The Sublime in Each Other

By: Michael Escalante, Aspiro Group Program Director

Its early spring of 2003. I’m riding in the middle seat of an old suburban down bumpy unimproved roads in Arizona’s Tonto National forest. The moonlight peeks through pine trees and adds flavor and stark views to our mid night jolting ride. All the “trail walkers,” or field instructors, are talking about how great the week was and how we can’t wait to file into a 24 hour Mexican joint for a seemingly long awaited meal. I’ve just finished my first week on “the trail” and it was unforgettable. I had worked with a girls group. We had made natural fire, caught and ate crawdads and hiked through beautiful streams and canyons. Conversations were inspiring and I was high on life.

Throughout the next week many asked me why the trail was so powerful. I gave a lot of answers, few of which I remember well. None of my answers adequately described what happened on my trail experience.

2 years later I’m serving as a program director for an international service NGO called Mali Rising.

The organization built schools in Mali, West Africa and directed some education-based projects in Guatemala.

After directing a dozen volunteers through the experience of building homes for widowed mothers, I find myself again enjoying inspiring conversation on a bumpy dark plane with a handful of now very close friends.

The experience was unforgettable, even life changing.

I again meet with the question “why was the trip so powerful.”

A year later, while working in a residential treatment center, I find myself frustrated because I can’t seem to produce the same feelings and experiences that happened so freely and naturally on the trail and with my NGO.

I later learned about a concept discussed in the sciences called fractional sublimation. Fractional sublimation refers to the process of stripping away superficial layers of an object until the core, essence, or sublime nature of the object or organism is revealed. Upon hearing the phrase my mind instantly took me to a file of memories in which I felt that I saw the sublime in others as I did on the trail and in Guatemala.

I now lead the Parent Workshop for the Aspiro Group and I have done my best to set it up in a way that can strip its participants of superficial pretense to allow families to see, recognize and appreciate the sublime in each other.

It’s the first morning of the workshop. The parents are hurrying, some running, some walking quickly towards their children. I lean against a pillar under a large awning in St George Utah. The backdrop is incredible.

Tall red rock mesas meet bright blue sky. The Parents have caught children in their arms now and I watch the parents reunite with their children for the first time in their treatment journey. Most of our students come angry with their parents, and yet, most are sincerely happy to see their families.

After a short ice breaker game, I walk the group up to the conference room. The group suddenly seems a little bigger now that I’m front and center. After giving a run down of the day I invite the participants to try to focus on applying the content of the workshop to themselves rather than focusing on how the content applies to everyone else in the family. The remark is met with warm laughs, probably because the statement rings true.

The workshop begins by exploring the implications of accusing emotions. I share examples from my marriage, family, and work relationships to illustrate that whenever I engage in blaming my problems on others, I simultaneously excuse, justify, or perhaps, even blind myself to my own shortcomings. This predicament has devastating implications. Imagine a parent that attributes the majority of the familial tension to the decisions and behaviors of a spouse or child, while the same child focuses on his parents’ shortcomings and refuses to see how his actions compare in magnitude to the mistakes of his parents. These accusing emotions not only halt family progress, they also exacerbate any present problems as each individual continues to make worse and worse decisions while justifying them by focusing on the problems of the other.

Throughout the day families are broken into small groups and coached through the process of reviewing failed patterns of communication and other failed attempts to solve problems. These small breakout groups have the potential to be disastrous so I am sure to stress the importance of communicating honestly and sensitively with the intent to help and not to hurt. I personally believe that most often people rise to the level of expectation put upon them. This is certainly the case at the parent workshop. While most families struggle to engage in productive dialogue at the beginning of the day, I find that most families are really able to recognize their part in conflict and experience a desire to make things better by working on themselves. It is inspiring to watch the layers of blaming emotions peel away as families start to see more of the beauty in themselves and each other.

