Outdoor Campground Seminar Brings Families Together

Family therapy is an integral part of a teen's treatment experience at Island View residential treatment center. Family therapy, which includes weekly therapy sessions and family seminars, allows all members of a family to take part in a student's long-term growth and helps them to internalize the changes that have occurred during their student's time at Island View.

Normally, Island View's family seminar is offered on its campus along with an experiential education component. This year, however, the seminar was offered outdoors during a two-day camping trip at Tanner Flats in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah.

"Holding it outdoors increased internalization by both the students and the parents of the students' therapeutic change," said Shaun Smith, Island View's residential program manager. "It increased the bonding of family members to one another, and increased the bonding of the families to one another. It also provided much greater insight for the clinicians into the family dynamics and the needs of each student."

Increased Bonding

Holding the family seminar outside of the center's residential setting provided several benefits, according to Smith.

The seminar's campground setting kept families together for an extended amount of time, with their peers and staff as support. That provided an easier transition for students who are making therapeutic progress to demonstrate their growth in the family setting.

"Oftentimes there is a fear in the students to demonstrate change with their families because it has not yet been internalized," Smith said.

The outdoor family seminar also provided opportunities for real-life situations — rather than contrived activities — to challenge the families to function as a unit. The outdoor seminar allowed the families to relax together in between activities in a much more informal way, providing a great deal of growth and increased comfort with one another.

Lastly, the outdoor setting provided a much more intimate setting for Island View's Parent Support Group, expediting bonding between the parents.

Removing Walls to Growth

To create a successful outdoor experience for families, Smith and Recreation Director Jon Griffith merged recreation, experiential education and family therapy. They were inspired by the idea that by removing the literal walls of a room, families could remove their own figurative walls – walls that prevent or slow down the communication process and therapeutic growth.

The three families that participated in the two-day trip worked together to pack and prepare for the trip, which required effective communication and collaboration among all of the family members. Once at Tanner Flats, the families had to set up their own campsites, prepare lunch and participate in making dinner for the entire group. The group included three Island View students, two fathers, two mothers and two siblings.

Various groups were held during the trip, including parent support, individual family therapy and multifamily therapy. To help the group bond and create trust among all participants, they took a hike during the first day — a bonding experience that established the foundation upon which later therapeutic work was built.

"One of the most impactful moments in the seminar was the fireside, multifamily group therapy," said Jason Drake, LCSW, clinical program manager of the boys' teams at Island View. "There is something about spending the day together, working and playing alongside each other, and then wrapping up the evening facilitating a multifamily therapy group with families who are much more familiar, comfortable and intimate with one another."

Positive Experience

As the following comments indicate, feedback from Island View's first outdoor family seminar was extremely positive:

"This has been the best parent seminar I have attended. I and my daughters got to spend quality time with my son and shared experiences and conversations throughout the day in an unforced and natural setting."
"Change of environment always brings change of thought ... problem solving, importance of family support, self support and confidence."
"The open air and camp setting made it comfortable to be ... tough on issues but reinforce life skills and family interaction."

Though the next outdoor family seminar has yet to be scheduled, the positive feedback received from participants has encouraged Island View staff to plan on holding another such event in the future.