At the root of the WinGate Wilderness treatment program are 10 pillars. These are the guiding principles for the creation and implementation of the program. Let’s look at some of these pillars and how they relate.
Family Focus
WinGate is built on the concept that healthy relationships are the driving force for sustainable change in our lives. This is why WinGate focuses on providing therapy and therapeutic tool-box building as a parallel process for both families and their child.
To ensure youth can overcome obstacles and continue their path towards long-lasting change, it’s important to actively engage family members. Families have field visits, on-site seminars, family therapy, weekly letters, and a therapeutic reading list to help them develop the same language, concepts, and strategies as their child.
Building a healthy, connected foundation at home provides teens with the support they need to face challenges in life. WinGate’s focus on repairing and nurturing relationships is a key factor in providing permanent, secure connections for all members of the family.
Engaging Agency and Change
Nature-based therapy focuses on internally motivated change to help heal from trauma and establish a healthy life. To do this, participants must have agency. This means individuals receive guidance rather than orders. The goal of our staff is to be mentors and help teens discover the path that best suits their mental health, social relationships, and life-long wellbeing.
WinGate Wilderness doesn’t use a level system, and there are no punishments or external rewards. Punitive methods may appear effective in the short term but fail in the long term, and are detrimental to creating trusting relationships.
Changes that are forced through punishment will often end when the threat of punishment ends. On the other hand, emotional or behavioral shifts motivated from an internal desire to change continue to hold value after the teen leaves the program.
Rather than punishment, WinGate focuses on internal rewards. Accomplishments naturally bring positive feelings, which our brains are programmed to want more of. When a teen is motivated to improve, they learn competencies and self-confidence that will benefit them for life.
Trauma-Informed and Relationship Driven
According to Proactive Medical Review, trauma-informed care requires “understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma.” This approach aims to help trauma survivors regain a sense of personal empowerment while focusing on physical, emotional, and psychological safety.
The WinGate Wilderness program was designed from a relationship perspective. It’s in the DNA of the program and impacts every aspect. Relationships are essential for healing and a happy and healthy life.
The program is designed to help teens build healthy relationships with staff and each other. Positive relationships and community cohesion are associated with lower levels of depression, psychological disorders, and delinquency. Incredibly, group activities in the outdoors create a strong sense of community–amplifying the effectiveness of WinGate’s clinical programming.
Actual Wilderness Experience
Many nature-based therapy programs go on wilderness outings while spending much of their time in residential buildings. WinGate Wilderness provides an Actual Wilderness Experience (A.W.E), meaning students and staff spend every day in the beautiful landscape of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument.
Nature-based adventure therapy programs such as WinGate show that wilderness plays an active part in therapy. A serene, expansive environment facilitates healing, free of the distractions of modern society.
Immersed in nature, teens have the opportunity for quiet self reflection and self discovery. Program graduates recognize that their ability to connect with the natural environment played an important role in their healing journey.
Wingate Wilderness
Wingate Wilderness offers nature-based adventure therapy for teens and young adults. Staff help teens with a variety of issues such as emotional, mental, and behavioral challenges through a positive, relational approach in a naturally therapeutic environment.