Evoke Therapy Programs has recently released its latest Summer Pursuits offerings. Pursuits are adventures designed for high-functioning adolescents, young adults, or families looking for an exciting bonding experience and healthy adventure. The trips are designed to inspire and foster participants’ greater personal vision and life-long goals.

“There are many people for whom these trips would be appropriate,” says Pursuits program director Sara Carroll. “Our most common participants are families whose children are transitioning from one program to another — or even to home. These trips  give them a chance to reconnect before the next stage in their therapeutic journeys.” She points out that folks looking to pursue personal growth, youth on spring break, and families needing to recharge are also fans of Pursuits.

While Evoke plans custom Pursuits for individuals and families from three to 30 days that can take them all over the globe, the company has also created two stock excursions for this summer: a three-day backpacking trip and a weeklong basecamp adventure.

The backpacking trip is a hiking-focused trip in Southern Utah, where along with seeing breathtaking nature, participants also learn technical skills like wilderness navigation and backcountry cooking. The basecamp adventure is a multi-sport trip filled with hiking, biking, and fishing (among other activities) where participants spend days in the outdoors, then retire to the comforts of a single-family home — and comfy beds — at night.

All Evoke Pursuits are led and staffed by extensively trained and experienced outdoor guides, as well as therapeutic mentors and teachers. Lead Pursuits guides have at least four years of experience in group facilitation and leading adventure trips. All Evoke guides maintain certification as Wilderness First Responders, and training in wilderness risk management, Leave No Trace ethics, communication skills, therapeutic mentoring, and group facilitation.

“In a world where humans spend more time on screens and less time outdoors, Evoke Therapy Programs saw a need to bring together families and provide skills to young people,” says Carroll. “Research has shown again and again that outdoor education and adventure inherently fosters positive mental health in individuals. Our Pursuits programs have been developed in a way that allows each individual in the program to develop skills of confidence, self-discovery, and social development during a relatively short time frame. Our participants are outside backpacking, rock climbing, or fishing, but they are also looking inside themselves through guide-led activities such as journaling, mindfulness, and yoga.”
 

About Evoke Therapy Programs

Evoke Therapy Programs provides both outdoor-based therapeutic programs for adolescents, young adults, and families and Intensive therapy programs for individuals, families, and couples. Evoke is accredited by the AEE/OBH and is a NATSAP Research Designated Program. Evoke’s outdoor programs are based in Saint George, Utah. Evoke Therapy Intensives are based in northern Utah.