Health and Education

What a valuable, purposeful and honorable position you are in! Whether you’re a parent, family member, teacher, therapist, or friend,  you have the opportunity to change a teen’s life!  Perhaps you’re raising a pre-teen that has a wild side. Maybe you’re a teacher who wants to impact the students that spend most of their time with you. You might be a caring relative or family friend who understands the influence of positive relationships.  You can change a teen’s fuature! What are the risky behaviors that teens engage in?  The most common are sexual activity, substance use, illegal behaviors and dangerous driving . You can view a more comprehensive and detailed list from the CDC  here , which includes things like suicide and abuse. If you’re concerned about your teen’s future, here are a handful of practical, applicable ways to prevent risky behaviors. Be relational. Adolescents who live with and get along well with their parents are less likely to ...

When you held your tiny infant in your arms, you wished all the best for their future: success, friendship, health, and joy. But eventually independence, rebellion, stressful life situations, behavioral issues, or emotional stressors set in. And here you are now, overcome with emotions centered around your struggling teen. How can I help my son with his depression and anxiety? What can I do to get my daughter to speak to me? I don’t understand why my teen behaves/reacts this way. How did I not see this coming? Where did I go wrong? What now? We are here to help. Our team at   Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness   helps your child overcome their obstacles while participating in our intentional, safe, and life-changing program. We can offer both your troubled teen and your family a pathway for hope, change, and healing. But right now we’re just going to provide you, an overwhelmed parent of a struggling teen, with some wisdom for the moment. The 5 Non-Negoti...

Therefore all staff members participate in a minimum of 80 hours of initial staff training until the Executive and Field Directors believe they are proficient in the following skills: Instruction in safety procedures and proper equipment usage (fuel, fire, life protection) Instruction in emergency procedures like medical, evacuation, weather, or fire Basic first-aid Navigation skills (map and compass use for navigation) Local environmental precautions (terrain, weather, insects, poisonous plants) Planned response to adverse situations or emergency evacuations Counseling, teaching, supervisory skills, leadership, leadership, communication, relational skills, and wilderness hard skills Managing, preparing, and conserving water, food, and shelter Low impact wilderness expedition and environmental conservation skills Group management (containment, control, safety, conflict resolution, and behavior management) Sanitation procedures; water, waste, food, etc. Report writing, inc...

At Blue Ridge, we are dedicated to   Whole Family Support  and believe in Family Systems oriented treatment . Led by our seasoned and compassionate clinical and family support teams, Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness provides the most effective and clinically integrated family experience, which contributes to foundational transformation in teens and their families. Transforming core dynamics for families occurs through the utilization of individualized clinical treatment, together with intensive family-focused support, and whole body health and wellness. As we continue to evolve, we adhere to our commitment to provide the most comprehensive, integrated family support by welcoming two Family Therapists to our treatment team. We are proud to announce the addition of  Kayla Davenport, MS  and  Elizabeth Newton, MS, MFT  to our Family Support Program. They have spent a great deal of time training with our clinical team and spending time in the field...

Bullying is something that you never want your child to engage in, as the bully or the victim or an accomplice. But that doesn’t stop bullying or conflict from happening. So, how can you teach your child the  difference between being mean, being rude, and being a bully ? Let’s define the terms. Conflict can include being rude or mean. Being  rude  is when someone is not trying to intentionally hurt the other person. It isn’t a repetitive behavior, and there is not an imbalance of power. For example, Judy asked Martha if she could borrow a pencil. But Martha explained that it wasn’t her pencil, she borrowed it from another friend, so she didn’t want to let Judy use it. Being  mean  is when someone is trying to intentionally hurt the other person but they are usually nice, and there is no imbalance of power. For example, if Kyle told Mark that he was a terrible baseball player who should never try out for the baseball team, then Kyle is being mean to ...