We end the day by preparing everyone for a rock climbing and rappelling trip the next day. A few eyes bulge as I talk about the following day’s activities and from the look on their faces I know I’m going to need a few minutes just with the parents. After parents and children say goodbye for the evening, I offer to address any questions or concerns. Most parents don’t hesitate to take me up on my offer, in fact a few make it known that they will not be participating in anything to do with a rope, a cliff and gravity. We talk about the value of acknowledging and facing fear. We discuss the value of stepping out of our comfort zones. I remind them that many of their children have said the same things and made the same faces at me. It clicks with a few.

Others look unconvinced and we say goodbye.

The morning of the second day I arise at 6:00am. After a rush to shower and get out the door, I head straight to the parking lot outside the conference room to await some anxious parents. They start to trickle in only minutes after I show up. There is often the couple that says nothing… asks nothing… and avoids eye contact with me. There is often the mother or father who asks question after question. “Again, how often do you check the ropes… and who is setting them up?... Do they really know what they are doing?” There is the eager parent, the stubborn parent, the friendly parent, all gathered together on an early weekend morning, in an unfamiliar place to climb and rappel some basalt-stone cliffs. Everyone is here now and we file in to our cars and make the drive to Crawdad Canyon.

We arrive and parents and children embrace over a light breakfast. A chorus of interesting, yet typical, side conversations compete for my attention as I spread the schmear on my jalapeno cheese bagel. Afterwards our field director Jodi leads everyone over to the cliff side for some climbing instruction. I’m familiar with her spiel… she talks about the strength of the equipment, the importance of the belayer/climber relationship and a little about the technique of climbing. The sound of her voice takes the background as I watch the faces of parents during Jodi’s instruction. There is inevitably a parent or two with the “you’re kidding me…” face.

Sometimes I even detect the “uh-uh… no way!” face. I laugh inside… I imagine inviting my own mother rock climbing and grin at her “my-son-the-idiot expression.” I love today. I love watching what comes next.

Over the next few hours something special and something authentic happens. Sometimes it happens while on a climb, or sometimes on a rappel. There comes a point in climbing when every move begins to feel hard, maybe too hard, and you don’t know what to do next. If you’re anything like me then you’ll find your mind racing, yet stuck on a small circular track formed of a few self-defeating thoughts. Suggestions are given from the ground.

“Relax and breathe deeply” or “there is another hold, a better hold, only inches from where you currently are”. I find it interesting that these suggestions are almost always met with a frustrated resistance; and all energies go into providing reasons why such feedback is irrelevant, unattainable, or otherwise not useful, rather than on bettering their current situation. Despite the awkward tension between climber and coaches during the charged exchange, I love these moments. I know what’s happening because I’ve been there before, the mind perceives an impasse. Yet something special happens when we pass over a perceived impasse.

We feel fresh, powerful, and yet surprisingly humble, fully aware that others witnessed our struggle. So it goes with the rock climbing. I watch the stuck climber fight through his self-defeating thoughts until he reluctantly listens to the advice offered. As he does so, his vantage point changes if but slightly. New solutions and new options come to light. Efficacy is built as he slowly and more confidently inches towards the top of the climb.

All the while peeling away layers of the superficial to arrive at the top, and then the bottom, a little more himself… more authentic.

Throughout the morning I watch children coaching and encouraging their parents. I see a lot of hugs, high fives, and pictures. That doesn’t mean there aren’t families that really struggle throughout the process, but it makes the workshop all the more dynamic and provides me and the clinical team with concrete scenarios to process and work with.

After a packed morning we head off to lunch. Families eat together and this is my time with staff to enjoy a good meal and some laughs.

After Lunch we head back to the conference room and I divide up the group: Moms in one group, Dads in another, students in another and guides and therapist in the last. Each group has some time to connect and they are asked to write and perform an entertaining skit that teaches/comments on some of the principles that have been learned over the last two days. The skits are great and its nice to see everyone goof around a little and yet share some of their personal insight on the content of the workshop.

We end with a slideshow comprised of pictures of the students throughout their stay at Aspiro… Pictures of rappelling arches, navigating slot canyons, mountain biking and rock climbing, and a few of the parent workshop taken that very morning. I find myself impressed at the end of each workshop at the journey these families go through.

