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.

Philosophy of Bouldering - The Project

One of the experiences that Aspiro provides year-round for its participants is the sport of bouldering.

Bouldering is a form of rock climbing where the athlete climbs only as high as it is safe to fall, but does not use a rope. Instead, guides and peers use gymnastic ‘spotting’ techniques and specially-designed ‘crash pads’ to keep the athletes safe. Boulderers typically climb on boulders instead of cliffs, eliminating the risk of rock fall from above, and adding the reward of being able to stand on top of the ‘conquered’ climb and rest.

Routes that boulderers climb are called ‘problems’ and usually consist of only a few (usually 6-12) moves that are much more challenging than typical rock climbing, and often much more gymnastic. Bouldering can be at once frustrating and engaging, overwhelming and peaceful, painful and comforting, social and individual.

The glory of bouldering is that the greatest experiences are intimately related to the worst experiences.

The highs depend on the lows. In bouldering, a successful climb is simply not rewarding unless it is a successful climb that was fought for. The more difficult a problem is for a boulderer, the more she must fight for the climb, and the more she fights for the climb, the greater the thrill when she stands on top of the boulder, basking in the overwhelming sensations of victory. Of course to achieve this reward, she must outlast a wilderness of despair, as she second-guesses and doubts her strength at every fall, fall after fall.

The blessing and the curse of such a sport, is that no problem is impossible, but nearly every problem is improbable. At Aspiro, we seek to engage every staff and student in the ‘Project Experience’. Boulderers of all levels, when they arrive at a new area, use guidebooks, ratings, and word of mouth to find the problems that seem most appropriate for their skill level. Much of their time is spent familiarizing themselves with the style of climbing in the area, and the relative scale of difficulty ratings. In every case, however, what the climber is really seeking is “The Project”.

The Project is the one climb that he cannot climb the first day, the first week, or even the first month. When he feels the first holds, he believes it is impossible. Yet there is a beauty to this problem- it calls out to him and invites him in. At first he tries it and it confirms to him that he will need to return another time, 3 years maybe, 5 years maybe, to climb it. It confirms to him that he is simply not strong enough, determined enough, or resilient enough to attempt it yet. Maybe later.

As he climbs other problems around it, he successfully completes the easier problems in 1, 2 or even 5 tries.

It feels good, and he is proud of himself, but still the Project calls to him. Eventually he cannot ignore it and he gives it his first real attempt. Rejection!! Further confirmation that this climb is not possible for him, he is not good enough, not ready. He is conflicted inside, he does not want to experience rejection again, but he wants to climb the project. He throws himself at the project again, despite his conflicting feelings. A cycle of enthusiastic attempts and disheartening rejections follows until finally, the climber tries the first move, and it feels different… he understands it differently.

“If I only squeeze this muscle this way, balance on my toe this way, and throw my body skyward exactly this way… perhaps it is possible,” he thinks to himself.

And then success comes. He can do the first move. Thrilled over such an accomplishment, the climber invites her friends to come watch, throws herself at the project and the project dismisses her once again.

She is finally beginning to understand the curse of a sport that seemed so fun and so relaxing just an hour ago.

No matter how much effort she puts into the first move of a problem, and even when she finally figures it out and understands it, she must still climb that first move and put all the same energy into it every time she gets on the problem, if she ever wants a chance to climb the second move. It does not become suddenly easy because you succeeded once. Likewise, it does not become suddenly harder because you have failed once.

The rock is constant, we are the ones who change. To overcome the problem, we must not change the problem without- that is never enough. We must change the problem within. The cycles of overwhelming success and victory, and crushing defeat are very normal in the sport of bouldering. As professional boulderers exist in all sizes and shapes, one can guess that external strength, height, weight, age, or natural abilities do not determine a successful climber, or how much one falls in love with the sport. It seems obvious with even a little experience, that success is determined by strength of heart, not strength of arm. It is what is inside that counts. It is the climber’s ability to accept any failure as temporary, to accept failure as little more than a stepping stone to her goals that determines whether or not she will succeed. As guides at Aspiro, we strive to make this process happen at least once for every student, staff, and visitor in the field. It is more than a hope, it is an expectation. One can watch professional climbers work projects for years before success.

This resolve is a quality that we admire at Aspiro. We hope to build a community and an environment that supports opens doors- a place where we can test our resolve and even grow it.

As staff and students at Aspiro, we share a unique season of therapy. It is a season of challenge, frustration, overwhelming accomplishment, and deep respect for each other’s struggles. It is a therapy we share.

Staff refuse to be ‘teachers’ who have all the answers that the students must absorb. Staff instead become teachers who inspire passion, craft experiences, and share burdens. We grow to love and hate bouldering as it begins to represent both our victories, and our unfinished projects.

We return with excitement and trepidation. We learn to guide each other through the experience, provide the community of support, and be the invisible force that helps each other to succeed. And of course, we all have the opportunity to see ourselves overcome, to engage in a contest that is both against ourselves and greater than ourselves, and to experience the ultimate rush, the goal of all boulderers, The Project.

Dan LeMaire

Seventh shave completing The Seven Shaves Of Christmas

Attached is Justin’s seventh shave completing The Seven Shaves Of Christmas. It is worth seeing both pictures as Justin wanted to finish with a bang and we bet no one is expecting this.

Be sure to join in the festivities next year so begin growing your beards at least by the day after Thanksgiving – shaving of the head is optional.

