Kim Sacksteder, MSW, LISW-SV

Growing up in rural western Ohio, Kim developed both a love of the outdoors and a passion for helping youth. She took these with her to Columbus, Ohio where she earned a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Master’s in Social Work at The Ohio State University. Throughout her education, Kim worked in the mental health field gaining experience supporting youth with mental health needs and trauma. In this work, she realized the effectiveness of activity in engaging youth and found adventure therapy. In 1999, Kim was hired to build an adventure therapy program at Camp Mary Orton. In this capacity, the importance of mentors and a professional network were highlighted as she found herself on an “island” of adventure therapy in Ohio. She became involved with AEE’s Therapeutic Adventure Professionals Group and was lucky to find her “professional home.” For Kim, this experience created a drive to increase access to training and mentorship for emerging adventure therapy professionals, many of whom find themselves on professional islands as well. Over the next 20 years, Kim gained experience in many aspects of adventure therapy – direct practice with diverse population groups, program development and management of community-based adventure therapy programs, training and supervision for emerging professionals, and leadership within professional organizations. In addition to this, Kim has served AEE as TAPG Best Practices Committee Chair, TAPG Leadership Council Secretary and Chair, and AEE Accreditation Council Member. As co-owner of Adventure Therapist, LLC, Kim is excited to provide adventure therapy training for professionals looking to incorporate adventure into their work!