Adolescent

(Ages 13 – 17)

Deschutes Wilderness Therapy offers a nationally recognized, trauma-responsive, immersive experience for adolescents struggling to make age-appropriate progress and live joyful lives.

Your teen and family engage in an intensive therapeutic journey that spans approximately three months and uniquely prepares your child for healthier communication, improved self-regulation, building healthy coping skills, and reduced maladaptive survival behaviors, and continued healing.

Deschutes Wilderness Therapy is a relationship-based program that provides reliable and repetitive experiences of co-regulation to support healing and development. Our model is clinically sophisticated, and we meet your teen where they are developmentally and scaffold the necessary supports for your teen to do the hard work of addressing their most painful and scary issues.

Utilizing somatic(body-based) clinical approaches and attuning to your teen provides the safe and secure base that they need to dig deep into the issues underlying their emotional dysregulation and maladaptive survival behaviors (such as suicidality, self-harm, substance abuse, screen addictions, and more), beginning the healing process and allowing for healthier behaviors to emerge.

Deschutes Adolescent Program is Unique in its Approach in Three Key Components:

1

Trauma-responsive and attachment theory-based programming includes canine therapy, adventure, and mastery program as part of each student’s process.

2

Students and families are supported with treatment plans tailored to each student’s individual needs, beginning with transition intervention; students are engaged and educated about their treatment journey before arriving and carrying this agency throughout their experience.

3

Experienced Therapists use brain-based-somatic interventions using a bottom-up approach to resolve trauma and get to the root of issues while deeply engaging families throughout the therapeutic process.

Who We Serve, Our Teen Students

Deschutes Wilderness Therapy's adolescent program supports students between the ages of 13-17. Many of our students have not achieved success in other treatment settings. Instead, they need our immersive and intensive program to overcome deep-seated and complex issues such as trauma, attachment disorders, adoption and other developmental traumas, and a wide range of clinical diagnoses and maladaptive patterns of avoidance and survival behaviors. Students often present with anxiety disorder, severe depression, suicidality, executive functioning difficulties (including ADHD, processing speed issues, nonverbal learning disorders, and other neurodiversity challenges), substance use, self-harm, and a wide range of relationship challenges.

The adolescents we support have often experienced difficulties over a long period. These struggles progress to the extent that you are worried about your child's safety and the downward spiral you observe. Many of our students come into the program wanting support in healing and feeling better. Some do not want to be here with us at the start of their journey. Regardless of whether your teen comes to us with insight or resistance, we will meet them where they are and work towards digging into the complex issues underlying the concerning behaviors that you experience.

Our team carefully reviews your teen's history and challenges and thoroughly assesses how Deschutes would support your child and your family. If we are not the right therapeutic fit, we will suggest more appropriate treatment options and additional avenues of guidance and support.

Family Immersive Experience

Deschutes Wilderness Therapy provides comprehensive family support throughout the immersive journey. DWT uses a family system and attachment-focused approach and removes the stigma of the child as the "identified patient ." You will explore family dynamics and patterns and how families communicate, manage conflict, establish boundaries and express their identities. Parent and caregiver involvement, growth, and development are integral to overall success in our program and in what follows post-transition.

Our comprehensive supports include virtual parent coaching with licensed DWT therapists, a two-day in-person family therapy visit, in-person family intensives*, weekly calls with your child's primary therapist, weekly online parent support forums, and access to informative webinars and supportive reading materials.

You will find a more thorough overview of our family services here
*additional fees will apply

Top 5 Highlights of our Adolescent Program

1

Precision Brain-based Somatic Approach: Highly experienced therapists use brain-based and somatic interventions to resolve trauma and precisely target the root of core challenges.

2

Safety-Deschutes Wilderness exceeds the highest standards for student safety in the country. The state of Oregon has the highest level of oversight and supervision for programs in the country. In addition to in-field safety measures, Deschutes is uniquely located in the heart of the largest city in central Oregon. The operating field area where your child will live during their stay is 30-60 minutes outside town. In addition to critical medical care, your child will have easy access to dentists, orthodontists, physical therapists, and psychiatrists. Our team at Deschutes is committed to getting your child to any in-town services when needed and without delay.

3

Mastery- Deschutes recognizes that each student has a unique path, and a cookie-cutter approach cannot support them on their journey. Our Mastery System helps individuals become a master of whatever they choose. Our therapeutic role is to assist in getting the blocks out of the way, whether emotional or historical. We foster independence through empowerment, knowledge, and personal growth.

