WORDS FROM THE WOODS
March 2016
In This Issue
Dear ,             
   
Welcome to March's edition of Words from the Woods. Spring has sprung in the mountains of Western North Carolina, bringing us a bounty of wildflowers, and budding trees. Waking up to a forest teeming with songbirds is a pleasant way to start the day's meditation practice. This month we will focus on group Bravo. The boys in the group were excited to share some of their perspectives about daily life at SUWS, and we hope you find their insights helpful in your work. We will also talk about some of the exciting ways we are engaging the students, and highlight some of the clinical staff leading the treatment team for group Bravo. Be sure to check out some upcoming events that may interest you as well. Thanks for reading; we hope you enjoy the issue.



SUWS HEADLINERS
Group Bravo: Who We Are and What We Do                                 
Bravo students are typically 14 to 17 year old males who are incredibly bright individuals, but for a number of reasons are struggling to maintain success with treatment goals in a traditional setting. As a result, family relationships are often strained and families are looking for options to "hit the reset button" and get back on track. The boys in group Bravo are immersed in a group culture providing consistent and measureable daily individual and group expectations.  Towards the beginning of his program each student establishes an ISP (Individualized Service Plan) in collaboration with his therapist.  This document is signed and transcribed in the student's own words which allows for respectful and supported encounters towards his own desired growth of self-discipline, autonomy, self-confidence, communication, and mood and behavioral regulation.

How We Build Investment and Engage Bravo Students: 

-Students flyfishing at the SUWS basecamp (left)
-Student taking PRT or Personal Reflection Time (center)
-Sunrise from the Pritchard Course area while on expedition (right)


 
Bravo students engage in weekly group and individual psychotherapy to explore the family's history and his own unique "life story" in order to gain increased self-awareness regarding maladaptive coping skills and/or reactionary patterns of avoidance, refusal, or confrontation. Weekly phone calls between the therapist and family members at home allow a parallel processing of events on a week by week basis, and communication between parent and child takes place in a weekly exchange of letter writing. Parents also have a curriculum they are working through which is supported by the "Love and Logic" series, weekly webinars, a private portal with access to weekly milestones and photos of their children, and at least one site visit for a two day intensive seminar where they can meet the therapist supervising their child.  
Through the verbal, written, and experiential processing of old burdens, stressors, shames, or fears students are able to gradually and safely transform (unburden) emotional blocks or stressors. As students build trust, self-advocacy, and self-reliance they begin to realign towards new and more authentically desired present goals and future outcomes.
Bravo students within the larger wilderness therapy milieu are also provided multimodal therapeutic interventions to create meaningful metaphors and a parallel process of change.  Some of these evidenced-based approaches include:
Equine Therapy, Mindfulness (fly-fishing, yoga, feedback), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), Family Systems Therapy, Brief Solution-Focused Therapy, Art Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Some Bravo students do receive support and intervention for mild or emergent substance use patterns as a secondary diagnosis.  This consideration is addressed through a therapeutic focus on the primary mood and behavior resolution towards increased self-advocacy for physically and emotionally healthy choices.    
 
While therapist, Blake Smith MA, LPC, is the lead clinician and primarily interacts with parent and child throughout the course of the program, he has assistance from Sara Bacich MA, ATR-BC. Sara is a board certified art therapist, and engages the students with experiential activities to augment the therapy sessions conducted with Blake. For example, students recently gathered in a field on campus to participate in a guided meditation and art therapy project where Sara asked the students to each take a topographic map arranged in the center of the circle where the students were assembled. The students were asked to take some time to think about where they were on this map. Next they were given some time to plot their life course, taking into consideration where they are now, where they came from and where they want to go. After 15-20 minutes of silent concentration most students said they were ready to share their thoughts. Some decided to draw their own maps, showing several mountain peaks. One student explained that he started in a vast field and could barely see what was on the horizon, then he encountered a mountain where he struggled to summit, but once he summited, he could see lakes and other mountains. He exclaimed that they were beautiful, and he knew that he would encounter hardships to cross the terrain, but he had the skills he needed to navigate the challenges ahead. Another student took the assignment a little more literally and plotted his life from a small island in a lake as his starting point. He walked us along a journey of twists and turns through rough terrain, sometimes getting lost and wandering backwards. His journey ended at a high peak (his current location) where he said he could see the nearby city, and that was his destination. He wasn't there yet, but he knew where to go. When asked what would be different about his next leg of the journey, this student shared a very poignant quote. He said, "Right now, I'm allowing myself to be myself. I'm not forcing myself to be something I'm not, or allowing others to tell me who I am."
The insights developed through processing this activity were profound, and as we finished, the guys in the group continued to talk about the changes the see emerging in one another. As the conversation progressed, I was able to talk informally with some of the guys while we played a game of hacky-sack. I asked them what they liked about group Bravo, what they disliked, what they thought about group Bravo, and what they were working on collectively. Generally students seemed to like the team building and skills success occurring in the group. Students commented on how this experience made them realize how much they missed their families, and how much they loved them. Lack of "normal" food like pizza and burgers were a drawback, as well as the time away from family, but almost everyone said that they really appreciated the time to think and connect with nature. 

