4: Lets get social about AT

How might The Outward Bound Process be used in psychology other than treatment?

In order to find out how the Outward Bound Process model is used in psychology, I felt it would be good to start at this base of the subject.  For this journal, I decided to gather more information about what exactly Walsh and Golins where originally seeking to convey, this is what I found.  I then was kind of curious about what these folks looked like, the picture below is what I found.  Side-note, Don't get to time warped with these outfits and forget to check that killer backdrop. 

Victor "Vic" Walsh is third from the left (note cool hat), Gerald "Jerry" Golins is first on the right

Secondly, I went to a solid reliable source I was familiar with, my notes from my Social Psychology class with Dr. Powell.  Here is a condensed snip it on which part of my notes I focused on. 

The article from the 70s talked about how this social environment is created by a ten group or primary group.  This primary group has about seven to fifteen people who seek a common objective.  Also, a bound and collective consciousness is present.  The size of the group allows them to have stricter conformity in the group and eventually participants realize that fighting against the group is less than ideal and taking a “go with the flow” attitude is imperative for our social being.  Those who don’t find themselves a member of the group might experience self-doubt and having a fear of rejection. 

Another area of the OBP that relates to social psychology is the idea that the learner finds reward in solving concrete and manageable problems within a positive peer environment.  The new attitudes and values allow people to become more likely to tackle upcoming problems.  This leads to the social psychology concept of internalization.  Internalization occurs when behaviors persists after the group is no longer present.  Formally, participants might have experienced cognitive dissonance, which is a disconnect between their internal beliefs and statements leading to discomfort.  There is now, for a participant, no disconnecting between these internal beliefs and the external statement.  Afterwards, A participant has demonstrated the internalized gained knowledge with no feelings of guilt or doubt.

Drawing these points together, the Outward Bound Process can be used in the research component of social psychology.  It can be used to further provide support for these theories and continue to expand and further define these concepts. In conclusion, the OBM has many connections to social psychology with this blog displaying only a few examples.

To gain more insight on these two Outward Bound founders and see more old photos from other pioneers go here.   

 Citations:

Walsh, V., & Golins, G. L. (1976). The exploration of the Outward Bound process.  Denver, CO: Colorado Outward Bound School.

Powell, C. (2012). Unit 1: Conformity. Personal collection of C. Powell, Georgia College, Milledgeville, GA.

Robertson, J. (2012, June) . COBS Pioneers. Retrieved from http://outwardbounds50thanniversary.weebly.com/cobs-pioneers.html

Gass, Michael A., Lee Gillis, and Keith C. Russell. (2012).  Adventure Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: Routledge

3: Blog, Frog, Eggnog?

         When considering adventure therapy, one can view an approach to AT through the ABC~R triangle.  Basically, the approach meets clients where they are willing to expose themselves through their affect, behavior or cognition instead of fitting them into a existing program.  This in a sense is a co-created experience between the therapist and the client viewing the client through the lens of their environment. The success of this approach is partially how the adventure therapist or field staff connects with the client.  One approach that I appreciate is the fact that the AT primary focuses on increasing positive feelings, actions, and thoughts instead of trying to eliminate negative thoughts, feelings, and actions.

          Another approach to mental health treatment is Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP). EAP is licensed therapist and horse professionals working together with a client to achieve treatment goals.  This incorporates experiential learning, professionals in the health care field and is a co-created experience.  However, this approach is different in the sense that the relationship described in the ABC~R triangle is created between the therapist and client, and this type of therapy also involves a very important four legged friend. Seems cool, huh? Check this promotional video, for more information on EAGALA and what they are trying to achieve.   

           Art therapy is another approach that has similarities to AT.  I was very unfamiliar with art therapy and was fascinated that it was used as a treatment for almost 100 years asking patients to visualize and create the emotions or thoughts they could not put into words.  Art therapy shares the self-discovery part of the AT experience client dig into feelings and actions that they may have felt in the past.  This makes the experience experiential in nature, since it involves the clients discovering treatment for themselves.  The difference is that the relationship here is more discovered primarily by the individual and does not necessarily involve a mental health professional.  Art therapy also focuses more on putting the bad emotions out to the light and focusing on them in the form of the painting rather than just focusing on increasing positive feelings. 

