Adventure Therapy

What is Adventure Therapy?

Adventure Therapy supports participants in improving their wellbeing, through adventure experiences.

Connected Self’s adventure therapists work collaboratively with participants to plan and undertake adventures that suit the person and their therapy goals.

Activities such as hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and campfire-based sessions offer additional opportunities to embed therapeutic work into real-world, embodied experiences.

These activities can include:

  • Support trauma recovery through sensory and somatic regulation
  • Build confidence through safe risktaking
  • Use metaphors drawn from the shared experience to explore psychological content.

What sort of activities are part of Adventure therapy?

Adventure Therapy activities are dependent on the client’s needs, weather and safety considerations.

Common Summer activities include:

    • Kayaking
    • Stand-up paddleboarding
    • Surfing
    • Exploring coastal areas

Common Winter activities include:

    • Forest bike riding
    • Camp cooking
    • Shelter building
    • Walking and exploring bushland areas

Activities can also be tailored to suit lower energy levels, including:

    • Hanging out in hammocks
    • Fishing, crabbing & squidding

How to access Adventure Therapy

To speak to someone at Connected Self please phone 08 8232 2438 or email at adventuretherapy@connectedself.com.au.

References:

Barton, J., Griffin, M., & Pretty, J. (2012). Exercise-, nature- and socially interactive-based initiatives improve mood and self-esteem in the clinical population. Perspectives in Public Health.
Cooley, S., Holland, M., & Cumming, J. (2020). Exploring the mechanisms of change in outdoor therapy with adolescents. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning.
Jordan, M., & Hinds, J. (2016). Ecotherapy: Theory, research and practice. Macmillan International.
Kuo, M. (2015). How might contact with nature promote human health? Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1093.
McEwan, K. et al. (2022). Nature connectedness and therapeutic outcomes: A review of the evidence. Clinical Psychology Review.

Polyvagal Practices

Polyvagal practices aim to enhance physiological regulation, restore a sense of safety, and promote engagement through autonomic nervous system regulation.

This enhances social and emotional learning, including recognising and regulating emotions (from a physiological lens) and developing empathy for others.

This will close in 0 seconds

PACE

Developed as part of attachment-focused family therapy, PACE is a trauma-informed approach aiming to create safe, trusting, emotionally connected relationships with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma or attachment difficulties. PACE stands for:

Playfulness

  • Approaching with an open, ready, calm, relaxed and engaged attitude.
  • Not taking yourself/situations too seriously.
  • Diffusing difficult/tense situations.

Acceptance

  • Unconditionally accepting the current state/mood/behaviour.
  • Accepting that there are things unseen that lie below behaviour.
  • Acceptance supports feeling secure, safe and loved

Curiosity

  • Understanding the child gently and without judgement.
  • Supporting child to bring awareness to their inner life.
  • Wondering statements.

Empathy

  • A sense of compassion and understanding for young person’s feelings and thoughts.

This will close in 0 seconds