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What is our clinical approach? An Interview with Clinical Director, Charles Elias

By Charles Elias

A common question we receive is wondering what exactly is wilderness based therapy.

Click here to listen to an interview with our Clinical Director, Charles Elias, who provides a brief overview of our clinical program, and read below for an excerpt from the conversation.

At BaMidbar, we provide a wilderness-based clinical approach to therapeutic care. Being that the majority of our participants have exhausted more traditional therapeutic methods, we provide a non-traditional option by combining primitive outdoor skills, Jewish roots and clinical care. This methodology allows for a participant to challenge themselves and learn the skills needed to launch into adulthood. Our integrative approach focuses on the family system, adventure-based therapy, short-term solutions for the here and now, and a combination of DBT and CBT. The value of using nature as a therapeutic tool is evident in the ability for natural consequences. Meaning, during the winter months if someone were at home and stayed in bed all morning the level of risk would be low. While they may have an unproductive day and not follow through on commitments, they would be okay. When out in wilderness, a delayed start to the day means less daylight hours to hike, and may result in not arriving at the designated camp site. This situation provides the opportunity for facilitated conversations around our actions impact on others and ourselves. Our field team and clinical team work together to implement an individualized treatment plan for each participant.

Olympus Digital Camera

Charles Elias,

Clinical Director