Adventure Therapy Intensive Fall 2025

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About Course

September 8-13, 2025

Social Workers and Counselors- this workshop has been approved in the past by the NASW Ohio Chapter for 30 CEUs in Ohio. The plan is to apply again in 2025.

This training is designed to cover the primary core training elements needed to begin adventure therapy practice. Built around AEE’s Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist (CCAT) and Certified Therapeutic Adventure Specialist (CTAS) training structure, we’ve designed this training to meet 60 of the 75 required core training hours needed for your CCAT/CTAS application. The content will span multiple aspects of AT practice: foundations, assessment, intervention, facilitation, technical skills, administration, ethics and values, monitoring, and more! Participants will gain a solid foundation in a model for the clinical practice of adventure therapy.

The course is centered around a 6-day, 50 hour, in-person intensive located at the beautiful Camp Mary Orton in Columbus, OH. The additional 10 hours of course content will be conducted virtually prior to this 6-day program. Participants will be trained in the clinical and technical skills needed to conduct accessible adventure interventions including games, initiatives, hiking, creeking, outdoor cooking, firebuilding, and orienteering. This course includes one night of overnight camping. Lunch and snacks will be provided. 

Register before August 1st to receive the Early Bird Registration rate! This training has a minimum participant number of 8 participants. The decision will be made by August 4th about whether or not the course will be held. If the course is canceled by Adventure Therapist, LCC, registrants will be refunded their full payment. 

Program Dates (all times in US Eastern)

Aug 1Early Bird Registration Deadline 
Aug 4
Cancellation Date if minimum enrollment is not met
Aug 4-Sept 8Complete pre-course virtual training (8 hours)
Content opens Aug 4.
Aug 4Orientation 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm (live zoom meeting)
Sept 8AT Intensive Day One: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sept 9AT Intensive Day Two: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sept 10AT Intensive Day Three: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sept 11AT Intensive Day Four: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sept 12AT Intensive Day Five: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm (Overnight Camping)
Sept 13AT Intensive Day Six: 7:00 am – 12:00 pm

Logistics

AT Intensive Details 2025Download
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What Will You Learn?

  • Understand the foundational concepts, theoretical orientations, and ethics/values that are critical to quality adventure therapy practice.
  • Practice how to plan and implement AT interventions that are based on clinical assessment and case conceptualizations.
  • Explore ways to document, monitor, and evaluate the treatment process and facilitator skills.
  • Know the administrative and risk management expectations and standards involved with using AT in treatment.

Course Content

Orientation
Welcome to the Adventure Therapy Intensive! The Orientation is a two hour live virtual meeting that will focus on reviewing course expectations, introductions, and how to prepare for the in-person AT Intensive. You will find a PDF attached to this lesson providing important logistical information about the AT Intensive In-Person portion. We will review this information in more detail during the Orientation meeting.

  • Orientation
    01:05:37

Introduction to Adventure Therapy
Adventure Therapy is a modality of therapy that engages clients in the therapeutic process through the intentional use of adventure activities and initiatives. Adventure Therapy is an essential tool for strengthening rapport, building engagement in the therapeutic process and helping clients develop deeper self-awareness and insight. Adventure Therapists are rewarded with a tremendous sense of fulfillment, excitement and enjoyment. This online course will cover the information necessary to get you started in this field! We will review the core theories of experiential education and Adventure Therapy models. We will review clinical topics such as assessment in Adventure Therapy, adapting activities to match client goals, facilitation strategies and approaches, how to process Adventure Therapy activities, sequencing activities, and encouraging transfer of learning. Finally we will discuss what steps new Adventure Therapists should take to begin integrating Adventure Therapy into their work with clients.

The Facilitated Wave Model
The Facilitated Wave Model is a model for adventure therapy practice that can be applied to any treatment context! This training is the first in a series that will be provided by Tony Alvarez and Gary Stauffer intended to illuminate the contents of the new book, Adventure Group Psychotherapy: An Experiential Approach to Treatment, that they co-authored with Maurie Lung, Kim Sacksteder, Bobbi Beale, and Anita Tucker. This hour-long video describes the clinical process of all forms of adventure therapy interventions. Participants will learn about: 1) assessing their clients, as well as the therapeutic environment to begin the process, 2) matching appropriate interventions based on that assessment, 3) shaping the therapeutic environment, 4) facilitating the selected interventions, 5) guiding the learning throughout this process, and 6) evaluating the process that we intentionally put together. These six steps are the guide to effective application of adventure therapy.

Adventure Therapy Risk Management and Administration
This training is designed to support clinical practitioners who want to incorporate adventure therapy into their clinical practice. Course content covers an overall view of the administrative responsibilities that accompany the use of adventure interventions, including our duty of care, safety, risk management, and documentation. Training participants will be given a framework for self-assessment and suggested next steps for responsibly integrating adventure therapy into practice.

Adventure Therapy Intensive (In-Person)
This 50-hour in-person training provides the venue for learning how to apply the Facilitated Wave Model in practice. It covers core training material as well as technical skills needed to provide a variety of adventure interventions.

Course Evaluation
In order to receive your certificate, it is important to complete the Course Evaluation found here.

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