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The ACFB Team
Benefits of Adventure-based Therapy
By: Ashley Cairns
As a parent or someone who works with children, it can be increasingly hard to find something motivating. From late childhood into early teenage years, it is easy for a child to become apathetic and easily annoyed by events they would otherwise have been excited by. If you find yourself in that position, you are not alone. One of the best solutions that I have in mind for you, though, is to try and use adventure-based therapy.
From children and adolescents to teenagers, the benefits of adventure based therapies are numerous. Why, though, should you consider trying out such a platform?Â
What kind of benefits can be drawn from this kind of technique? Can adventure based therapy be the solution that you are looking for?Â
The benefits of adventure based therapyÂ
Relationship progression
One of the main problems that a young child might have is building and forming relationships. This can be a major headache for anyone, and the benefits of adventure-based therapy is that it often encourages them to grow out of that kind of thinking.
Adventure based therapy is such an exciting and proactive form of therapy as it encourages a change in their structure. Instead of simply staying inside their own minds to find the solution, positive relationships are developed as they have to overcome the odds.
It’s a wonderful way to help any child become a bit more open-minded with the idea of trusting others, working as a team, and reaching out for help. Adventure-based therapy helps them to understand that it can be possible to find solutions to otherwise complex and unsolvable issues.
Emotional development is improved
Many children who need therapy do so because their emotions are tangled up in a weave of confusion. Something, or somethings, may have happened to leave them in this state of emotional flux. That is why emotional development is so important in a youngster; they need to be able to understand what they are dealing with.
Emotional development is tough to work with on a child who shows no willingness to improve, though. That is why adventure based therapies work so well; they encourage the child to open up about their emotional thoughts more.
Improved resilience
Other forms of therapy, whilst useful, can become a coping mechanism that the child cannot do without. That is why it is highly recommended that you look into adventure-based therapy. Put simply, it is far more likely to draw out the positivity in a child.Â
It will also make them much more likely to be resilient and understand that when things go wrong it does not have to be the end of the world. Adventure based therapies show the individuals taking part that they could do everything right and still face hardship at the end of the road.
Focusing on strengths
For a child who has problems with their general feeling of self-belief, it is easy to focus on weaknesses. One of the major benefits of adventure based therapies, though, is the fact that it can make focusing on strength so much easier. And when a child is focused on their strengths, they are less likely to be perturbed by their weaknesses.
It is for this – and numerous other – reasoning that you should consider the benefits of such adventure based therapy. A child who is in tune with their strengths is far less likely to suffer a crisis of confidence.
Understanding nature
A child who is increasingly indoors is unlikely to find the outside world any easier to cope with. If the child in question is quite attached to the interior world, then adventure based therapy can help them to take off that proverbial layer of bubble wrap.
It is a great way to help make a child who is feeling uncertain in the wild of the world to be more assertive, more positive, and more likely to come out the other side feeling positive once again. From a simple hike through nature to being introduced to wild animals, an understanding of nature can be a massive benefit of adventure based therapies.
In short, the children will be introduced to concepts of the world that, once they are aware of, might find it much easier to enjoy life and make a progressive step forward regardless of the obstacles.
Individual considerations
A huge part of the process of adventure based therapy, though, is the fact it is tailored to that individual. This means avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to personal care, and thus improving the likelihood of any kind of treatment provided having a beneficial and lasting impact.
Individual considerations are one of the best ways to ensure that therapy actually hits the right spot. Outdoor therapy an adventure based therapy will usually be built around trying to focus on the issues that a child faces individually. This allows for a more thorough, personal look at the issues they are dealing with; as such, it is much more likely to lead to genuine progress.
Outdoor therapy can open a child to concepts and thought processes they had so far not dealt with. This can be great for opening up new avenues of thought and discovery that might have otherwise been too complex to deal with. For a young child or a teenager, the individually focused nature of support can help them to open up, be honest, and confront the issues they cannot comprehend alone.Â
Ready to try it out?
I highly recommend that you do. Therapy can often seem like a worrisome chore for a child, but I want to show you that adventure based therapy is far more effective. Why? Because it encourages and engages the children in ways that other forms of therapy simply cannot. So, why not try it out for yourself?
The results will, in time, speak for themselves. While it can be tough to get a child or teenager to engage with therapy, such adventure based therapy can be the ideal solution to helping children find a new direction. If you want to make progress with any child or teenager, think about engaging in this form of active, empathetic therapy.
