FAQs

When considering treatment options, it is essential to evaluate a teen's or young adult's specific needs. In addition, a parent needs to evaluate their own. Those evaluations may be best assessed with the help of an Educational Consultant or home therapist. A few helpful things to consider when a parent decides on the necessity of our programs are:

• Is my child ready to be a part of the solution at home?
• Have we tried less invasive attempts to create change with little to no success?
• What are the risks of intervening too early vs. intervening too late?
• Is my hesitancy to consider wilderness therapy about me or about what my child needs?
• Have I learned exactly what is involved in a wilderness therapy intervention?

Many people are hesitant to enroll their child or themselves in a wilderness program because they don't understand what it is. Wilderness therapy is an experiential approach that combines traditional therapy with new and innovative approaches set in the beautiful outdoors. It is an emotionally safe and nurturing program that promotes change without the use of shame, guilt, or intimidation. More than merely creating behavioral change, wilderness therapy promotes enduring transformations through ritual, metaphor, and rites of passage while engaging in a small group living environment. The wilderness group becomes the microcosm of home life where new skills and insights are generated and immediately put to use. Simply put, and as many of our parents realize, wilderness therapy may be the most dynamic and effective approach to therapy that you will ever experience. Parents can talk with an Admissions Counselor at 866.411.6600, or ask to talk to a Therapist at Evoke to discuss their specific concerns.

Perhaps the thing that separates Evoke Therapy Programs from other programs is our unmatched commitment to family support. Letter-writing therapy, family phone calls, family visits, local parent support groups, national family workshops, a webinar library of almost 400 webinars along with twice-weekly broadcasts, sibling webinars, and access to a robust parent portal are some of the services we offer to support our families. Parents and children are guided on parallel paths towards health and healing. In addition to the support offered during the program, parents are granted life-long access to parenting webinars and support groups offered to our current participants. New parents are provided Parent Mentors from alumni parents eager to serve and give back some of the gifts and wisdom they received while at our program. These resources are commonly used by parents for years in order to remind them of lessons learned and also a venue to offer mutually beneficial support to new families. For additional support, Evoke Therapy Programs also offers Parent, Couple, and Family Intensives throughout the year.

Our Parent Portal offers parents and siblings the opportunity to access group journals, group and individual pictures, and weekly letters. Siblings may be asked to write letters and are offered the opportunity to receive letters to address important family issues. Evoke provides special webinars focused on siblings and sibling issues. Your children can log in to ask questions or send in questions in advance to later see those questions answered by Dr. Brad Reedy, author and co-founder of Evoke Therapy Programs. Click here to view one of the Sibling Webinars mentioned above. 

In many cases the answer to this question is that it doesn’t matter. Providing a teen or young adult with help and support in a wilderness program is an intervention to prevent further troubles as well as to reverse destructive patterns already present. Wilderness therapy is relatively short-term and can also provide parents with an assessment to find out whether, and what kind of support they will need going forward. Many times parents struggle to see the forest through the trees and consulting with a professional may help them to get clear about their teen's or young adult's issues and needs. An Independent Educational Consultant (therapeutic placement specialists) or a therapist that is informed about wilderness therapy may help them acquire the clarity they need to find confidence in their decision. Our Admissions Counselors can recommend professionals or you can visit the Independent Educational Consultant Website for a list of names in your area.

The love of a parent is perhaps the strongest love we know. This love often comes with guilt for myriad shortcomings and the recognition that we cannot always know and do what is right for our children. The decision to send a teen or young adult to Evoke Therapy Programs is a courageous one and often brings with it anxiety and guilt. Parents will be provided education and parent coaching to deal with this guilt and move past it in order to provide more effective parenting. Forgiving themselves is one of the most important things a parent can do for their struggling child. This forgiveness allows parents to become more clear and hold healthy boundaries with their children, even as young adults. Moving away from guilt is essential and allows parents to do the right thing for their children instead of being held hostage by a child’s feelings of sadness or resentment. Their teen or young adult will forgive them when they get healthy because this is what healthy people do. They will learn during their participation at Evoke to challenge old notions of guilt and shame and they will learn to do the best thing for their child in spite of the guilt they may feel. There is no shortcut and no way around this lesson, and they will be supported to walk through their guilt to the other side where they will find hope and connection to their child and their needs. Read our related blog article.

Our numbers suggest that approximately 65% of teens are transported to to the program via professional transport services. This is often a safe and effective way to enroll a child. The transport from the home, with the support and presence of the parents, signals to the child that the parents are fully involved and invested in the intervention. Professional transporting also prevents escalation, running away, physical or verbal violence, and the temptation for parents to lie or promise things to the child during the enrollment process. Please ask your Educational Consultant or Admissions Counselor if you would like additional information. You may also click here to read our blog about our transportation study, or click here to read our blog, Utilizing Transport Companies: Allaying Fears and Addressing Myths Associated with Adolescent Transport. 

The initial phase of the program consists of the participant spending a few days outside of the social circle of the group. The new enrollee sits just outside of the group in order to observe the group culture and learn about group expectations. Staff and an assigned peer mentor allow for more focused conversations and instruction while the new member is in the initial phase. This initial step is so that a new participant can reflect on the circumstances that led to their enrollment in the program. Self-reflection is also facilitated through a Life Story Assignment that will be later shared with the group. This time also allows the staff more focus and attention on new members of the program to ensure that their adjustment is a safe one.

All groups are organized around themes and diagnoses related to the specialization of each Therapist. However, there is some range in terms of presenting issues and levels of functioning. This range provides all our participants with exposure to those differences as well as exposure to others who may be functioning at a higher or lower level. Groups also go through cycles where they are functioning well and when they are struggling. These differences provide a rich opportunity for participants to engage in leadership roles, or be led by others with more experience. Exposure to peers who are presenting with serious issues also provides participants with opportunities to overcome distractions and peer pressure in a controlled and safe environment.

There are two important points to make here; first, most participants will complain to their parents that the others in the group are sicker than they are. They play on parents’ fears that they are being exposed to more serious issues in an attempt to get parents to rescue them. Second, the level of supervision in our wilderness programs is such that any peer pressure or negative behaviors are addressed in the here-and-now. Thus, being exposed to others who might have different or significant issues does not go untreated and provides students a powerful therapeutic benefit.

Weekly phone calls will focus on progress, assessment, and aftercare planning. Each participant’s situation is considered when making recommendations regarding length-of-stay and graduation. This discussion and decision is between Therapists and parents; and in the case of young adults, they will become a part of the discussions regarding length of stay.

Therapists provide assessments and recommendations, in collaboration with the family's other treatment professionals, but parents are responsible for the aftercare decision for their child. In the case of a young adult, the young adult will have the last say in their aftercare decision. It is common for recommendations of aftercare from residential treatment to therapeutic boarding, to transitional living, to intensive outpatient to be included in the assessment of your child. Our experience tells us that many of our graduates would benefit from continued care. This basis is not a theoretical one, but rather one we have developed from decades of experience in the Wilderness Therapy field. Nevertheless, each participant will be treated individually and his or her recommendations will be made to the parents (or young-adults) so that they may make the most informed decision possible.

Evoke Therapists will make sure to provide the professionals working with your family all the necessary information needed to take advantage of the progress and assessment made during their wilderness experience. Parents are provided a lifetime subscription to the Parent Webinars in order to stay connected to the principles and skills they acquired while at Evoke. Our Research Director will periodically follow up with surveys or questions regarding participants’ continued progress. In many cases parents will reach out to Therapists in order to keep them updated or to ask for help.