Use of Adventure-Based Counseling Programs for Persons with Disabilities

Adventure-based counseling programs offer unique opportunities to promote positive growth and change for persons with disabilities. A review of the literature is described which explains this intervention, a rationale for using adventure-based programs, research to support its efficacy, and resources to help rehabilitation clients and professionals to obtain further information concerning these programs. Day 3 -- I have been walking for over two hours. My feet are hurting. It is around 35[degrees]. When you're in the mountains it gets pretty cold (even in late August). Yes, I remember people telling me this fact but it is a different matter now than I am here. It continues to drizzle (dare I say rain) this morning. My backpack that holds my clothes, camping equipment, and some of the group's food for the next few days seems to get heavier by the minute. Still, I have thoroughly enjoyed this hike. There are times, however, when I feel like quitting this "adventure. " It helps me to continue when I think about the efforts that some of the other people have made especially those with less physical skills than I. I am feeling quite nervous about rock climbing tomorrow and the "high ropes course" in a few days. Am I really up to it? What happens if I can't do it? One week ago I was sitting at home reading National Geographic (that was the extent of my "outdoor adventures"). How does my experience compare with the other nine members who have joined me on this trek? What have I learned so far? I am becoming more aware of how I impose my standards on others and how sometimes it is difficult for me to step back and let others learn in their own way. This insight and the lessons from it seem so simple yet so hard to practice. So, we go on . sloshing down this wooded trail while singing, of all things -- Christmas Carols! Therapeutic benefits from being with others in the outdoors facing unfamiliar challenges may be evident in this personal log passage. It provides a glimpse of what might occur for someone participating in an adventure-based counseling program. Adventure-base counseling is a treatment intervention for rehabilitation clients, their families, and professionals which may be considered an adjunct to other rehabilitation efforts. Since little information has been written in the mainstream rehabilitation journals, a brief background as to the merits of adventure-based counseling and a description of the qualities that characterize adventure-based counseling will be examined. A review of the literature concerning therapeutic benefits of participating in adventure-based counseling programs is offered. Historical Influences of Adventure-based Counseling In order to understand the philosophy of adventure-based counseling, it is important to recognize the early influences of three pre-eminent educational leaders -- William James, John Dewey, and Kurt Hahn. These men believed strongly that new learning and behavior change were a result of direct experience. James, in outlining his principles of experiential education, stated that persons learn best by their own activities (James, 1900). His moral philosophy provided an ethical framework for experiential education that was based on these four propositions: (1) Each person is capable of making free choices which lead to action and, as a result, each person is responsible for the consequences of such action; (2) Truth is developed by reflecting upon the consequences of one's and others' actions; (3) To become fully human, one must actively engage others in the natural environment; and (4) To become a truly mature person, one must sacrifice personal comfort and challenge dehumanizing aspects of the world through direct action. This action is taken for the purpose of creating a better world (Page, 1987). Dewey's critique of educational practices offered that effective learning was a function of two principles -- the principle of interaction and the principle of continuity. …