Abstract

For those with behavioural, psychological, and emotional disorders, adventure therapy offers a technique for prevention, early intervention, and treatment. It may be appealing to at-risk kids who frequently respond poorly to conventional psychotherapy interventions. This investigation evaluated wilderness exploration. Based on the pre-program, post-program, and follow-up responses to self-report questionnaires, therapy (WAT) outcomes for participants. The sample included 36 teenage out-patients with a variety of mental health conditions that underwent a manualized, 10-week WAT intervention. The short-term standardized mean impact size was small, statistically significant, and positive overall, with moderate, substantial considerable gains in social confidence and psychological toughness. Except for the change in suicidality, which was lower than the equivalent benchmark, the overall shortterm effects fell within the age-based adventure therapy meta-analytic benchmark 90% confidence intervals.