Men benefit greatly when family members get involved in the recovery process. Family members will participate in weekly phone sessions with a Passages counselor and are invited to attend a 2 day family therapy workshop.

The Benefits of a Wilderness Experience

Men at Passages will live a true wilderness experience within our 1200 square mile course area. Hiking and canoeing trips, during which students use primitive survival skills, take young men far from their comfortable daily environment and challenges them to survive, adapt and thrive using only what can be drawn from inside for strength.

• You cannot manipulate nature. Addicts are master manipulators to get what they want or to avoid what they don’t want; but nature is inert and unyielding, and cannot be manipulated.
• Addicts are often irresponsible, but in nature, if you do not meet your responsibilities, you and your peers will pay an immediate price
• Addicts use drugs or alcohol for stimulation or escape, but in nature, there are few diversions that can distract us from what we truly are.
• Living primitively in nature requires team work, communication and assertiveness, and so each man must rise up to the challenges of the day and act as needed.

Out of our comfort zone, we cannot as readily ignore an offered hand-up. Therapy offered in a wilderness setting, with people that walk and work beside you all day, has a power far beyond anything offered in a doctor’s office.

Financial Assistance and Financing

Some men may be eligible for financial assistance to offset some of the costs of tuition. Ask our admission counselors about your possible eligibility.

Families wishing to defer the upfront costs of the program can secure tuition financing through our arrangement with the educational loan organization, Shauna Clark Behavioral Health Financing. Ask an admissions counselor for details.