The Mastery System fosters the relational model with our wilderness instructors and our students as they form an alliance during the process, allowing students to connect positively with peers and staff members. This system does not rely upon students earning levels, points, or other authoritarian structured perspectives. Instead, the Mastery System encourages individualized treatment and attention for students.

4

Canine Therapy- At Deschutes, our canine therapy program strategically uses Golden Retrievers to teach our students how to work on healthy relationships, with the ultimate goal being transferable attachment. Transferable attachment is practicing relationship tools with the canines and then transferring those skills learned to healthy human relationships. Our canines' unconditional love and loyalty make them the perfect animal to work with when practicing safe relationships.
When coming to Deschutes, students are gradually introduced to the canine program, with the initial focus being on their own safety and self-care. During this time, they are encouraged to participate in canine activities and can interact daily. Once students are ready, they take on the role of canine caregiver. As canine caregiver, they are responsible for practicing our CASA model, which stands for Commitment, Acceptance, Security, and Attunement.

5

Ceremony Culture-Your student's experience, progress, and journey at Deschutes will be marked and celebrated through thoughtful ceremony. Deschutes Wilderness Therapy utilizes the sacred space of ceremony to honor our students for their hard work. Our Field Instructors create intentional ceremonial spaces to celebrate therapeutic milestones, honor the passing of a loved one, or pay tribute to the changing seasons and moving field areas. Deschutes Field Instructors often create handmade beads to capture these milestones in a tangible form that our students can take with them on their journey. These beads serve as a reminder and memento for these impactful moments. Beads are often awarded for things like sobriety, completing therapeutic challenges, concluding our immersive family therapy day, and transitioning out of our program. Deschutes Field instructors will bestow meaning and significance to the beads students receive during each ceremony.

The Deschutes Wilderness Therapy Process

Gain insight into the journey our families undertake with our wilderness therapy program. Positive, healing change happens with time and concerted effort, and Deschutes is ready to be there every step of the way.

Get Help Today

Adolescent Overview

Nomadic

The rustic basecamp model provides a structured, stable environment for therapy, relaxation, and growth. Students dive into therapeutic work with their clinical team; the session is often tucked into a grove of trees, on the edge of a beautiful vista, or in a warm, cozy wall tent. A well-stocked backcountry kitchen with access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains provides the space to cook, clean, organize, and enjoy delicious meals with the group. Spacious wall tents with wood-fired stoves offer space to get out of the elements, work on assignments, and connect with group mates. Art supplies, musical instruments, games, and supplies are available as needed for working on parts of your treatment plan. An outdoor firepit provides space to connect and share with peers in the evenings. Students sleep in an individual tent, with a warm sleeping bag to ensure some private space to retire to each night. Fresh laundry and enclosed, heated showers are available to scrub clean between adventures.

Your child will explore the natural world and learn the necessary hard skills to thrive in the wilderness, including "leave no trace" practices, backpacking techniques, fire building, shelter construction, and self-care in the backcountry. These skills develop confidence and build self-resilience that your child will integrate into their lives beyond the wilderness environment. While at basecamp, they participate in a daily "day hike" to explore the nearby scenery or have lunch on top of a butte. When a day hike is not possible, students will engage in an active game to maintain daily movement.

Basecamp location moves depending on the season, taking advantage of higher elevation shaded forest locations to escape the summer heat and lower elevation desert vistas with plenty of sunshine in the winter.

Therapeutic Modalities

At DYA, the primary therapist is in the field up to two days per week, meeting with each of their students for a weekly individual therapy session. The therapeutic work continues outside of the sessions through experiences in the wilderness. DYA believes that gaining insight and awareness are valuable to make changes; however, having experiences to make changes is also essential. Assignments outside of therapy are an important part of the therapeutic journey to help students get to the root of their challenges and process on a deep level. Students will also work with a field therapist in the milieu with group members three days a week. Finally, the field therapist facilitates adjunctive therapy sessions and experiential and process therapy groups.

DYA therapists are trained in and use a relationship-based, trauma-responsive approach and use the following techniques to support clients in their therapeutic process:

Trusting relationships to support clients in making changes.
Body-based therapies so clients can learn to regulate their emotions.
Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga to increase body-brain awareness and connection.
Brainspotting to process sources of trauma and distress in the body
HeartMath to refocus emotions, release stress, balance emotions, and self-regulate.

