Doug Nelson, an early pioneer in developing what became Wilderness Therapy programs, shared his experiences about the early days of Wilderness Therapy for adolescents with talk show host Lon Woodbury on L.A. Talk Radio's Struggling Teens weekly interviews.
About Doug Nelson
Doug Nelson got started with Wilderness Therapy as the Director of the BYU Survival Program in 1973, and he worked in that position all the way up to 2008. Throughout this period, he also established Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS). Later, while he was still a teacher at BYU, he began the Wilderness Academy which developed into Aspen Wellness Services.
Reflecting On the early Days of Wilderness Therapy
The Wilderness Therapy market grew largely from scholastic experiments at Brigham Youthful College, in Provo, Utah, in the late 1960s, when Larry Dean Olsen created a 30 day program in wilderness living. Designing it based on the well-liked Outward Bound program, he took troubled pupils to the desert to learn survival capabilities, and he noticed remarkable improvements in habits and scholastic performance. One of his students was Doug Nelson who really felt at home during the 30 day survival program. The rugged outdoors reminded him of his childhood years in a Southern Utah farm area, where he had spent a significant amount of his youth and early adult years hiking and climbing in the backcountry. Within 2 years, he ended up being the Director of the BYU Survival Program.
During the BOSS program, students on a 21 day expedition would come home transformed, much more appreciative of their parents and compliant with their wishes. Consequently, after he sold the BOSS program, Nelson created a new program for adolescents. This was the Wilderness Academy, which combined the 21 day program with a therapeutic component to help integrate the lessons learned in the wilderness with everyday life. Therapists in the field would draw parallels between a child's wilderness experiences with what was going on at home. Parents were also encouraged to spend three days with their child at trail's end, and they were even reimbursed part of the costs if they were willing to make this small commitment.
Nelson shared stories about some of the therapeutic experiences that emerged for children and their parents. Often, it was found that the child was acting out because of issues related to the parents. For instance, in one case, the parents were thinking of a divorce. In another case, the father was too busy with his work as a lawyer to spend much time parenting.
Nelson also outlined how Steve Cartisano created a powerful marketing program that made the industry popular. However, there were many opportunistic programs run like boot camps instead of therapeutic programs resulting in fatalities, with the result that States had to create new regulations to ensure safety factors.
Now retired, Nelson has played a significant part in the early days of Wilderness Therapy, assisting it develop from an experiment at BYU to becoming a powerful restorative choice for distressed teenagers when absolutely nothing else helped them.
About Doug Nelson
Doug Nelson got started with Wilderness Therapy as the Director of the BYU Survival Program in 1973, and he worked in that position all the way up to 2008. Throughout this period, he also established Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS). Later, while he was still a teacher at BYU, he began the Wilderness Academy which developed into Aspen Wellness Services.
Reflecting On the early Days of Wilderness Therapy
The Wilderness Therapy market grew largely from scholastic experiments at Brigham Youthful College, in Provo, Utah, in the late 1960s, when Larry Dean Olsen created a 30 day program in wilderness living. Designing it based on the well-liked Outward Bound program, he took troubled pupils to the desert to learn survival capabilities, and he noticed remarkable improvements in habits and scholastic performance. One of his students was Doug Nelson who really felt at home during the 30 day survival program. The rugged outdoors reminded him of his childhood years in a Southern Utah farm area, where he had spent a significant amount of his youth and early adult years hiking and climbing in the backcountry. Within 2 years, he ended up being the Director of the BYU Survival Program.
During the BOSS program, students on a 21 day expedition would come home transformed, much more appreciative of their parents and compliant with their wishes. Consequently, after he sold the BOSS program, Nelson created a new program for adolescents. This was the Wilderness Academy, which combined the 21 day program with a therapeutic component to help integrate the lessons learned in the wilderness with everyday life. Therapists in the field would draw parallels between a child's wilderness experiences with what was going on at home. Parents were also encouraged to spend three days with their child at trail's end, and they were even reimbursed part of the costs if they were willing to make this small commitment.
Nelson shared stories about some of the therapeutic experiences that emerged for children and their parents. Often, it was found that the child was acting out because of issues related to the parents. For instance, in one case, the parents were thinking of a divorce. In another case, the father was too busy with his work as a lawyer to spend much time parenting.
Nelson also outlined how Steve Cartisano created a powerful marketing program that made the industry popular. However, there were many opportunistic programs run like boot camps instead of therapeutic programs resulting in fatalities, with the result that States had to create new regulations to ensure safety factors.
Now retired, Nelson has played a significant part in the early days of Wilderness Therapy, assisting it develop from an experiment at BYU to becoming a powerful restorative choice for distressed teenagers when absolutely nothing else helped them.
About the Author:
Lon Woodbury, the founder of Struggling Teens, has recorded the entire interview on his weekly L.A. Talk Radio show for people to at their convenience.
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