Three years ago this October, Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness launched Emerald Arrow: A Bold Path. Emerald Arrow is a wilderness therapy program designed specifically to address the challenges that young adults face. Students attending Emerald Arrow have the opportunity to live and backpack through the scenic Blue Ridge mountains in the Nantahala National Forest of Western North Carolina. For three years, the Emerald Arrow team has combined in-depth clinical insight and comprehensive assessment with creativity and purpose-driven experiences to produce a unique wilderness experience for each student. 

Students who attend Emerald Arrow rediscover resilience, hope, and clarity as they enter the wilderness of young adulthood. Through group and individual therapy, creativity intensives, skill-building, and Family Programming, EA students gather therapeutic tools and life skills which instill in them the confidence to succeed in their lives. Additionally, each young adult meets with clinical psychologist Dr. Lorena Bradley, whose facilitation of the Campbell Skills Assessment is a resource for students to dig deeper into discovering their strengths and interests. Students are also visited by psychiatrist Dr. Mark Braustein, who works closely with those who need psychiatric support to manage their medication treatment plans. 

Families of Emerald Arrow students also have the opportunity to grow with their child by participating in EA and BRTW Family Programming, which promotes exploration and strengthening of individual family patterns and relationships. In addition to guidance from Family Therapists, Alumni Parent Mentors, weekly parent group calls, and other resources in the BRTW Parent Portal, families participate in Parent Workshops as well as immersive 3 day, 2 night Family Intensives in the wilderness, which Emerald Arrow Alumni Parents have reported to be invaluable in reconnecting with their child.

Emerald Arrow was established three years ago by Primary Therapist Anne Wilzbacher, MA, LPC. Anne’s passion for the young adult experience and the power of wilderness is what inspired her to establish the program, with the goal to help young people reveal, restore, and reclaim deep-rooted belonging in their lives:

“I continue to feel honored and moved by the young adults that come through this program as I witness their struggles as well as their gifts. I watch my students begin to restore health and connection in a way that is needed in so many of us right now. They are doing something right out here in EA — something that seems to infuse a deep understanding of their fundamental needs, that will help them walk more confidently into life’s uncertainties. I am inspired by the successes and growth I hear about from many of my alumni students and families… There is something really special and unique that happens out here with these groups of young adults, and it is a privilege to get to be a part of it.”

As younger generations are increasingly facing more complex life issues, Anne reflects upon students’ resiliency — “these emerging adults are inspiring in the depth of work that they enter into at a time where mental health is at a record high and anxiety is more prevalent than it has ever been.” 

Since the beginning, students in Emerald Arrow have awakened their gifts, passions, and enthusiasm for life. Upon leaving the program, they have participated in successful and meaningful graduations where they express hopefulness, clarity and confidence about their paths ahead. Emerald Arrow alumni have experienced a variety of successes and accomplishments; they have sustained recovery, entered graduate school and law school, received jobs from their completed aftercare programs, and some have even become Field Instructors in wilderness programs. Over the years, Anne has visited and spoken with many Emerald Arrow graduates. She has witnessed EA alumni moving through their lives with intention and confidence after leaving the program, and explains that “Emerald Arrow alumni bring their personal gifts to their relationships, and they also support and stay in touch with each other… They carry with them a rich connection to life.”

Please join the Emerald Arrow and Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness team in celebrating three years of sophisticated clinical expertise, unforgettable moments, and whole-family healing for young adults. 

About Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness

Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness offers clinically-driven programs encompassing advanced therapeutic skill, a highly flexible nomadic wilderness therapy model, licensed wilderness therapy assessment, and multiple treatment options for troubled teens ages 13-18 years old. Our individualized approach, family support, and commitment to service translate to an unparalleled experience and better outcomes for adolescents and families.