Afterwards parents and children hug, maybe cry a little, maybe laugh a little and they go their separate ways.

It feels like I’ve known everyone a lot longer than two days.

As I reflect on what makes Aspiro a powerful experience many answers come to mind. But from my experience there is nothing as deeply moving and meaningful as the process of watching individuals and families strip away layers of the superficial to reveal something more fundamental and authentic. Families that see the sublime in each other invite and sustain the sublime in each other.

Aspiro has managed to grow and out- perform last year’s numbers

Although this economy has been difficult, Aspiro has managed to grow and out- perform last year’s numbers.

2009 YTD admissions are up by 16% over 2008. We feel blessed to be in the position we are, and appreciate your confidence in our work. As a team, we wish to thank all of our many supporters and friends. We look forward to working with your families through the summer, and beyond.

Aspiro operates year-round and application for admission may take place at any time.

Appropriate candidates are adolescent males and females, ages 13-17, and young adults, ages 18 to 30 years of age, with a history of moderate to soft behavioral and emotional challenges and problems

ADMISSIONS - Please Call - 1-888-266-5136

Begin With The End in Mind

By Justin Robinson, Aspiro Clinical Director

Recently I attended my grandfather’s funeral and while I was very saddened by his passing, my prevailing emotion surrounding his death was a deep sense of gratitude. Gratitude for his influence on me; Gratitude for the family traditions he helped established; Gratitude for his example; Gratitude for the legacy he left.

When the sadness crept in it was due to my realization that I could have done more to get to know him.

Listening to the speakers at his funeral, I was inspired and felt committed to better following his example.

My grandpa was a very respected orthodontist. People came from all over the world to consult, observe and learn the techniques he was pioneering which he freely shared at no cost with all who would come yet he avoided the spotlight and recognition for his accomplishments. My grandpa’s commitment was not to personal gain but rather on providing the best possible service to his patients. Through this commitment he was driven to find new and better ways to help his patients achieve what they wanted. His philosophy that guided his work and helped to shape his techniques was to begin with the end in mind.

Grandpa had a way of looking at people. He had a way of looking at the faces of his patients seeing beyond their immediate appearance regardless of how mangled the mouth or how crooked the teeth, and viewing the potential that lay within. By seeing the potential and not just the present problems or flaws, I believe it opened my grandpa’s eyes to the solutions. Grandpa was able to hold this vision in his mind’s eye as a guide in the work he was doing for them, even inspiring him to develop new techniques that were revolutionary in the field.

After the funeral as I pondered this philosophy I made the connection that grandpa’s legacy expands far beyond the field of orthodontia. As I reflected I realized that it is when I am living true to grandpa’s way of seeing people that I am most effective in my life. In my work as a therapist, when I successfully see beyond the current problems and hold a vision of the future, it helps guide my interactions with the individual. I believe the positive energy associated with that vision is at times felt by the individuals I am helping and helps them to believe and buy in to the interventions I am prescribing. I do believe that seeing others this way helps me to assist them in finding the solutions and paths that will help them overcome their problems and challenges to reach their potential.

All too often I encounter people discouraged, worn out, and frustrated by the trials they are facing.

The problems they are facing seem so large that at times it feels impossible to for them see anything but the problem. But if all we are seeing is the mangled mouth and the crooked teeth I believe we miss out on the insights that only come when we are looking at life from a very different perspective. I would like to challenge anyone desiring to invite change to apply my grandpa’s philosophy of beginning with the end in mind.

Reconnect with the good in that person, find the vision of future potential and hold onto it no matter how different the present reality may be. Trust that when you are seeing a person this way, they will feel a difference and likely respond differently to you. Trust that by holding this vision of the person in your heart and mind this future perspective will help you see more clearly how to interact in a way that will invite and create the changes you are hoping for.

Momentumby by Aspiro, Summer Program

(Mt. Pleasant, UT) Momentum by Aspiro is a multi-element course that travels from the red rock canyons of Southern Utah to grand peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

This is a one-time, 28 day adventure for boys and girls ages 13-17, and begins on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 (In Salt Lake City).