DYA therapists take a unique approach to dual-diagnosis students by using an attachment-based, trauma-responsive lens to address addiction. Students with dual diagnoses will explore the following:

The purpose of their addiction, its relationship to their attachment needs, and the neurophysiological effect.
Patterns they may be experiencing.
The roots of their addiction.
Process the hurt and shame experienced in addiction.
Connect through the 12-Steps or other recovery support programs.

Expedition

Expedition is everything that happens away from camp. Expedition includes backpacking to our different field areas, embarking on an extensive adventure trip like snowshoeing, canoeing, climbing at Smith Rock, whitewater rafting, or integrating into our local community where students will be able to experience museums, volunteering at food banks, or joining a pottery class downtown.

Expedition allows our students to face challenging activities among their peers, and together they can learn through adversity and push outside of their comfort zone. Students learn healthy communication and conflict repair work in this process, practice vulnerability and advocation, exercise teamwork, and develop critical social skills. Your child continues this practice in their individual therapy work, family work, and relationships while building confidence, self-esteem, and lasting change.

Academics

Deschutes Wilderness Academy is a nationally accredited school through Cognia. We strive to support the academic process of our students by providing experiential learning that supports the continuation of their education. In addition to our therapeutic objectives, we offer opportunities for continuing their educational credit and academic growth based on the individual needs of each student. The primary goal of Deschutes Wilderness is to deeply impact the lives of our students by therapeutic means. Inherent in the nature of our program is educational growth; therefore, we provide the opportunity for students to receive credits for their academic progress.

Upon arrival at Deschutes, students are automatically enrolled in the Academy because we understand the importance of academic success in their lives. We support an alternative education that covers a core curriculum. The core curriculum is inquiry-based, progressive in nature, and student-directed. Courses available are English Language Arts, Health, Environmental Science, and Physical Education.

The core curriculum is built into daily programming and structure. During this structured time, tutoring support from instructors is available. Each course selection is based on individual credit requirements, and your child’s academic challenges are assessed when they enter our program. Official transcripts, course descriptions, and a possibility for community service hours will be provided after your child’s graduation.

Canine

At Deschutes Wilderness Therapy, our canine therapy program uses Golden Retrievers strategically to teach our students how to work on healthy relationships, with the ultimate goal being a transferable attachment. Transferable attachment is practicing relationship tools with the canines and then transferring those skills learned to healthy human relationships. Our canines' unconditional love and loyalty make them the perfect animal to work with when practicing safe relationships.

When coming to DWT, students are gradually introduced to the canine program, with the initial focus being on their individual safety and self-care. During this time, they are encouraged to participate in canine activities and can interact daily. Once students are ready, they can take on the canine caregiver role. As the canine caregiver, they are responsible for practicing our CASA model, which stands for commitment, acceptance, security, and attunement.

Mastery

Deschutes Wilderness Therapy recognizes that each student has a unique path, and goals cannot be achieved with a cookie-cutter approach. DWT's Mastery System helps individuals become a master of whatever they choose, and our therapeutic job is to assist in working through the blocks, whether emotional or historical. We foster independence through empowerment, knowledge, and personal growth.

One of the unique features of DWT's treatment program is our Mastery System.

The Mastery System fosters the relational model with our wilderness instructors and students as they ally during the process.
This connection allows students to connect with peers and staff members positively.
Mastery does not rely upon students earning levels, points, or other authoritarian structured perspectives.
The Mastery System encourages individualized treatment and attention for students.

Day in the Life

Typical Adolescent Daily Schedule

8:30 AM - Wake up and morning ritual (self-care, journaling, reading)
9:30 AM - Chef makes breakfast; group plays a game, reads, and casual hangout time
10:00 AM - check-in circle, job circle, and announcements
10:30 AM - Clean up
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM - Flexible time (a therapeutic group, experiential, cleaning camp, games, therapy, field showers, day hike, growth zones, chores).
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM - Lunch
1:30 PM - 4:00 PM - Flexible time
4:00 PM - Chef prep dinner; games, art, causal hangout time
5:00 PM - Dinner
6:00 PM - Check-in circle
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM - Clean up dinner & camp area
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM - Therapeutic group or a group game
8:30 PM - 9:30 PM - Tent time (self-care, reading, journaling, or meditating to slow down for the evening)

Some of the weekly and twice-weekly activities include:

Warm and private tented showers are brought into the field weekly
Food and water resupply twice weekly
The primary therapist is in the field twice a week for weekly individual sessions
Weekly bead ceremony

Testimonials

"The level of genuine concern and commitment literally radiates from everyone with whom I speak at DWT. Thank you all!!"

