Our Eight Guiding Prinicples
The best in wilderness therapy

Wilderness:  

We operate on over a thousand square miles of public land in the high deserts and mountains of south-central Utah.  Students eat nutritious food, breathe clean air, and are engaged in healthy physical activity.  Being separated from what is comfortable and familiar is a key element to initiate the process of growth and change.  This separation can also provide a much needed reprieve for the family.  It is physically demanding to live outdoors for extended periods.  We are careful to strike the right balance between providing a true wilderness experience while also creating an environment that is conducive to meaningful therapy and the development of personal relationships.
 

Therapy:  

Our clinical team is comprised of master’s level therapists with extensive wilderness experience.  We utilize proven clinical models such as Motivational Interviewing and Dialectical Behavior Therapy to support clients on their journey of change and growth.  The primary therapist designs and implements treatment with the support of a fully engaged treatment team.  Experienced field instructors lead clients on a safe but challenging trek that is carefully designed to maximize the wilderness experience in a way that leverages the formal therapy in a manner that cannot be duplicated in a residential setting.  An assigned team leader serves as an additional layer of support to ensure effective implementation of the treatment plan.

Strength-based:  

We carry a fundamental belief in the innate goodness of our clients.  One common characteristic we observe in our students is low self-esteem.  A significant piece of our therapeutic strategy is to support our clients in discovering their own strengths and positive attributes.  Developing newfound resiliency within the individual client is one of the one of the most powerful results of the Legacy experience.  Through the use of positive psychology, coupled with the small unavoidable successes our clients experience in the wilderness, students discover the gifts they can use to serve themselves and their community. 

Recovery:  

Many of our clients are challenged with substance abuse issues.  A small, tightly knit community in the wilderness provides an ideal setting in which to confront this topic.  Through powerful common experiences, a high degree of emotional safety is quickly established and students can both express what is going on for them as well as be held accountable by esteemed peers in an assertive and supportive manner.  A Licensed Substance Abuse Counselor is part of each treatment team to oversee this process.  

Adventure:  

We use adventure to effectively engage clients in their own treatment experience.  Our own passion and experience coupled with the area in which we operate naturally leads to an adventure-based approach to wilderness activities.  We climb mountains, explore slot canyons, navigate through pristine forests, trek seemingly barren deserts, and discover ourselves in the process.  The wilderness routinely presents seemingly insurmountable challenges.  The power of the lessons learned in overcoming these challenges is a fundamental component of our approach to treatment.  We deliberately steer our clients toward these tests, support and empower them in the achievement of success, then carefully process the experience in order to maximize the growth experience.  The result of successive cycles of facing, overcoming, and moving beyond significant obstacles is nothing short of life changing in terms of a person’s self-image and identity.

Family:  

Outcome studies clearly show that family involvement in treatment greatly increases the likelihood that changes will be meaningful and long lasting.  Your assigned therapist will spend one hour per week keeping you informed of issues and progress as well as planning further treatment.  The family will join the client here with us for several days of intense sessions and wilderness experience. 
 

Agency:  

The more invested the client, the more effective the treatment.  Our goal is for clients to choose complete investment in their own treatment experience.  It can be a delicate balancing act.  It is common for there to be some degree of pressure necessary needed to get a young adult to take the first step into treatment.  We invest significant energy into supporting new clients in embracing this choice.  We are skilled and experienced at helping young adults come to the conclusion that this help being offered is what is best for them.  In most cases, if they are not fully “bought in” initially, we can steer them that way within the first week or two.

Guided journey to responsible adulthood:  

There are a few very common themes among the great stories and legends created by humans throughout history and across time and culture.  Very often, the stories involve young adults who are called away from what is comfortable and familiar.  They are presented with great challenges and face many trials.  They typically have a small group of supporting characters to help them.  They are tested to their very limit, snatch victory back from the jaws of defeat, and gain a new self-awareness of who they really are.  They then return home and face the challenge of attempting to fit back into the ‘real’ world and try to figure out how to use their newly discovered strengths to serve their community.  Such is the Legacy experience for each young person who journeys to this place of high mountains and vast deserts.  Let the Adventure begin.