Momentum by Aspiro is ideal for participants who have completed any outdoor program and are progressing well. Students must be willing to participate and will submit a short essay outlining why they want to participate in this extraordinary adventure. Momentum is for students who would benefit from a non-clinical program, high on adventure, leadership skills and strategies for further personal growth.

The Course includes canyoneering, technical canyoneering, rock climbing, kayaking or rafting, mountaineering, mountain biking and more.

"Students had a phenomenal experience last year, said Josh Watson, Admissions Director, we are excited to once again provide a powerful growth experience for appropriate participants.

For further information and a link to our application, please visit www.momentumadventure.org, or call Josh Watson at 888-266-5136

The Aspiro Group of programs are short-term Wilderness Adventure Therapy (WAT) programs for adolescents ages 13-17 and young adults (Aspiro, Kairos and Vantage Point). Programs meet the needs of a broad range of concerns and challenges. Please see our website www.aspiroprograms.com for further information.

Jessi Irvin Joins Aspiro Group

For Immediate Release
March 24, 2009


(Mount Pleasant, UT) Aspiro is pleased to announce the hiring of Jessi Irvin as a therapist in our unique Wilderness Adventure Therapy (WAT) model.

Our management team is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such a respected, outstanding therapist, said Brian Church, Vice President, Business Development.

"Jessi will play a major role in our continued growth as a program, and is a wonderful addition to our clinical team."

"I felt very connected to and welcomed by everyone I met there," said Irvin. "I love the adventure component as a means for challenging kids to look at their patterns, while giving them an opportunity to increase their confidence and push themselves outside of their comfort zone. I'm excited to interact w/ students and share in their adventures. I like the structure, coupled with the flexibility in my role as a therapist to coordinate a student's program based on their needs and those of their family. I'm also excited about the strong parent involvement, which I've so come to appreciate in my work at Three Rivers Montana. It's important to have the support of parents while their kids are away and also necessary, I believe, to have them involved in doing their own work and work as a family if there is to be true, lasting change."

"I worked at Three Rivers for nearly three years and have loved working with kids and families in the wilderness," said Irvin. "I feel very comfortable in that role, along with the expectations related to working with consultants and attending conferences. I enjoy the opportunity to network and meet people face-to-face, since so much work is done over the phone. There's an intimacy that comes with this work we do in this industry that really fits for me. I've also maintained a very small private practice while at Three Rivers and have enjoyed working with adolescents and young adults in transition. Prior to working at Three Rivers, I was a therapist at a few local, community-based counseling clinics. While there, I worked with a broad spectrum of clients, including families, adults, couples, young children and adolescents facing a wide variety of challenges."

Jessi will be moving to Utah, from Montana, over the next month, and will begin taking on a case load the first week of May. Please join us in welcoming Jessi to Aspiro.

Business Office: (801) 349-2740 | Toll Free - 888-266-5136

Has your troubled teen recently changed to a negative peer group?

Are they struggling with issues of depression, alcohol and drug abuse, or low self-esteem?

Aspiro can help.

Aspiro's solution-oriented, wilderness adventure therapy program works. We blend the best of adventure with effective and proven therapeutic processes.

Your troubled teen experiences the highest standards of safety and therapy in one of the most beautiful and powerful settings for real change.

Aspiro engages students in character development as well as working to resolve family and personal issues and preparing each student for the next best step.

Does your troubled teen need Aspiro? Read our student profile and then give us a call at 888-266-5136.

Aspiro serves young men and women ages 13 to 17 and young adults' ages 18 to 30 years old.

Please call to see if Aspiro is an appropriate program for your troubled teen or young adult.

Aspiro 1-888- 266-5136 or (801) 349-2740

Randy Oakley, CEO of Aspiro, will be a guest on "Answers for the Family" with Allen Cardoza

Randy Oakley, CEO of Aspiro, will be a guest on "Answers for the Family" with Allen Cardoza

Coming up March 16th.

