Phoenix Outdoor is a therapeutic wilderness experience for teen boys and girls, from the ages of 13 to 17. Located in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, teens will spend a challenging few weeks in the wilderness, learning to do more than they thought they could, and learning that blaming and manipulative behaviors don’t work very well in a wilderness environment - where you can only rely on yourself and your group for survival.

The program duration ranges from 5 to 7 weeks, on average, with graduation based on the accomplishment of treatment goals. Teens can be admitted within 24 hours, if necessary, on any day of the week, year round.

Phoenix Outdoor is a licensed and accredited outdoor therapeutic program for adolescent boys and girls, and is a member treatment program of CRC Health Group, America’s largest behavioral health provider network.

Can Phoenix Outdoor Help My Son or Daughter?

Phoenix Outdoor works with teen boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 17. A typical student enrolled with us faces one or often more of the following challenges:

• The use or abuse of alcohol or drugs
• Poor academic performance
• Defiance or oppositional behaviors
• Obsessive computer use or game playing (internet or game addiction)
• A problematic group of friends
• A lack of motivation to accomplish much of anything
• Depression, bipolar disorder or anxiety
• Disorders such as ADD or ADHD
• A lack of self confidence of self esteem
• Grief issues
• Personality issues

While with our small group sizes, our clinical expertise and our experienced and licensed professionals we can help teens that face a number of developmental challenges, not all teens are a good fit for our outdoor program. After evaluating your son or daughter, if our clinical admissions department recommends placement elsewhere, we will guide you with referrals and advice so that you may find the most appropriate treatment environment for your child.

Individualized Treatment

All teens receive a complete substance abuse evaluation within 24 hours of arrival, and from this, the treatment team develops a tailored and appropriate treatment plan. Individualized substance abuse treatment proves more effective at all ages, but is especially vital for teens, who do not respond well to one size fits all solutions to what they perceive to be very unique problems.

Teens grow therapeutically during a stay at Phoenix through wilderness expeditions that challenge and build self esteem, through a therapeutic relationship with trained field counselors (who use the natural experience as a guide for informal learning), through a shared social experience with other teens and also, through a structured and comprehensive therapeutic program.

Formal therapeutic programs offered include:

• A comprehensive substance abuse assessment and history
• Individual therapy with a master’s level therapist
  
• Group therapy
  
•  Drug and alcohol lectures and seminars
• Family therapy
• Psychological testing, if warranted     
• Dialectic behavioral therapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Yoga
• Motivational interviewing

Each teen will work individually with a specialist adolescent therapist. Each student’s personal therapist is responsible for

• The initial assessment and the development of a treatment plan
• Individual therapy sessions
• The facilitation of group therapy sessions
• Calling parents once a week for an hour long phone call update on progress made
• Guiding parents with recommendations for discharge

Each teen will also work through experiential therapies while on 10 day long wilderness expeditions, under the guidance of trained field instructors.  Field instructors are all experts in outdoor living and wilderness safety, and come from a variety of backgrounds, such as education, outdoor education, wilderness program guiding, and others teaching related backgrounds.  Each field instructor receives intensive training on field therapy and updates training twice monthly through continuing learning seminars.

Field instructors will guide each teen through assigned therapeutic activities while out in the wilderness. Field instructors also serve as guides and mentors, helping teens through conflicting thoughts and worries and lending an open ear to those that need one.

Base Camp and Wilderness Life

Phoenix Outdoor students will spend 4 days at base camp followed by 10 days on wilderness treks into the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Days at base camp are spent in therapy, practicing skills learned on expeditions and tending to tasks such as laundry! Days in the wilderness begin early, with a hot breakfast cooked on the camp stove, followed by hiking, a break for lunch, and more hiking to a next campsite. Teens set up camp, prepare diner and enjoy campfire time each evening.

All field guides are trained in advanced first aid and safety techniques, and communicate twice daily with base camp via satellite phones. Although the mild weather of North Carolina is ideal for lengthy field expeditions, in the unlikely event of severe weather, expedition teams can be quickly evacuated to base camp.

Every teen is supplied with a light weight tent, a warm sleeping bag and a lightweight sleeping mat, which are carried in a comfortable internal frame pack. Equipment is new and of high quality and more than appropriate for the weather conditions of the area.

The Family Program

The entire family participates in the Phoenix Outdoor therapeutic program. Every family is assigned a personal family therapist and every family member is expected to participate fully in a wide array of programs. The difficult, challenging and sometimes infuriating behaviors of a troubled teen can harm the family dynamic deeply and profoundly, and just as a troubled teen will need to heal him or herself, so to does the family need to work towards redemption.

Family program activities include:

• Weekly teleconferences with a family therapist
• Weekly multi family telephone therapy conferences, with the family members of other teens enrolled at Phoenix Outdoor
• Weekly phone sessions with your teen’s individual therapist
• Activities and assignments for the family
• Instruction in the principles of DBT