There are a lot of options for treating teen depression, but are some methods more effective than others? Which type of treatment is your teen most likely to be an active participant in?
One of the most effective and innovative ways to treat teen depression does not take place in an office setting or come from a doctor’s prescription – it takes place under the open sky of the Utah desert.
Back to Basics
There are a few lifestyle changes that can dramatically improve mood, including:
- A healthy diet
- Regular exercise
- A good night’s sleep
- Being outdoors
All of these natural mood enhancers are present in wilderness therapy programs. At Outback Therapeutic Expeditions, a wilderness therapy program for teens in Lehi, Utah, these lifestyle principles are just the start of the process of change that takes place in the wilderness.
In addition to eating wholesome, unprocessed foods, including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, teens at Outback live according to the rhythm of the Earth. They wake up at dawn and go to sleep when the sun sets, using sunlight and fire as their primary sources of light.
Taking Control, Building Self-Efficacy
Wilderness therapy helps teenagers understand what they can and cannot control. Although they can’t control the weather, they can control their physical comfort by making a fire or building a shelter. If the teens are hungry for a hot meal, they can build a fire, help prepare meals and even create recipes of their own.
In each of these activities, the students see the immediate rewards of their efforts and begin to understand that their actions have natural consequences, both positive and negative.
“When adolescents are struggling with depression, they often feel that they’ve lost control, that their efforts don’t really matter and that everything is hopeless,” said Neal Christensen, the clinical director at Outback. “In the wilderness, teens start to see that their actions do matter and that they can excel when they put their minds to it.”
Outback’s wilderness program uses ceremony and a token system to help teens build on small successes and work to discover their own greatness. As staff members provide positive feedback and reinforcement, the students begin to see themselves as successful, valuable and capable of achieving their goals.
A Shift in Outlook
Many teens in wilderness therapy programs have abused drugs and have run into conflict with their parents, teachers and law enforcement. In the wilderness, some of these stressors are removed from their daily lives and they can no longer self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, which means they have to face their feelings and begin to identify what triggers their depression and other emotional and behavioral issues.
At home, teens may spend their time using drugs, fighting, skipping school and talking to their friends about how much they hate their parents and other authority figures. In the wilderness, teens learn to shift their language, thereby shifting their thinking. With the support of field instructors and therapists, teens are able to talk about their past experiences in positive, progressive and productive ways rather than glorifying negative behaviors and sharing “war stories.”
“Many depressed teens have a negative world view and are uncomfortable experiencing and sharing their feelings,” explained Christensen. “The staff at Outback challenges teens’ negative outlook, showing them the exceptions to their negative beliefs.”
For example, the staff may point out how good it feels to overcome a challenge or congratulate the students on the positive choices they make each day. Over time, a change in attitude takes place that is visible to everyone around them.
An Education in Emotion
Removed from their familiar surroundings at home and faced with a new environment, teens in wilderness therapy must be mindful of what they’re doing each moment and develop coping skills to adapt to an unfamiliar setting. They also discover that with a change of attitude they can experience some relief from depression without the typical distractions they fall back on at home.
“During adolescence, society does a wonderful job of helping teens develop academically, but we don’t spend a lot of time helping teens develop socially or emotionally,” said Christensen. “Wilderness therapy is focused on the emotional experience – letting teens really feel their emotions and finding healthy ways to cope such as hiking, talking to someone, journaling or finding a hobby.”
The 24-hours-a-day nature of the wilderness experience allows the field staff to identify issues facing each student and see them through every challenge from start to finish. Unlike residential programs, where teens may work with different staff members in the morning, afternoon, evening and overnight, at Outback the same field staff lives with the teens eight days in a row. This staff rotation provides a level of consistency and predictability that is therapeutically beneficial to the students.
Relationship-Building
Outback is a relationship-oriented wilderness program. Rather than confronting teens or engaging in a power struggle, the field staff and therapists work to make genuine connections with each adolescent. Because the field instructors are going through the same daily routine – hiking, sleeping in tents and facing the same challenges – they are able to build trust and rapport with the teens in a short time.
“We spend a lot of time truly getting to know our students and what’s happening in their lives,” said Christensen. “Sometimes the healing starts simply by having someone listen.”
In individual therapy sessions, the therapists at Outback strive to meet each student’s emotional needs, helping them grieve if they’ve lost a loved one or experienced divorce, and helping them find the language to express themselves when they feel that they aren’t being heard.
Because many teens will return home to their families after treatment ends, the therapists also work intensively with each student’s parents to help them evaluate how they may be contributing to their child’s frustration, anxiety and depression and practice new ways to communicate with their child.
Healthy Stress Relievers
Substance abuse is often linked to depression, as teens use drugs or alcohol to self-medicate negative emotions or to relax when they’re angry or frustrated. Outback therapists help teens understand the underlying reasons for their drug use and invite them to adopt healthier coping mechanisms.
Rather than engaging in passive stress relief such as watching television or playing video games, teens in wilderness therapy become actively engaged in the process of relaxation by reading, writing, hiking, meditating, or making materials out of leather and wood. These activities help teens relax without disconnecting from the world around them.
At a time when life should be all about fun, learning and building toward the future, depression can be debilitating for teens. While there are a number of ways to treat teen depression, wilderness therapy is a unique and effective way to help adolescents cope with difficult emotions and get reinvested in their lives.