Aspiro is a solution-oriented, wilderness adventure therapy program for at-risk teens. Ever since Randy started working in the industry of "at-risk" teens, he has dreamed of founding a state-of-the-art program to help teenagers in need. Aspiro engages students in character development as well as working to resolve family and personal issues and preparing each student for the next best step.

Aspiro serves young men and women ages 13 to 17 and young adults' ages 18 to 30 years old.
LATalkRadio.com. "Answers for the Family" was born of a desire to help guide parents to professional resources as they face critical moments with their children. Aspiro 1-888- 266-5136 or (801) 349-2740

Self-Efficacy And Thinking Errors

By Dan LeMaire, Assistant Field Director

“…Men of the modern world exist in continual and flagrant antagonism between their consciences and their way of life”. I have recently been swept into a great internal adventure as I study the lives of non-violent social reformers. It came as a surprise to me that reformers of the 20th century such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as many others, have a common history in their studies of Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy is a novelist, philosopher and educational reformer who lived and worked in the late 1800s and it was he who penned the quote above. It was Tolstoy’s postulation that we live in a constant tension between what we know we should be, what we think we can be, and what we think we are.

Many of the friends I meet at Aspiro, in the form of peer guides and in the form of students arrive in this state.

In so many ways, I feel closer to them for it… because it is a way of being that I share. I do not think that living in this state indicates any sort of moral failure, at least not more than anyone else. The only way to truly be exactly what we think we should be at all times is if we are perfect. However, I have seen unhealthy and healthy ways of resolving this tension. It would stand to reason that if we feel a sense that we ought to be something better than what we are, that we ought to be more fit, more kind, more generous, more hard-working, etc., that this tension would make us uncomfortable. This discomfort can motivate us to excel and to become better, but it does not always. There are easier ways to resolve this tension. If we seek to close the gap between ‘how good’ we think we are, and ‘how good’ we think we ought to be, it is very difficult to simply be better. It is much easier to convince ourselves that the concept of ‘how good’ we ought to be is simply an illusion. If our moral sense is an illusion, then it absolves us of our responsibility to work toward it.

If we cannot bring our behavior up to the standard of our morals, then we will bring our morals down to the standard of our behavior. It can sometimes take years of dialogue with ourselves and crafty manipulation to convince ourselves that we need not be as great as we think we ought to be. This is where our third category comes from. It is the category of self-efficacy, or 'what we think we can be'. Before attempting any task of any kind, our minds will always go through a process of deciding if the task is worth the effort. If there is a high likelihood of success, and relatively small cost, we are likely to attempt the task. If there is either too high of a cost, or simply no belief that we can accomplish the task, we are unlikely to attempt the task.

Being an accomplished skier, I enjoy skiing very difficult and steep backcountry slopes. I must minimize the risks of avalanche, tumbles, and equipment failure in order to do this successfully. I will carefully measure snow stability across the span of months, carefully tune and prepare my equipment, choose my team or partner carefully, and spend hours picking my specific path down the mountain and committing it to memory.

Because I have done all these things so many times, and have been successful each time, I have little hesitation when I am standing on top of the slope, looking down, preparing to drop in. My wife, on the other hand, has skied only a few hours in her life. Simply standing on her skis on the gentlest of slopes without me nearby to help can immobilize her in terror. If she were to stand at the top of the same mountain that I was standing on, she would simply be unable to progress any further. She would be unwilling to accept the risk of failure. My self-efficacy is much stronger than her self-efficacy as it regards backcountry skiing.

Whether the task is skiing, homework, business, making friends, quitting smoking, or interacting positively with parents, we will only choose to accept the challenge and engage in the task if we believe we can be successful. If the cost is too high for us, we will simply choose to believe that we cannot possibly accomplish the task. There is a constant tension between what we think we ought to be, what we think we can be, and what we think we are. An unhealthy way of resolving this tension is to simply lower the standards or 'what we think we ought to be', or to lower the standards of 'what we think we can be', to match 'what we think we are'.

