If you are familiar with therapeutic boarding schools you may already know that many of them do not utilize the outdoors as much as they should in the therapeutic process. In fact, many similar schools are located in cities or areas where the outdoors is not very accessible. Nature’s playground is our backdoor. Through utilizing outdoor recreation in our school our teens experience the therapeutic effect of the great outdoors in a way that few will ever experience.
Turning Winds uses the outdoors to combine adventure therapy, experiential education and psycho-educational therapy. Experiential learning is based on the belief that lasting change occurs when people are placed outside familiar situations of comfort and immersed in new and unique circumstances. In this way, students are participants rather than spectators and learn to appreciate the power of the great outdoors on our beautiful school campus.
The vehicle we rely on to connect our students with the outdoors and the therapeutic experience of nature is our TREC (Turning Winds Recreation and Education Connection) program. TREC has helped hundreds of troubled teens excel through the boarding school experience. Through TREC our students are able to experience first-hand activities such as: Backcountry hiking, backpacking, mountain bike riding, white water rafting, fishing, snowshoeing, skiing/snowboarding, cross country skiing, and many other activities. Each activity is a therapeutic tool we use to teach important life-lessons such as endurance, team work, mental strength, and a list of others.
Learning activities are real and meaningful in terms of natural consequences; reflection and problem-solving are vehicles for intellectual and emotional stimulation, and students are accountable for their own behaviors and insights. Outdoor education maximizes the experience for the teen boys and girls we serve. Maintaining a good balance between work and recreation is a top goal at the Turning Winds therapeutic school.