Doug Nelson is a very early leader in developing what ended up being Wilderness Therapy programs, and he shared his memories about the early days of Wilderness Therapy for adolescents with talk show host Lon Woodbury on L.A. Talk Radio's Struggling Teens weekly interview.
Doug Nelson
Doug Nelson acquired an interest in Wilderness Therapy when he was in charge of the BYU Survival Program in 1973, and he worked as Director until 2008. During this time, too, he launched the famous Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS). Later on, while he was still teaching at BYU, he started the Wilderness Academy which evolved into what is now Aspen Wellness Solutions.
Recalling 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, pupils on a 21 day exploration would come home changed; they were far more satisfied with their parents and much more agreeable. Subsequently, after he sold this successful Wilderness program, Nelson made a new program for teenagers. This was the Wilderness Academy, which incorporated the 21 day program with a healing component to help incorporate the life lessons discovered in the wilderness with daily life. Counselors in the field would draw parallels between a child's encounters in the wild with what was going on at home. Moms and dads were also motivated to invest three days with their kid at trail's end, and those who participated were reimbursed part of the expenses for this commitment to their child's growth.
Nelson shared a few of the therapeutic stories that emerged during his Wilderness trips. Usually, it was discovered that the child was behaving out because of issues connected to their mothers and fathers. For example, in one instance, the parents were considering a divorce. In another case, the father was too preoccupied with his job as an attorney to invest much time parenting.
Nelson described how Steve Cartisano created an effective advertising program that made the Wilderness Therapy industry so popular. Nevertheless, there were many opportunistic programs run like boot camps as opposed to healing programs, and this resulted in fatalities, forcing various States to make new regulations to make sure safety factors were followed.
Now retired, Nelson played a significant task in the very early days of wilderness therapy, helping it evolve from an experiment at BYU to ending up being a highly effective healing choice for struggling teenagers when absolutely nothing else made a difference.
Doug Nelson
Doug Nelson acquired an interest in Wilderness Therapy when he was in charge of the BYU Survival Program in 1973, and he worked as Director until 2008. During this time, too, he launched the famous Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS). Later on, while he was still teaching at BYU, he started the Wilderness Academy which evolved into what is now Aspen Wellness Solutions.
Recalling 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, pupils on a 21 day exploration would come home changed; they were far more satisfied with their parents and much more agreeable. Subsequently, after he sold this successful Wilderness program, Nelson made a new program for teenagers. This was the Wilderness Academy, which incorporated the 21 day program with a healing component to help incorporate the life lessons discovered in the wilderness with daily life. Counselors in the field would draw parallels between a child's encounters in the wild with what was going on at home. Moms and dads were also motivated to invest three days with their kid at trail's end, and those who participated were reimbursed part of the expenses for this commitment to their child's growth.
Nelson shared a few of the therapeutic stories that emerged during his Wilderness trips. Usually, it was discovered that the child was behaving out because of issues connected to their mothers and fathers. For example, in one instance, the parents were considering a divorce. In another case, the father was too preoccupied with his job as an attorney to invest much time parenting.
Nelson described how Steve Cartisano created an effective advertising program that made the Wilderness Therapy industry so popular. Nevertheless, there were many opportunistic programs run like boot camps as opposed to healing programs, and this resulted in fatalities, forcing various States to make new regulations to make sure safety factors were followed.
Now retired, Nelson played a significant task in the very early days of wilderness therapy, helping it evolve from an experiment at BYU to ending up being a highly effective healing choice for struggling teenagers when absolutely nothing else made a difference.
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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