I have heard students at Aspiro tell me that they simply cannot get along with their parents, that they would rather live on the streets. Because they do not believe in the possibility of success, they choose to believe that the only option they have left is to live on the streets, to give up.

There are more academic ways of describing these conditions. 'What we think we ought to be' is called morality, spirituality, or ambition. 'What we think we can be' is called our self-efficacy. 'What we think we are' is known as our self-concept. Thinking errors in each of these areas are addressed at Aspiro, and I believe this is one of our many keys to success.

When a student lacks ambition, or ignores moral impulses they have, there can be a lot of shame and sadness associated with it. One can begin to look pretty cold, hard, and cruel pretty quickly in this state. Bridges are often burned in the family and and it is hard even to have the motivation to like each other or continue trying.

Yet, the environment can become so surreal, so magical, so difficult sometimes at Aspiro, that all the rules change. Things that seemed distasteful before now seem desirable. Relationships that seemed lost begin to feel missed. We journal, we talk, we have community, and we share great epic adventures together until suddenly we find ourselves wanting to be better than we ever have before. Where before we felt no desire to overcome, to be better, to do whatever it takes to love, accomplish, and to grow, suddenly we begin to Aspire.

This is what it means to experience Aspiro.

When a student lacks confidence, there is a deep sadness and feelings of failure associated with it.

Sometimes it feels like one can never be good enough. Often because of learning disabilities, difficult family situations, loss, or negative peer groups, a student comes to us feeling as if they have never succeeded at anything. Sometimes they feel as if they never can succeed, that they are born destined to be unhappy and destined to feel distant and left out of their families and communities. It is difficult to feel this way for long at Aspiro. The community is supportive and goes to great lengths to notice and reward every success. We are confronted with challenges such as rock climbing, river rafting, skiing, and rappelling that change us in deep and powerful ways. Once we have completed that one difficult climb, that one scary rappel, that one roaring rapid, it is hard to ignore the feeling of power and success that comes as a result of that. It is hard to continue believing that we are destined to be unhappy or destined to be unsuccessful. Where before we had no confidence, no belief that we could accomplish great things, suddenly we begin to aspire. This is what it means to experience Aspiro.

When a student sees themselves different than they truly are, when they make choices that reflect a lack of understanding of the world around them, or lack of empathy, there can be enormous frustration associated with it. It can feel like they are trying very hard but going nowhere. Many of the tactics they try do not turn out as they expect. Sometimes a student will perceive themselves as less valuable, less loved, less important than they truly are. Other times they will see themselves as the center of attention, as the only one of value in the room, the only one worthy of notice. At Aspiro we have a culture of unconditional love that trickles from staff to students and their peers. But this unconditional love does not mean unconditional attention.

Our students learn to understand that we love them deeply regardless of their past and are only interested in their success and growth. However, they are not the center of the universe and others have needs as relevant, real, and pressing as their own. When we can feel unconditionally loved, but redirected to focus on serving others around us, it is my belief that we are freed then to act in love and to see ourselves as we really are. Where before we had a misdirected sense of how to get the attention we need, or an underestimated sense of value about ourselves, we begin to grow a new respect for our power, our influence, and our ability to sacrifice for others. We learn that we are capable of so much more, capable of changing the world, capable of growing our families and communities. We learn to aspire. This is the Aspiro experience.

Awesome Quote

By: Brian Church, V.P. Business Development

A very good friend of mine passed this quote along a couple of weeks ago. I love it because it is so descriptive of what students and employees experience at all of the Aspiro programs. This quote is a perfect precursor to our next blog entry by Dan LeMaire which will be posted later today or tomorrow. I thought I would share it with all for your enjoyment:

"Everest is a pressure cooker that forces us into rigorous self-examination. Part of Everest's magic rests in the painful reality we find inside us. Everest exposes things about ourselves we often successfully hide at more reasonable altitudes."

"The larger question is ultimately, will we hide from our new self-knowledge, or will we change and grow from it? Most searingly difficult experiences are like this. They are characterized by pain and loss, achievement and gain. The only guarantee of failure comes from our refusal to grow from our new self knowledge."

