ADVENTURE RECOVERY FAQ
What does Adventure Recovery do?
Adventure Recovery guides people in the great outdoors for their mental health, well-being, and life advancement. AR creates and facilitates tailored programs in prevention, education, and discovery, as well as mental health and substance use-informed experiences. Learn more About Adventure Recovery.
Where are your programs located?
Our organization is national. AR offers programming and leadership across the US and beyond. The crew travels to location for individuals and groups. Programs traverse North America, Canada, and the Caribbean for workshops, programs, and trainings. Clients decide location, we bring the gear and expertise. Our two current AR bases are in Connecticut and Colorado.
Can I hire AR to teach me how to paddle, climb, snowshoe, or ski?
Yes! Whatever you are interested in learning outside, Adventure Recovery customizes each itinerary, expedition, and run of show for every individual, institutional group, and family we work with to ensure the experience is coherent and impactful. The Adventure Recovery crew features experts in adventure guiding and outdoor activities to ensure we cover areas of interest.
Can I hire AR to instruct one-on-one or do I have to be in a group?
The crew loves instructing and guiding others to learn how to do what they love, and you can do this solo, with friends or peers, or with a group.
How do I know if I am the right fit for AR?
Call us any time at 1-888-710-7017 or email info@adventurerecovery.com
How much does AR cost?
Adventure Recovery coaching, guide service, and programming is formulated on a case-by-case basis, with many factors contributing to the process, including activities chosen, locations, desired goals and outcomes, and length of commitment interest. Costs can be discussed any time. Call 1-888-710-7017 or email info@adventurerecovery.com
What are some of the differences between residential treatment programs, wilderness programs, and AR?
Adventure Recovery guides individuals and groups through experiential modalities, through the lens of mental health awareness and substance use prevention. We apply best practice in outdoor skills instruction while facilitating transformational adventures and rites of passage. AR is not a residential treatment or traditional wilderness model. It is a unique, customized, outdoor outpatient model. In fact, AR is a pioneer when it comes to peer-based, mental-health-informed learning in the prevention, education, and recovery space.
Does AR provide lodging?
Programs access wilderness areas and tracts of land where programming, training, and workshops take place. There is typically an option to camp, depending on the program being conducted and the location. When traveling, we plan the destinations, activities, and lodgings based on the individual client or group and their specific wishes and needs.
Sometimes clients are furnished with expeditionary gear as needed. Gear lists are provided upon program initiation.
Is AR programming sober-only?
No. We welcome folks from all areas and in varied stages of their life. We are nonjudgmental on this topic and though we specialize in mental health and recovery-informed coaching and guiding, we allow individuals to determine their own course without external influence. We believe in the wildness within and the intrinsic need for each of us to be the navigator of our own healing. With that said, AR coaches and guides will not conduct outdoor programming if a client/s is intoxicated. This is to best protect clients and the AR team. We are not a punitive model and immediately seek support for those in need.
Who will be providing the experiences?
Each individual or group experience is led by certified, professional AR Guides, AR Clinicians, and AR Coaches, depending on the nature of the event.
What does certified mean?
Adventure Recovery Guides, Adventure Recovery Clinicians, and Adventure Recovery Coaches go through training with AR directly, as well as external trainings, and comply with standards of best practice requirements based on the nature of activity and the setting. This includes but is not limited to: Wilderness Medical Training (Wilderness First Responder and Wilderness First Aid), at varying levels depending on whether one is an AR Guide, AR Clincian, or AR Coach, CPR, mental health first aid training, recovery-friendly awareness training, risk management, and Narcan training. In addition, crew members hold degrees of specialization in the outdoor sports being employed, such as rock climbing, whitewater rafting, kayaking, surfing, mountaineering, orienteering, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, bushcraft, rites of passage, etc. Each team member is supervised and up to date on the latest standards necessary for the modes of outdoor expertise and excellence employed.
Do Adventure Recovery clinicians serve on the team?
Yes. Adventure Recovery has team members who are clinically licensed and also works with seasoned clinical mental health practitioners we know and trust. We have clinicians in-house and lean on experts outside of AR, as needed. Our clinical advisors provide supervision for our guides and executive team and work with families or individuals, when reccommended, to ensure they get the appropriate support. Adventure Recovery is an experiential model. We support and help guide others to medical treatment, when needed.
Will Adventure Recovery collaborate with therapists?
Yes. We have background in clinical care methods and support individuals on the path to wellness and healing. In addition, the guiding principle is that it takes a village. The organization collaborates with experts in the outdoor guiding field and in the treatment industry—including licensed psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, case managers, and education consultants. Decades in the recovery field and treatment space inform our approach.
What if someone has a history of trauma? How do you handle that?
The team has experience in frontline care settings and Guides, Clinicians, and Coaches are trained to support individuals exactly where they are on the path to wellness and healing. In addition, clinical support participates as needed. Many have gone through significant trauma, and AR understands the nuances of living with that history. The crew is trained in compassionate communication and mental health awareness, including mental health first aid. Clients are supported with the utmost care every step of the way, and guides and coaches refer out when necessary to ensure each individual gets the attention they need.
How do I know if I am the right fit to work for AR?
Call or email.
Where can I get an answer to a question that isn’t addressed here?
Call any time at 1-888-710-7017 or email info@adventurerecovery.com
We are here to help.
When we learn how to enjoy ourselves in our daily lives, through healthful, active living, we overcome destructive behaviors in favor of more satisfying ways of being. Therefore, when we love what we do, we move away from self-destruction. Furthermore, we embrace the necessary skills to feel empowered to pursue activities in the great outdoors for a lifetime. Adventures include hiking, fire ceremony, biking, surfing, SUP, climbing, orienteering, rafting, kayaking, camping, bushcraft, skiing, xc skiing, and snowboarding.
LEARN MORE: CONTACT AR 1-888-710-7017
