The Clinical Theory and Practice of Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare

Outdoor behavioral healthcare (OBH) is a relatively recent term, coined for wilderness therapy programs that have a more intensive therapeutic approach to treatment, including individualized treatment plans and the provision or supervision of services by licensed mental health professionals. The current study broadly examines the clinical theory and practice of OBH by means of an extensive literature review and a qualitative survey involving clinicians from OBH programs across the United States. The literature review is divided into three chapters. The first chapter focuses on describing the historical roots and current status of the field, as well as what is known about its efficacy. The second chapter provides a broad overview of the clinical theory of OBH, and the third chapter discusses some of the influences that major psychological theories have had on the practice of OBH. The fourth and final chapter of the current study is devoted to a description of the qualitative survey that was conducted with clinicians from 11 of 23 member programs of the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Industry Council and National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs. Data were gathered by means of semi-structured phone interviews and a subsequent internet-based survey. The results were used to compile a parsimonious list of therapeutic interventions used broadly across the industry, and to identify the potential therapeutic benefits of each intervention