           Sometimes therapy comes in a more natural sounding way, Ecotherapy.  Ecotherapy helps treat people through the great outdoors when we are able to harmonize with the earth.  Once clientele recognize the planetary well-being and personal well-being are not to be separated and in taking care of the earth we are taking care of ourselves they can successfully take part in the treatment. This may be a more literal translations of AT’s philosophy of focusing on the client view the world through the lens of their environment. Similar to AT, Ecotherapy focuses on the positive rather then negative thoughts, feelings or actions one experiences.  This also doesn’t necessarily involve professional staff, as Ecotherapists are there to facilitate sessions for clientele. 

These three differing types can be compared against AT to better understand the approach AT takes, and other therapy’s take.  Hope you learned something!

Citations:

Noah Rubinstein, (2012, August 10) . Ecotherapy / Nature Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.goodtherapy.org/ecotherapy-nature-therapy.html

EAGALA (2010) . What is EAP and EAL? Retrieved from http://www.eagala.org/Information/What_Is_EAP_EAL

International Art Therapy Organization (2009) . Art Therapy and Mental Health. Retrieved from http://www.internationalarttherapy.org/mentalhealth.html

EAGALA. (2012, July 16) . EAGALA In Practice Video Part 1. Retrieved January, 2013, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drm_vK5deFs&list=PL7E2E181689D2B749&index=1

Gass, Michael A., Lee Gillis, and Keith C. Russell. (2012).  Adventure Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: Routledge.

1: AT and others

Adventure Therapy, a less well-known use of mental heath treatment draws in similarities and differences between more traditional mental health treatments.  As defined by Gass, M.A., Gillis, H.L., Russell, K.R. (2012), Adventure Therapy is the prescriptive use of adventure experiences provided by mental health professionals, often conducted in natural settings that kinesthetically engage clients on cognitive, affective, and behavioral levels. With that definition in mind I decided to pick two treatments that I had heard more about and one that intrigued me to compare it across.  The first treatment was the use of medication.  The typical drugs used according to the Mayo clinic staff are antidepressant, mood-stabilizing, anti-anxiety and antipsychotic medications.  The use of these medications is similar to AT in the fact that it affects clients on a cognitive, behavioral and affective level.  I feel like medication is different in the fact it is a lot less of a personal approach to treatment.  Although drugs as a treatment seem to be an appropriate motion in some situations, I feel as if human interaction and personalized treatments seen in treatments like AT sometimes goes undervalued.  With this personalized treatment comes a greater time commitment than a medicated treatment, which some could consider a drawback to the situation.  Another approach to mental health treatment is residential treatment programs. Residential treatment programs use a hands on approach like AT but typically take place in a more structured setting.   They are also similar to residential treatment centers because there is a varied length of stay between the two.  The last form of treatment, which I didn’t know much about, was brain stimulus treatment. According to the National Institute of Mental Health a common form of brain stimulus treatment, electroconsvulsive therapy (ECT) is pain free and has a negative depiction that is often misleading.  This procedure is similar to AT in the fact that it involves mental health professionals but differs in the fact it takes place primary in a medical setting and is generally a faster process.  ECT usually is administered three times a week and the patient is often done with treatment within six to 12 treatments.  Although there are clearly differences between types of therapy I believe that each treatment is best determined on an individual basis.

References:

National institute of mental health. (2009, November 17). Brain Stimulation Therapies. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/brain-stimulation-therapies/brain-stimulation-therapies.shtml

Hazelden. (2013). Residential treatment centers.  Retrieved from http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/residential_addiction_treatment.page

Mayo Clinic staff. (2010, September 1).  Treatment and Drugs.  Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mental-illness/DS01104/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs

Gass, Michael A., Lee Gillis, and Keith C. Russell. (2012).  Adventure Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: Routledge.