--Alan Hobsen

A Shifting Paradigm

By: Josh Watson, LMSW

“Change” seems to be the nation’s mantra as we welcome a new year with open arms. We are a nation that is constantly evolving based on several factors associated with things like technology, environment, family dynamics, disease, political decisions, and economic conditions. These are obviously just a few examples of issues that trigger change and require adaptation on more of a global scale. However, as a therapist in the private treatment sector I must not ignore best practice methods that are consistently changing to meet the needs of struggling teens and families.

More specifically, I am a therapist by trade, but I am also a minority owner and Director of Admissions for the Aspiro Group of Programs. Aspiro is a very innovative and clinically sophisticated, outdoor program that provides a strong emphasis on adventure therapy to targeted groups of adolescents and young adults. One of the primary reasons we created Aspiro was to address the ongoing needs that are constantly changing for teens and families. These needs are a direct reflection of the issues we deal with on a global scale that I made reference to earlier. One of our mantras at Aspiro has been to “think outside of the box.”

This is not only something our staff does internally, we also teach our students and families to do the same thing. Rigid thinking patterns often create frustration and power struggles, even between individuals that care for each other.

Traditional outdoor treatment programs or “wilderness programs” have been around for many years.

Focusing on primitive living skills, behavioral modification, and self-reflection, these programs have been successful in changing the individual behavior of adolescents. However, at Aspiro, we do not believe that is good enough to address the issues we face in today’s society. When Aspiro was created over three years ago it was determined that new treatment modalities needed to be implemented to not only address the individual student behavior, but also the behavior of the entire family system. In essence, a paradigm shift was created in the private sector of outdoor treatment programs. Yes, I understand that families have had some interaction, primarily after eight or twelve weeks of separation from their child, in traditional outdoor programs, however, we feel it is important to consistently involve the family throughout the entire process.

At Aspiro, we also understand the value of family separation for a period of time. However, family reunification and/or relationship cohesion is the ultimate goal whenever possible. By ignoring the family system throughout the outdoor treatment process we are actually doing harm to the child. Research on family development shows that changes in family life-cycle patterns have escalated dramatically over the last decade. According to two family system’s experts, Betty Carter and Monica McGoldrick, we can attribute this family developmental change to factors such as lower birth rate, longer life expectancy, the changing role of women, very high divorce and remarriage rates, the rise of unmarried motherhood, unmarried couples, single-parent adoptions, the increased visibility of gay and lesbian couples and families, and the increase in two paycheck marriages to the point where they are the American norm. We must not ignore these changes that are occurring in families all over the country and we must address them accordingly.

This paradigm shift to increase family involvement throughout the outdoor treatment process was not met without some criticism. However, all changing paradigms are confronted with questions and concern…as they should be. The most repetitive concern that was expressed on multiple occasions was that “students will manipulate their parents into withdrawing them early from the program.”

Aspiro has served over 500 families in three years. Out of those families, only one has withdrawn their child due to manipulation prior to treatment termination. Based on ongoing success and positive feedback from families and relevant professionals, treating the whole family is necessary in today’s society. The paradigm shift has been increasingly embraced by other private programs in the outdoor treatment sector.

However many programs and treating professionals still base their approach to struggling teens on old mythological patterns of the traditional family system. Carter and McGoldrick go on to say that it is absolutely imperative that therapists and treating professionals at least recognize the extent of change and variations in the norm that are now widespread and that we help families to stop comparing their structure and life-cycle course with that of the family of the 1950’s.

While relationship patterns and family themes may continue to sound familiar, the structure, ages, stages, and culture of the American family have changed radically. It is time for us professionals to give up our attachments to the old ideals and to put a more positive, conceptual frame around what has become evident in today’s society.

