What started as a hobby with friends several years ago has turned into a grounding and meditative exercise for Foothill’s Primary Therapist Campbell Dean, MA, LCMHC, LCAS-A. This has become a daily practice for Campbell, and he uses it as a means to focus his mind and move forward with intention. After connecting with Mick Masterson, CADC, Vice President of Operations and an avid archer, they realized they both had a similar idea of offering archery to the clients at Foothills.

“Archery is rich with metaphor and can be applied to a variety of situations,” says Campbell. “The goal is to have a more ceremonial and therapeutic group where clients are able to aim toward a value, an idea, or a goal they are working toward. All this combined with awareness and intentionally of movement and being present in your body – it just felt like the perfect fit for what our clients need.”

Another inspiration for the group came from the book The Archer by Paulo Coelho, which describes archery as a mindfulness practice to help aim and focus on something in your own life. That is reflected in the work with clients as well; it’s about slowing down, processing, and seeing the parallels to their own lives.

About Red Oak Recovery Programs 
Red Oak Recovery® Programs are located throughout Western North Carolina and include clinically-driven and gender separate trauma focused mental health and substance use treatment for young adult men (www.redoakrecovery.com), young adult women (www.thewillowsatredoak.com), and adolescent boys (www.foothillsatredoak.com).