Base camp Model Wilderness Program

Definition Base camp: In climbing, a base camp may be set up to provide the starting point for a multiple day or week assault on climbing a mountain. The base camp allows for acclimatization and provides a deliberate staging area, storing supplies that are carried to camps higher up on the mountain.

Ascent’s base camp model is designed to stabilize behavior and engage your child in treatment before they enter the wilderness. The base camp allows for a thorough physical and psychological examination along with establishing proper eating and sleeping patterns before introducing therapeutic challenge. Our phase approach to core competencies allows your child to engage in the process and invest in the progression through treatment.

Each child begins his or her program at base camp in Orientation Phase. In this phase, your child will work on identifying problem behaviors and their underlying issues. Orientation encourages your child to ask the question, "What do I do and why do I do it?" Orientation includes the following foundational information:

• Introduction to the program
• Adjustment to the environment
• Clinical assessment and treatment planning
• Assessment of physical and medical issues
• Compliance with Ascent agreements
• Increasing awareness regarding: the use of coping skills, unproductive behavior patterns and personal issues
• Begin an exercise program

The next phase Pre-Course emphasizes responsibility for actions. This phase encourages your child to answer the question, "Now that I am aware, what do I do next?" To understand what it means to take responsibility for behavior, your child will learn to express him or herself appropriately within the group and complete tasks that will ultimately help with preparation for the wilderness course. Pre-Course phase includes the following areas of focus:

• Trust-building
• Developing communication skills
• Problem solving
• Exploration of personal issues within a group
• Developing wilderness course goals
• Increasing exercise
• Developing outdoor skills
• Learning to work with others
• Participating in guided communication with family

The safe, predictable environment of the base camp creates an outdoor experience in which your child can adjust to this new therapeutic setting while engaging in productive relationships and beginning the process of building on successes.