Elements Wilderness Therapy

Age Groups :: Teens, Young Adults (18 - 30)

Gender :: Female | Male | Transgender

We at Elements pride ourselves in our small, specialized wilderness therapy programs, each designed to address the needs of its focus population:

ELEMENTS WILDERNESS serving 13-17 year old male, transmale, non-binary

ELEMENTS TRAVERSE serving an 18+ year old male, female, transmale, transfemale, non-binary

Our job is three-fold:
Intervention
Treatment
Assessment

Intervention aids our clients in understanding their role in creating the lives they have as they engage in intensive outdoor experiences, including expeditionary backpacking and in-field adventure programming, in the state of Utah. This provides the perfect backdrop for our evidence-based curriculum exploring individual relationships with substances and other maladaptive coping mechanisms.

Treatment helps our clients move along the continuum from contemplation into action. We infuse every level of our program with Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills, Motivational Interviewing (MI) so each client and family can develop all the tools they will need as they move forward. This empowers each client take that step into creating their life and thereby affecting internalized change. Families are involved at every step of this treatment process and have the option to visit their son or daughter in the field for 1-3 nights of their stay, or more if clinically indicated.

Assessment starts on the first day and is an integral part of each step we take towards helping our clients and our families move into a successful future.

Since 2008, we have been owner-operated, ensuring that our mission remains intact at each level of our service.

General Information

Participant Age Group(s)

Teens

Young Adults (18 - 30)

Organization's Name

Elements Wilderness Therapy

Director of Admissions

Kate Lierd

Admissions: Rolling or scheduled?

Rolling admissions

Admissions

Which age groups does your organization accept?

Children/Adolescents

Young Adults

Gender(s)

Female

Male

Transgender

Religious Affiliation

Levels of Care

Number of Phases or Levels

Treatment Categories | Levels of Care

Wilderness Therapy

Ownership

Ownership Type

Private Company - Owners On-Site

Facility Operations | Type of Land

Privately Owned

Who owns the land?

Elements Wilderness

Additional Professionals & Medical Rule Outs

Psychiatrist

Contracted psychiatrist as needed

If psychiatrist is available to students, what percentage of students change meds?

< 50%

Clinical Operations

Percentage of full time therapists who have a private practice outside of organization?

Not Applicable

What is the largest caseload a therapist can have?

> 8

Average number of days/week therapist are with clients?

Number of Individual Sessions with Therapist

Do clinical assistants work with lead therapists?

Yes

Do any of the therapists have more than one case load?

Treatment Modalities

Types of Therapy Offered

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Motivational Interviewing (MI)

Integrated Wellness Support offered

Breathing Techniques/Breath Work

Meditation

Other

Therapy - Group

Is there group therapy?

Average number of hours per week facilitated by licensed therapist

Average number of hours per week of group processing? (i.e. run by staff, interns, grad students, etc.)

Average number of formal family therapy hours per week (not social calls to teen)

Therapy - Individual

Number of individual therapy hours student receives on a difficult week?

Number of individual therapy hours student receives on typical week?

Therapist average case load

Staff

Line staff to student ratio during awake hours

Does program run background checks on all staff?

Yes

Is there an educational requirement for staff?

Yes

If Yes, what is it?

Other

Average number of hours staff are trained before their first shift

Academics

Average student to teacher ratio

Assessments

What percentage of participants receive psychological evaluations?

> 50%

Does program receive a fee for evaluation or referral?

Research

Percentage of clients who return home, or to a more traditional setting (like transitions to college or gap year, boarding school, etc.)

< 50%

Has the program previously been part of an evidence-based study?

Yes

Is the program presently part of an evidence-based study?

Yes

Link to the study that the organization is part of

Outcomes research

Wilderness Therapy

Wilderness Therapy Model

Backpacking | Nomadic

If program has phases/levels, are they tied to privileges?

Percentage of students who complete all phases/levels prior to leaving the program

> 50%

Elements Programs

General Information

Admissions

Levels of Care

Ownership

Additional Professionals & Medical Rule Outs

Clinical Operations

Treatment Modalities

Therapy - Group

Therapy - Individual

Staff

Academics

Assessments

Research

Wilderness Therapy

Reviews of Elements Programs