9/Chapter 10 competence

Question: How do competencies for becoming an adventure therapist compare and contrast with a different method of experiential treatment?

Answer:

Adventure Therapists have well-developed competencies in order to provide quality care to clients.  Ten competencies specifically that related to adventure therapists were effective listening, feedback, debriefing/reflection skills, group development stages, transfer of learning, client assessment, dealing with difficult clients, experiential learning, processing skills, integration strategies and solution-oriented processing (Gass, Gillis, Russell, 2012).

A practice with similar competencies is seen across eco-therapy.  eco-therapy can lead to moments where our vision of our surroundings becomes more intense, when things are more beautiful and meaningful than normal and we feel a sense of connectivity towards our surroundings.  These harmonious and meaningful experiences are also referred to as peak experiences in eco-therapy and Adventure Therapy.  While there are no set credentials to become a registered Eco-therapist (yet), you must have a traditional therapy degree for entry into eco-therapy practices.  This is one of the major differences in competency  the training. 

Although both are relatively new fields, they are similar is that they are utilized throughout different countries.  AT has seen a lot of different practices such as the Bush Adventure Therapy.  Eco-therapy expands its branches to Australia and beyond with the International  Community of Ecopsychology. 

Another big connection that I noticed between Adventure Therapy and Eco-therapy is experiential learning.  Psychotherapist and eco-therapist Linda Buzzwell talks translates taking someone in a fruit tree garden as acknowledging that they are taking part in something that is larger than themselves.  Another similarity is integration strategies, in eco-therapy’s case this is the use of use of a time diary.  A time diary helps people see how much time they spend outside verses inside.  You basically log time spent looking a cellphone, television or other forms of electronics verses the time you spent outside or interacting with nature. This way people can use their log as a way to make slight shift their lifestyle, implementing more time with nature gradually.  As people spend more time in nature, they are exposed to a more clam and nurturing environment.  To listen to the whole radio interview chick here. 

The main Question that I am left to chew on is:

What differences and similarities will develop as the fields develops as well?

Works Cited:

  Gass, M. A., Gillis, H. L., & Russell, K. C. (2012). Adventure therapy: Theory, research, and practice. (1st ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group.

PRI's Envirmental News Magazine (2009). Ecotherapy. Retrieved from http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=09-P13-00025&segmentID=5 

Taylor, S., (2012). The Power of Therapy: Ecotherapy and Awakening. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/out-the-darkness/201204/the-power-nature-ecotherapy-and-awakening

Scull, J., (2009). What is ecosychology. Retrieved from http://www.ecopsychology.org/people.html