Alumni Parent

"I can't express adequately how impressed by and grateful I am for the extremely high level of clinical expertise and the extraordinary compassion, empathy and genuine desire to help me and my son - and all the families at DWT - exhibited by everyone with whom I've encountered there. It's a truly special place."

Alumni Parent

"Very impressed with quality of therapists, excellent (and needed) parental communication and focus on whole family. It is exactly what we needed. We moved from despair to hope. Thank you."

Alumni Parent

"I feel like James knows more about my son than even my son does. He's seen the behaviors and thought processes so many times before, and he helps shed light on the behaviors, the drivers of the behavior, and he's helping us identify where we need to change to better support my son. It's such a relief to find someone who can meet my kid, tell me more about what's going on, and who knows enough to address or at least question some of the stories that my son tells to avoid feeling pain."

Alumni Parent

"The team at DWT seems incredibly competent across the board from leadership personnel to therapists to the field guides. I felt that my teen was safe, but challenged in a good way."

Alumni Parent

"James Nippert is AMAZING. His knowledge about ASD and ADDICTION and TRAUMA is very deep and informed. This and his challenging approach to "denial" has helped my son immensely."

Alumni Parent

"We had exhausted every other form of treatment for our son. This has been the first time he has made progress towards feeling healthier."

Alumni Parent

"James is able to work with our son and US in a way that has broken through many past barriers. We are extremely thankful for his compassion and experience."

Alumni Parent

"I believe our daughter's therapist is deeply committed to her craft. This is apparent in the detailed communications we get from her. She has worked very hard to navigate some challenging situations and we very much appreciate her consistency and level of care. We believe this therapist has made an impact on our daughter's treatment."

Alumni Parent

....we chose DWT to help our daughter, who was struggling with depression, anxiety, isolation, school refusal, and increasingly risky behavior .... She quickly connected with her amazing therapist in a way that never seemed possible in outpatient therapy and made remarkable progress during her time in the wilderness, regaining optimism, finding her voice, learning to self-regulate in healthy ways, and reconnecting with our family.

If you're looking for a program to "fix" your troubled teen, DWT isn't it (nowhere is). But if you're willing to be open-minded and engage in your own work as a parent (i.e. "the parallel process"), the results can be amazing for you and your child. From enrollment to graduation, the office and field staff showed every day that they are an incredible group of compassionate, caring, supportive people that can help get life back on track for families in difficulty. Also be prepared that your teen may want to bring the therapy dog home with them (or get their own).

Alumni Parent

Deschutes has knowledgeable staff and therapists and is able to create substantial change for the student as well as for the family as a whole. It was a transformative experience for our family, and I can't recommend this program enough.

Alumni Parent

I cannot thank Deschutes Wilderness Therapy enough for the complete turnaround with my son... He had stopped going to school, was smoking pot every night (unbeknownst to us), had anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. He went from being a kid in a puddle crying the first few weeks, saying he couldn’t do it, to leading the group and getting the other boys to go deeper and be more vulnerable. He learned so much from James, his therapist, and all the other guides. In addition, as a family, we did a ton of work ourselves with James and our assigned therapist, Mariah.... I can’t say enough about this program - from the support team to the family seminars to the amazing therapy dogs. I know how scary it is to consider doing this - we had to do it in the winter, no less, but in the end, it was such a blessing for our son and our family. They didn’t give us our son back; they gave us a version of our son we didn’t know was possible.

Alumni Parent

Making a decision like this is really hard and finding the right people and environment that can safely support our child's mental health is crucial. I found Deschutes to be everything it claimed to be and it has had a huge, beneficial impact on my sons life. They were supportive in so many ways, professional, incredible human beings....

Alumni Parent

It changed the course of our lives forever. We were in a heartbreaking chapter and did not know where to turn after exhausting every location intervention. They were highly qualified experience clinicians, with great individual and parent work, and they results are evident. Investigate yourself, don't let judge every program on the failures of a few.

Alumni Parent

Admissions Process:

At Deschutes Wilderness Therapy your child is most important. To better determine if our services can serve you appropriately, please contact us at 541-640-7184 or email us at admissions@DWTbend.com.

DWT has the ability to enroll students year round, every day of the week, and depending on scheduling. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Start moving forward by speaking to a member of our experienced and compassionate admissions team by calling 541-640-7184 or email us at admissions@DWTbend.com.

Admissions