Adventure Therapy

Associates in Applied Science Degree – Adventure Therapy Concentration

Maine’s outdoor environment is the ideal location to study Outdoor Leadership! The program was created in response to the increasing demand for qualified, trained outdoor specialists in the Outdoor Recreation industry. Choose from two concentrations including Adventure Recreation and Tourism, and Adventure Therapy. The Adventure Recreation and Tourism concentration equips students with leadership skills that will prepare them for careers in the fast-growing outdoor recreation and adventure tourism industry. The Adventure Therapy concentration focuses on providing students the skills needed to provide front-line support services to clients in adventure-based and nature-based therapeutic program.

Purpose: The Adventure Therapy option of the Outdoor Leadership program at Washington County Community College was created in response to the increasing demand for qualified, trained outdoor professionals in adventure-based and nature-based therapy. This program focuses on providing students the skills needed to provide front-line support services to clients in adventure-based and nature-based therapeutic programs in Maine, across the country, and around the world. Adventure Therapy provides students with the opportunity to combine training in outdoor leadership skills with counseling and facilitation skills, allowing them to lead and facilitate adventure-based and wilderness-based therapeutic experiences using effective techniques to help clients cope with and overcome various behavioral, cognitive, social, and affective disorders. This hands-on, experiential program utilizes Maine’s natural environment as a classroom, allowing students to study how adventure-based and nature-based therapeutic programs are transforming people’s lives.

Career Opportunities: Successful completion of the program qualifies graduates to work as field guides, recovery coaches, program directors, and other support positions for organizations that specialize in providing adventure-based and wilderness-based therapeutic programs in the outdoor behavioral health field.

Program Educational Outcomes: Upon completion of the Associate in Applied Science degree in Outdoor Leadership Adventure Therapy, the graduate is prepared to:

Identify and apply principles of self-care and personal leadership in a variety of challenging outdoor environments.
Research and discuss the history and importance of various types of outdoor programs.
Identify and apply effective risk management concepts before, during, and after various outdoor activities.
Identify and apply various leadership theories related to outdoor leadership and programming.
Identify and interpret various components of the natural world.
Research common ethical viewpoints and formulate a personal environmental ethic.
Create and deliver outdoor programs that address a specific set of outcomes.
Identify and apply outdoor technical skills to meet industry standards specific to various certifications and licensures.
Explain the role that risk and wilderness play in providing a therapeutic experience.
Identify various forms of crisis and formulate appropriate plans to manage its impact.

Outdoor Leadership Faculty Contact

Scott H. Fraser
Outdoor Leadership Instructor
207.454.1031
sfraser@wccc.me.edu