Wilderness therapy expeditions last for two weeks and immediately follow and precede each family week. In addition to the numerous benefits that our wilderness therapy expeditions offer (as detailed in the Monarch Center Philosophy), they also serve as an opportunity for the student to process the previous family week and prepare for the next one. With at least one staff to every four students on each wilderness therapy expedition, and frequent visits from therapists, students have the support and guidance they need to reflect on their responsibility in their current family system. Wilderness therapy expeditions are also a time when peer relationships, group dynamics and challenges inherent in wilderness living become opportunities for growth and exploration.

Four Components of Wilderness Therapy Expeditions

Wilderness Therapy  |  Clinical  |  Educational  |  Community Service

1. The Wilderness Therapy Component

   
   The following activities may be offered as part of a student’s stay depending on the time of year, location and capabilities of a particular group:
   
   
   • Rafting
   • Rock climbing
   • Hiking
   • Mountain Biking
   • Camping
   • Peak ascents
   • Snow shoeing
   • Snow caving
   • Fishing
   • Map and compass use
   • Flora and fauna identification
   • Wilderness survival skills
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2. The Clinical Component

   
   The Clinical component at the Monarch Center encompasses all of the therapeutic services (i.e. individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, case management, etc.) that are utilized in the assessment and treatment of our students and families.
   
   Therapists oversee and directly administer these services, and a licensed therapist directly supervises these therapists as well as the individual treatment plans of each student.
   
   Clinical Services offered:
   
   
   • Group Wilderness Therapy: Groups generally happen at least once each day. They may focus on peer conflicts, goal setting or other issues that arise in the milieu. Often times they are theme driven (for example, peer pressure issues, drug and alcohol abuse issues, relationships, etc.). Our staff continually push for genuine contact and authenticity in an effort to avoid "therapy wise" responses.
   • Wilderness Therapy: Imagine what happens when all that one hears when raging at the world is the sound of one’s own echo. Simply by virtue of living for an extended time in the wilderness, youth are challenged on a daily basis to examine their relationship with themselves, their environment and with others. If their way of being is to be disorganized, then finding the appropriate gear when a storm moves in will be more difficult. If a youth does not create and nurture healthy relationships with their peers and staff they will find it difficult to ask for or accept help when washing dishes, climbing a peak or crossing a river.
   • Family Therapy: It is at the center of our philosophy at Monarch, that when a child is acting out to the extent that he/she requires out of home placement, this behavior is symptomatic of larger family issues. The youth is just one part of a larger system. Therefore, direct family involvement in the form of consistent attendance during family week is strongly encouraged. It is our experience that significant family involvement dramatically increases the likelihood that a student will be able to return and remain home after his/her treatment at Monarch.
   • Individual Wilderness Therapy: Students meet formally with their therapist on a regularly scheduled basis. These sessions are sometimes spent doing a "working," which is to say using a Gestalt format to explore issues that are surfacing in the session. Additionally, these sessions will be used to review treatment goals and set new goals.
   • Multi-Family Therapy: Each family week consists of one or two multi-family intensives (depending on the schedule that week). This provides a group therapy experience, which can deepen one’s understanding of themselves and their family through witnessing and sharing in this heartfelt time with others.
   • Psychiatrist Visits: For those of our students requiring medication monitoring and evaluation.
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3. The Educational Component

   
   
   • The Monarch Center for Family Healing offers an Integrated Educational Curriculum that meets our high academic standards.
   • Students earn academic credit for all classes that they pass while placed in the wilderness therapy programs at The Monarch Center.
   • 45 clock hours equals .25 credits. Students who are placed for shorter lengths of stay and who participate in school for less then 45 clock hours will be issued a transcript outlining the clock hours of school they passed.
   • Teachers base lessons on Colorado Content Standards, and The Monarch Center's Affective Education Curriculum. Teachers then individualize according to a student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or their demonstrated learning styles or needs.
   • Our Education Staff works with each student's home district to coordinate IEPs, educational testing, and credit transfers, if necessary.
   • To ensure a smooth transition from The Monarch Center's Educational Program, transitional IEP meetings are held upon discharge. This involves The Monarch Center staff that have been working with the student and the receiving school district.
   • For those students whose home district is outside of Colorado, we work directly with the district to be sure that credits earned at The Monarch Center will be transferred back to the home district upon the student's discharge.
   
   
   The Monarch Center for Family Healing uses experiential education practices. For example:
   
   
   • Students may learn math while they are calculating the slope of a mountain, to determine the speed at which the snow will slide in an avalanche.
   • Students may gain knowledge of earth sciences and communites by tracking Big Horn sheep herds, and determining how many gallons of water a herd needs during summer months versus the winter.
   • Students will live and breath in the different ecological zones, learning about the flora and fauna that exist on the tundra as compared to the subalpine, montane and other zones.
   • Our integrated curriculum is birthed from students direct experience in the wilderness. The wilderness classroom allows students to be at the source of their own learning, deepening their relationship to their environment and themselves.
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4. The Community Service Component

   
   While students are enrolled at Monarch, they participate in regularly scheduled Community Service projects (also referred to as Service Learning). These projects offer a multitude of educational value. Meaningful community projects provide a springboard for rich academic curriculum and reflection. Through Service Learning Projects students gain an understanding of civic responsibility, community and teamwork. While being exposed to the value of volunteerism, students gain a sense of self worth and accomplishment as they see the difference they are making in the lives of others.
   
   Following is a partial list of some of the various Service Learning opportunities that Monarch students have participated in:
   
   
   • Assisting people with disabilities in collaboration with a program called Challenge Aspen out of Aspen, Colorado.
   • Caring for wolves and performing maintenance on the grounds of Mission: Wolf®, a wolf sanctuary in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado.
   • Working with elders of the Sioux Tribe to restore the gravesite of the warrior "Red Cloud" near the site of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota.
   • Volunteering at various metropolitan area homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
   • Helping to lead team-building exercises during a new school opening for elementary aged children.
   • In collaboration with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative and Rocky Mountain National Park, students have volunteered with many various trail maintenance projects to establish new trails, repair old trails, build water bars, fix fences, etc.
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