Before Brat Camp, There Was the ANASAZI Way
Arizona Charity Traces its origins and successful treatment methodology to the founders of the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare industry.
Mesa, Arizona (PRWEB) August 25, 2005 -- Many viewers of the popular ABC
reality series “Brat Camp” have no idea there is an entire industry that
utilizes the outdoors and proven therapies to provide intervention services for
troubled teens. Known as “Wilderness Therapy” or “Outdoor Behavioral
Healthcare,” the industry is comprised of providers located throughout the
United States, predominantly in the West. One of the first and most effective of
these organizations is the nonprofit ANASAZI Foundation operating in the
high-desert forests of Arizona.
Respected by behavioral healthcare
professionals and program graduates nationwide, ANASAZI is best known for its
42-day outdoor program designed to help children ages 12-17 and young adults
ages 18-25 with depression, substance abuse, and other emotional or behavioral
concerns. The organization was founded by industry pioneers Larry D. Olsen,
author of the national bestseller “Outdoor Survival Skills,” and Ezekiel C.
Sanchez, who was honored with his wife Pauline as Arizona Parents of the Year in
2001 and as recipients of the National Excellence in Parenting Award for
2002.
Dozens of wilderness therapy programs have been developed since
Olsen and Sanchez first began taking students on wilderness expeditions in the
late 1960s. A few (the most notable exception being the portrayal in the current
Brat Camp series) remain true to the founders’ belief that the wilderness is not
a harsh place to be conquered, but a place where young people may learn to walk
in harmony with others and their surroundings.
“The wilderness provides a
safe and quiet environment free from distraction where, with the help of
qualified guides and clinicians, young people can sort out the problems of their
lives,” said Mike Merchant, ANASAZI’s president and executive director. “Living
comfortably in the outdoors requires responsibility, healthy decision making,
and creativity. It invites introspection, gratitude, and ultimately a change of
heart resulting in a lasting change of behavior.”
ANASAZI’s treatment
methodology—the ANASAZI Way—includes a non-confrontational and caring approach
that integrates the wilderness experience with an accredited educational
curriculum and individual and group therapy conducted by a team of licensed
healthcare professionals. This unique combination has allowed the organization
to enjoy one of the best success rates in its industry—only 5 percent of the
young people served by ANASAZI enter a subsequent inpatient treatment
program.
A key element of ANASAZI’s success, in Merchant’s view, is
family involvement. “ANASAZI’s experience has shown that repairing the bonds
between children and their parents, or ‘turning hearts homeward’ as we call it,
is the key to overcoming most challenges,” Merchant said. “For this reason, we
require parents to attend a workshop, participate in weekly counseling sessions,
and spend the final three days in the wilderness with their child. We feel this
commitment is essential to developing a home environment that supports and
sustains the child’s commitment to ‘walking forward’ in life.”
“The
wilderness and our concurrent work with the family provide a unique treatment
milieu that allows us to effectively address the biopsychosocial-spiritual
aspects of a child’s life,” said ANASAZI Clinical Director Dr. Fred Dodini. "We
work on relevant physical and emotional health issues like diet, exercise, sleep
patterns, social skills, and emotional self-regulation. Most importantly, we
help adolescents identify, through real-life experiences, the core values that
form the foundation of their lives and provide the resiliency needed to face the
challenges of today's world.”
The Brat Camp television series has placed
the bright light of scrutiny on wilderness therapy—specifically on the
confrontational and “manufactured” approach many have noted in the current
program. While organizations employing these techniques have helped many
children, the staff at ANASAZI believes it is important to understand there are
more effective and positive ways to promote lasting change. ANASAZI’s years of
experience have proven that children respond best not when they are labeled,
embarrassed, or manipulated, but when they are truly cared for in the positive,
peaceful, and uncluttered environment provided by Mother Earth.
Outdoor
behavioral healthcare performed in a life-affirming environment has long been
recognized as an effective method of intervention. As this form of therapy
increases in popularity, it is increasingly important for parents and referring
therapists to select a program they can trust. To assist them, ANASAZI and other
leading healthcare providers formed the Outdoor Behavioral Health Industry
Council (OBHIC), an association that defines standards and practices for outdoor
programs committed to helping young people and families make positive
change.
As the only year-round nonprofit organization in a competitive
and now highly visible industry, ANASAZI works to ensure its programs are
available to all families, regardless of their ability to pay. With this in
mind, the organization continually raises funds from caring donors who provide
scholarships to those families in need.
ANASAZI founder Sanchez marvels
at the unprecedented interest in the industry he helped create. “Larry Olsen and
I could not have imagined the legacy of those early courses, which were
initially designed to teach the primitive living skills of America’s ancient
inhabitants,” said Sanchez, who continues his work at ANASAZI. “Almost
immediately, we realized that a peaceful walking in the wilderness offered our
students and others facing significant personal challenges a much more
important, life-altering service. I am pleased this type of therapy is as vital
now as it was then, and I remain forever honored to help our remarkable young
people learn how to walk forward in the ANASAZI Way.”
ABOUT ANASAZI
FOUNDATION
ANASAZI Foundation is a nonprofit (501c3), nationally recognized,
licensed, and JCAHO-accredited behavioral healthcare provider for youth and
young adults with depression, anger, aggression, school failure, substance
abuse, suicidal ideation, and other emotional or behavioral concerns. ANASAZI's
menu of services includes a 42-day outdoor treatment program for youths ages
12-17 and young adults ages 18-25, as well as parenting workshops, leadership
and marriage courses, outpatient counseling, and community drug awareness and
education forums. More information is available at www.anasazi.org.
CONTACT
Sean Rourke
ANASAZI
Foundation
480-892-7403 phone
e-mail protected from spam bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prweb276198.htm