Inviting Openness

By: Mike Escalante, Program Director

I started working for a wilderness therapy program in 2003. When I began, I think only the “wilderness” part of wilderness therapy had caught my attention. I instantly fell in love with the job as it entailed hanging out with a bunch of guys in a beautiful Arizona mountain landscape. As time went on, I worked for other programs and became more and more aware of the “therapy” side. I became introduced to a variety of therapeutic theories and intervention modalities focused on facilitating change. Some of these theories interested me and others felt hokey or even oppressive.

By the time I worked for my third program, I honestly felt flooded in a sea of information and theories about “change” that oftentimes seemed to miss the mark. One theory seemed to contradict another while others seemed to be a lexical reorganization of yet other theories. After years of working with youth and implementing a whole gamut of interventions, I discovered a fundamental and necessary component of “change”. Stated simply, I learned that seeds of growth can only take root in a person when he is open to the idea of growth. I realized that each student I work with had to come to a place in their heart and mind where they were at peace with a successful outcome. When students found this open place, seeds of change could be planted and cultivated.

After making my long overdue discovery, a few things became apparent. When at war emotionally with others, we excuse ourselves from our negative behaviors. Therefore, accusing is almost always accompanied with excusing. In other words, if a student is focused on how she has been wronged by her parents and program staff than she will naturally accuse others of warped perception and excuse her actions in the interplay. Terry Warner eloquently explains this paradigm in his masterpiece The Bonds That Make us Free.

These realizations fostered a significant change in the way I viewed my role. As a caregiver, mentor or guide, my greatest challenge and responsibility was to invite my students to an open place. Openness, I have found, is the only foundation that supports the weight of lasting change. Of course my realization was not accompanied by a universal equation for eliciting openness. Rather, my realization has helped me develop a new focus and realize that my invitation must come from a place of personal openness and peace.

Fortunately, I found Aspiro, or Aspiro found me.

Aspiro is an organization that actively seeks to instill a sense of openness in its employees and students.

Furthermore, Aspiro explicitly invites openness with our students’ families during our family workshop.

It has been awesome to see parents and children drop their accusing and excusing emotions and hence regain the ability to see themselves and others clearly.

Now, as the program director for Aspiro, I get to work closely with guides and clinicians in training and program development. I am constantly astounded at the simple ways our field guides and clinical staff touch the lives of the students we work with.Throughout the years I have studied many therapeutic theories that have appropriate application to our work, yet none of them have the power to foster change if the person most in need of change is at war with the idea. My invitation to all of my employees, as well as to anyone who works in our important industry, is to free ourselves as much as we can from accusing and excusing emotions so that we can invite the same in our students.

Why We Still Work for Aspiro...

By Jodi Escalante, Assistant Program Director

I never would have guessed that my husband, Michael and I would still be working at Aspiro. When we first heard about Aspiro, we had only been married about 6 months. We were both attending college and thought this would be a fun summer job, where we would get to work together. We had both worked in traditional wilderness programs before, but never together.

And just to sound cliché, we started an adventure that we’ve yet to end.

That first summer was truly amazing: canoeing on beautiful Lake Powell, exploring the majestic slot canyons of Central and Southern Utah, exploring caves and rappelling, rock climbing all across the state, and hiking through the most beautiful areas that I never knew existed.

In the fall, we returned to school to finish our undergraduate studies, but every weekend we traveled out to our groups and trained the newer guides.

When Michael and I graduated (April 2007), we returned to Aspiro full time because we were hooked.

As noted earlier, we had both worked for primitive model wilderness programs. However, after working at Aspiro neither of us could imagine working at a wilderness program without the ADVENTURE. We pushed our students harder, faster, and farther than either of us had previously experienced.

Since that first summer at Aspiro I have embarked on so many beautiful and amazing adventures and have built some unforgettable relationships with students.

I guess that’s my other favorite thing about Aspiro we emphasize stronger relationships than the norm.

Given the high impact adventures, we have an amazing opportunity to help someone through a physically or emotionally challenging experience, to push them beyond their comfort zone to higher ground. And when the dust settles and the high fives and hugs are done, and they’ve overcome their seemingly impassible struggles, we learn from the metaphors; teacher and student alike.