Students also have the opportunity to "leave a legacy" and communicate their thoughts to future members of group Bravo. The Book of the Brotherhood (or the BOB) is passed down from the most senior member of the group to the next, and prior to graduation, each student is asked to record their words of wisdom on for future members. When a new student arrives, they have access to read the BOB and gain from the collective wisdom of those who completed the program previously.
 
In summary, while the wilderness milieu creates ongoing experiential encounters for Bravo students the group culture supports direct confrontation with the shadow elements of each person's protected hopes and fear by pushing through depression, anxiety, blame-shifting or passive self-talk patterns to arrive at new paradigms of self-leadership and self-acceptance.  Bravo group members support each other in the discovery of Confidence and Resilience.  Somewhere on a steep and wooded trail, old patterns of opposition, self-destruction, or hopelessness are left behind and overcome step-by-step, moment by moment.  

Meet the Bravo Treatment Team:
Blake Smith, MA, NCC, NCSC, LPC
Bravo Group Therapist

After joining SUWS for the 2015 summer season, Blake Smith will be staying on as the lead therapist for Bravo, SUWS' adolescent boy's group.  He brings 20 years of experience working with adults, adolescents, and families.  After beginning his career as a classroom teacher, Blake went on to earn a Master's Degree in counseling from Western Carolina University in 2003. Since then he has been a school counselor and school counseling consultant for several private and public schools in the Asheville, North Carolina area. He has also worked as an outpatient therapist for children and families, an intensive in-home lead therapist, and a psychiatric emergency room intake clinician.

Blake has stated, "This multisensory experience as related to the potential for inner growth and change is what attracted me to SUWS and my desire to work within a dynamic clinical program that I believe represents the ongoing best practices of emotional and behavioral growth."  Blake's expertise lies in an Internal Family Systems Model of therapy, which offers opportunities to learn about ourselves in order to help manage emotional tasks and burdens that are an inevitable aspect of daily life.   


 

Blake currently holds national certification as a counselor and school counselor (NCC/NCSC) from The National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC). He also holds current state licensure as a professional counselor (LPC) from the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors (NCBLPC).

 

A lifelong resident of the Asheville, NC area, Blake enjoys time with family including a teenage daughter, fiancĂ©, and "cat-dog", Oli.  To unwind he enjoys playing guitar, painting, and lying in his hammock.

Meet the Bravo Treatment Team:
Sara Baicich MA LTR-BC
Experiential Support Specialist

Sara's drive to work in healing and helping professions stems from a family question her grandmother always used to ask, "But, is it good for society?"  Sara's upbringing emphasized the responsibility we all have in creating goodness in the world around us.  This, as well as a passion for art, directed Sara to Philadelphia where she completed a Masters in Art Therapy at Drexel University.  Here she learned the therapeutic and illuminating capacity in art making.  After graduation, she worked at multiple inpatient psychiatry facilities in the Philly area, honing her skills in group facilitation by providing talk therapy, art therapy, psychoeducation, and recreation groups. Sara is now a Registered, Nationally Board Certified Art Therapist.
As she spent numerous years working in the hospital setting, Sara felt disconcerted by the separation her patients had from nature.  They were often unable to ever go outside, and Sara felt there had to be a link between their separation from nature and the challenges her patients felt in healing and finding growth and progress in the hospital.
In 2014, Sara took a job as a field instructor here at SUWS, knowing that the best way to learn how nature is used in the process of healing was in the field and "on the ground" as an instructor.  After a year in the field, she became a Logistics Coordinator, supporting the SUWS students and staff from behind the scenes.
Now, as Experiential Specialist, Sara supports groups Luna and Bravo through group facilitation and program enhancements, emphasizing 12-step recovery, mindfulness, art activities, art therapy, psychoeducation, yoga, and lots of fun.  She loves that she gets to return to the wilderness and support the students, providing more avenues for them to create their own path towards healing and growth.
Sara is originally from Maryland, near Washington DC, and lived in Philadelphia for six years.  She moved to Asheville when she joined SUWS.  If she's not on her porch ready a book, then she's probably sitting by a waterfall sipping tea and enjoying the birds.  In her spare time Sara enjoys hiking, drawing, painting, weaving, yoga, and dancing.  She loves to travel and prides herself on needing extra pages in her passport because she ran out of room for more stamps



Mentor Students Make a Big Impact:
Group Luna Hosts 4 Mentors in Three Months!

When a group's culture is at it's zenith, it instills a sense of belonging so strong, that individuals want to come back again and again. As a program SUWS has traditionally created this culture with staff, and student alike. Recently, group Luna, our adolescent female group has seen unprecidented interest in the mentorship program. (to read more about Luna in January's edition of Words From the Woods, click here)
 
Mentorship programs are meant to focus on leadership skills, goal setting, and stewardship. This is an opportunity for a well-adjusted graduate to give back to the group.
Many of the mentors who come back report that the experience was one of the most rewarding seven days of their lives. Criteria for becoming a mentor are as follows:
  • Regular attendance in school
  • A commitment to sobriety and a record of remaining substance free
  • Maintaining positive, open, and authentic communication with family members
  • Ability to set SMART goals and achieve them
  • Clearance for the student to return from their former field supervisor
  • Students must be under 18 years of age and willing participants
  • There are a number of preliminary assignments for each student to complete prior to arrival
Mentor students will act as a support system for the students in the group, and have the opportunity to step up as a leader. Their role is that of a "junior staff" the hope is that they can lead compassionately and effectively, while sharing some of their experiences in what it takes to transition successfully after the program.