Have a very Merry Christmas

Judith E. Bessette, EdD, Visit October 25, 2006

Since the writing of this original article in October 2006, Proficio Management, Inc. and Aspiro Inc. jointly announced the acquisition of Aspiro, Inc. as of Friday, 14 March, 2008 by Aspiro's current leadership team and clinicians. The purchase, in which the entire executive team and all Aspiro clinicians participated, will ensure continued delivery of high quality services to troubled youth and families in an innovative format for years to come.

Proficio formed and founded Aspiro with Randy Oakley in April of 2006.

The sale by Proficio to the leadership team of Aspiro allows Proficio to focus on other exciting ventures while enabling the Aspiro Team the flexibility that direct ownership provides to ensure quality, manage growth, and effectively respond to client needs.

That being said .........

Judith E. Bessette, EdD

When I first read about Aspiro, a wilderness program that opened last spring in Utah near Park City, and read their description of the program as cutting-edge, I was skeptical.

I thought, "Aren't they all cutting edge, new and different?" And, I thought, do we really need another wilderness program?

But the more I read and the more I learned about the talent Aspiro had gathered together, the more I knew I needed to visit and see what it was all about, first-hand. Meeting Randy Oakley and his wife, Christina, at a regional NATSAP meeting just fueled my interest in visiting. Randy is the founder of the program and Christine wears two hats there. She's in charge of Business Operations but loves getting out with the kids in her role as a Lead Guide.

In October, Linda Cain and I met Brian Church at Utah Olympic Park, built in Park City for the Winter Olympics in 2002. Brian is the Director of Business Development. It was a gorgeous, crisp, sunshine-filled day and the ride to Hanna, where Aspiro's base camp is located, was beautiful.

As we came up to the top of a hill, the base camp came into view, set in front of an unusual formation of red rock.

And, a river runs through it - a lovely stretch of the Duchesne.

We sat down with Randy and watched an amazing video. It was amazing on several levels - not the least of which was the footage of various adventure activities including whitewater river rafting and canoeing, skiing, snowboarding, top-rope rock climbing, caving (in slot canyons, mind you) , mountain-biking, horseback riding and the like - but also because the video captured the sense of accomplishment of the students in the program. One of the hallmarks of Aspiro's program is taking kids to the highest of highs in their outdoor experiences and you could see the results of that approach. When we learned that this video was a creation of one of the students, it made it even more remarkable.

We had the opportunity to meet Ken Betts, Program Director, Justin Robinson, the Director of Clinical Services as well as Farrah and Bridger Jensen, both Field Directors for Aspiro. Their combined years in the wilderness, working with troubled teens are impressive. I was struck by the fact that each of these individuals articulated the same mission and vision of the organization. Each talked about the importance of genuine relationships, of developing self-efficacy and about the true meaning of wilderness therapy versus offering therapy in the wilderness.

Randy has dreamed of running a program like Aspiro - which means to achieve, aspire or infuse with spirit - since 1988. At an IECA Conference in 2004, Randy (who was then at West Ridge Academy) participated in a brainstorming session with other West Ridge staff focused on "what a wilderness program might look like if you were designing it for your own kids."

At the conclusion of the conversation, Ken Allen, the head of West Ridge (and a strong financial backer of both programs) asked Randy to figure out what he needed to get the program off the ground…and Aspiro took its first students in April of 2006.

While a number of their first students were kids having trouble at West Ridge, those students are no longer the majority of the students at Aspiro. In addition to taking referrals from educational consultants, Aspiro is also working with students from other residential facilities who have fallen off their track and need to refocus.

Aspiro invites that school or facility to play an active role on the treatment team so when the student returns to the facility that sent him or her to Aspiro, every one is on the same page.

Using a rolling admissions approach, appropriate candidates are males and females, ages 13-17, and young adults, ages 18 to 30 years of age, with a history of moderate emotional and behavioral problems, low self-esteem, academic underachievement, substance abuse and family conflict. On a consulting basis, Aspiro is served by Leroy Anderson, MD, a child/adolescent psychiatrist who has a quite a reputation in the canyoneering world. Matt Eschler, LMFT, provides parenting workshops and aftercare services as needed and Chris McRoberts, PhD supervises a team of psychologists who test kids out on the trail. We were impressed with the kids who visited with us just before leaving base camp for a several day trek in Moab.

We talked with kids who'd been there for several weeks as well as one who had arrived only a few days earlier. They were complimentary about the staff - especially in regard to feeling respected and heard when they talked. They were excited about the trip and looking forward to the challenges ahead. One or two said the food could be better - but after all, they are teenagers!

Aspiro really is new and different - and here are several reasons why. This relationship-based program treats kids with an uncommon degree of respect for who they are and the strengths they bring with them to base camp and out on the trail. A recent visitor who sat in on an intake interview likened the experience to watching a high school student transfer from one school to another. Aspiro uses a solution-focused therapy model combined with adventure therapy to build self-efficacy and discover new coping strategies for dealing with old issues. There are several credentialed recreation therapists on staff who are always looking for the accommodations that will allow every student to get the most out of the program. Aspiro looks for the best and the brightest in its staff - and is open to each and every staff member owning a piece of the program.

This philosophy should create stability in the staff at all levels - not just at the top.

And, Aspiro takes some other chances that set them apart. We learned about a seriously overweight kid who prospered there - and began loosing weight. We learned about their ability to handle kids with diabetes - a real challenge in the wild. We also learned that the admissions team has the ability to work with families who are stretched financially - an unusual circumstance for so new a program but yet another example of what makes Aspiro genuinely new, different and cutting-edge.

Josh Watson, LCSW, Dir. Of Admissions
801-979-6308
jwatson@aspiroadventure.com
www.aspiro-inc.com

Judith E. Bessette, EdD, Visit October 25, 2006
(414) 581-9146