Our recent string of mentors has resulted in strengthening Luna's group culture, and the student's reports speak for themselves, here are three testimonies gathered since January:

-"Coming to SUWS may have been the hardest thing I have ever done, but by far the most necessary. SUWS stayed with me and I never forgot what I learned here. Everything changed for me, I got my family and my life back. I became proud of who I was. I came back to SUWS about nine months after I graduated as a mentor because I wanted to share my experience with the girls and show them that you can leave SUWS, but SUWS never leaves you. I think it is easy to relate to someone that has been through similar experiences and I wanted them to be excited to start their lives after SUWS." --Jenny K mentor testimony 3/22/16

-"SUWS is a really amazing place where you can be yourself. It really did help me and I was the happiest I had ever been there. The staff really put their time and best effort into helping me and other students. I was really thankful to have received the time I did at SUWS."-Miranda L.

-" Coming to SUWS over a year ago was a major wake up call. The program taught me so much about myself and opened my eyes to discoveries unimaginable before my stay. After graduation I continued my therapy in a therapeutic boarding school and brought my experience and strength from SUWS into my new life. Now having completed both programs, I decided to come back to SUWS as a mentor for a week. With a new group and different people this experience was different, yet rewarding. My role at SUWS changed dramatically  and  students often commented on how clear it is that SUWS changes lives, especially with me coming back. This program changed my life for the better, and I know it will continue to do so for others in the future." -Hallel R

These young ladies are helping pave the way for future generations of SUWS graduates to find success. Bravo!




Upcoming Events
Dr Lauren Kentworthy Ph.D.
SUWS and Brightstone Trasitions to host the SouthEast Conference on Autism

Join SUWS of the Carolinas and Brightstone Transitions for the 2nd Annual Southeast Conference on Autism, with speaker Dr. Lauren Kentworthy, Director of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C.
This full-day presentation--appropriate for professionals, parents and graduate students--is designed to equip attendees with the latest research-based information on Spectrum Disorders as well as provide simple, real-world strategies to promote coginitive and behavioral flexibility with students on the Autism Spectrum.
Conference Schedule: 
Tuesday, April 12th
8:00AM     Registration & Breakfast
8:45AM     Opening Remarks
9:00AM      Dr. Lauren Kentworthy (part 1)
12:00PM    Lunch
1:00PM      Dr. Lauren Kentworthy (part 2)
3:00PM     Conference ends
 
 
Mental Health Professionals: $100 (Six Clock Hours through NBCC awarded for full attendance)
Teachers/Parents/Students: $25  
Sponsor: $75                                                                                            
*Contact for dball@suwscarolinas.com for the Teacher/Parent/Student promo code or for information about becoming a sponsor. 

Get more information
Register Now
I
SUWS of the Carolinas and Fulshear Treatment to Transition host a fundraising event for Sky's the Limit Fund; with the support of SUWS alumni in Houston TX.

SUWS of the Carolinas and Fulshear Treatment to Transition are co-hosting an event to benefit the non-profit organization, Sky's the Limit Fund. This Salon event, hosted on Monday, April 4 at the home of a SUWS alumni, will be a gathering for guests to learn about Sky's the Limit Fund and alternative treatment options. Wilderness alumni families will also be sharing their experiences as well. 
When Monday April 4th-6:30 pm
Where: 804 West Friar Tuck Lane
               Houston, TX 77024
For more info contact Deara Ball
deara.ball@suwscarolinas.com




Pamela Splain
Upcoming Webinar:
Treating Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adolescents: the Need for More Than Just Talk Therapy
Presenter Pamela Splain LPCA NCC
 
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Traditional talk therapy with clients diagnosed with level 1 autism spectrum disorder has limitations for treatment outcomes. Talk therapy can support these clients in assisting them in recognizing and understanding their emotions, however, does not address key concerns that clients face in their daily lives such as social and relationship difficulties, coping with overwhelming emotions and completion of daily tasks. Taking a skills-based approach to address these concerns can have more significant outcomes for these clients.
 
Learning objectives:
  1.       We will define level 1 autism spectrum disorder and typical features seen in these types of         clients.
  2.       Discuss the benefits and limitations of traditional talk therapy
  3.       Discuss the benefit of teaching specific social skills, emotional coping skills and daily living         skills as part of a beneficial treatment strategy
 
 

 
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SUWS of the Carolinas is a therapeutic wilderness program in Old Fort, NC. It is an integrated strengths based program that addresses the biological, psychological and social needs of adolescents with mental health, substance abuse and behavioral challenges.  Learn More