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WORDS FROM THE WOODS
Issue 4 | June 2015
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SUWS SUMMER READING SERIES
The Field Trip
by Roslyn Walker, MA, LPA
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Dear , As a fairly new employee at SUWS, I felt it was a "must" to spend some time in the field (aka: the wilderness) with our field instructors and students. I mean the whole package; carrying a pack with the length half of my height, spending two nights in cold weather, filtering river water to drink, cooking over a portable stove, and learning the SUWS language (comprised of a multitude of acronyms!). I've generally considered myself pretty adventurous; however, I've never been a field instructor or a student at SUWS, so I was looking forward to stepping out of my comfort zone of convenience and taking things for granted. This is what we ask students to do when they enter our program and stay for approximately 53 days. Students come to SUWS from all over the country, and while they are diverse in backgrounds and experiences, they share a struggle to meet the demands of their typical environment due to poor communication and relationship skills, substance abuse and emotional and behavioral challenges. |
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Staff Spotlight: Trysh Huntington
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Trysh Huntington, MA, LMFT
Adolescent Female Therapist
For the past 6 years, Trysh Huntington has been instrumental in developing group Luna, SUWS' program for adolescent females, and she is currently the lead therapist for this program. Trysh began working with children and adolescents in 1992. After experiencing the benefits of outdoor education as a student at the North Carolina Outward Bound School, Trysh began her 15 year career as a leader in the Outward Bound organization. She brings an extensive outdoor background as an experiential educator and administrator to SUWS.Trysh is enthusiastic about her work at SUWS and views her position as an opportunity to combine her life passions: working with youth in the wilderness and working with families in a therapeutic capacity in order to assist them in gaining a better working knowledge of their strengths.
Trysh has built the adolescent female group on a foundation that includes AUTHENTICITY, BELONGING, COMMUNICATION AND SISTERHOOD. Each of these pillars supports the empowerment of girls who enter the group often having experienced trauma, grief and loss, self-harm, and failure in their attempts to be accepted and develop secure relationships. Trysh believes that it is imperative for students to be authentic, hard-working and genuine, in order to truly benefit from therapeutic work. Her approach to treatment includes systemic, experiential and expressive arts therapy modalities.
Trysh holds a Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and a post graduate degree in Expressive Arts Therapy from Appalachian State University. In her free time, Trysh can be found riding her mountain bike on the trails of Western North Carolina and beyond. She is an avid knitter and loves to paint, cook, and garden. Her dog Fern can frequently be seen at SUWS and is a companion to many there.
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SUWS Raises Donations for Sky's the Limit Fund
Sky's the Limit Fund is a non-profit organization that transforms the lives of at-risk youth by providing grants, support, and hope, through wilderness therapy programs and beyond. SUWS was represented by Marketing Director, Deara Ball, on Saturday June 13th at the annual gala, entitled the NightLights Gridiron Gala, at the San Francisco 49ers Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. SUWS donated a "Fighter Pilot for a Day Experience" to the auction, which raised $4,000 for the organization. |
Mindfulness and Meditation Workshop a Success!
The 2-day workshop, entitled, Mindfulness and Meditation in Psychotherapy:
An Integrative Approach, held May 28th and 29th was very well received! Attendees included clinicians from North Carolina, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Featured presenter, Dr. Karen Oldham, from Charlotte, NC, discussed the physiological and emotional benefits of mindfulness and meditation, led attendees through experiential practices and shared a guide to implementing a mindfulness and meditation program for clients. Attendees also toured SUWS, spent time with students and participated in an equine assisted psychotherapy and learning workshop.
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SUWS Therapists to Present at Conferences!
Kevin Waller, LPC, LCAS, Phoenix program therapist, will present,
Taking Fun Seriously: Exploring the Clinical Significance of Play/Fun for Adolescent Wilderness Treatment, at the Wilderness Therapy Symposium in Park City, UT August 27 through 29. The annual symposium offers a place to explore, inform, and educate on a diverse range of topics all centering on wilderness therapy.
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SUWS Clinical Director, Daniel Fishburn, LCSW, and SUWS Neurofeedback Specialist, Cameron Allen, will present, Neuropsychological Education and the 12 Steps: Reclaiming a Viable Recovery Option for Adolescents, at The Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) annual conference in Washington, DC October 9 through 13. NAADAC works to create healthier individuals, families and communities through prevention, intervention, quality treatment and recovery support.
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It's Not Yesterday's Weed!
What You Need To Know About Today's Marijuana and Teens.
SUWS' Free Webinar Series
Friday July 10, 2015, 12pm to 1pm EST
Marijuana has changed significantly over time, especially during the past 25 years. This webinar will address the evolving legal and cultural issues, as well as the common misconceptions, surrounding the use of marijuana. Presenters, Kevin Waller, LPC, LCAS, and James Skelton, LCDC, will review relevant research that supports the changes in marijuana over time and the implications of these changes for the developing brain of adolescents. In addition, various philosophies and approaches have emerged with respect to treatment, especially for adolescents whose main drug of abuse is marijuana, and presenters will address conflicting views and best practices.
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Sky's The Limit Fundraisers
Asheville, NC and Charlotte, NC
August 2015, Place and Time to be determined.
For more information contact Deara Ball, [email protected]
SUWS will be hosting two fundraisers for Sky's the Limit Fund in August in both Asheville, NC and in Charlotte, NC. Open to the public, private screenings of the film, Girl on the Edge, will be shown. Based on a true story, Girl on the Edge is a powerful drama that follows the journey of a young girl struggling with the aftermath of a horrific trauma. Unable to cope with the trauma, she becomes self destructive, and her parents make the decision to send her to an alternative healing center in the wilderness. While there is no cost for this event, a $20 donation is encouraged.
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FRUITION: AN EXPRESSIVE ARTS IMMERSION
October 2-4, 2015
SUWS is partnering with Taisir Expressive Arts and Crossing Point Counseling to bring this intensive weekend to those who wish to learn to apply expressive arts modalities in their own growth work as well as with clients. SUWS' Family Therapist, Taisir El-Souessi, LPC will be a co- facilitator. No experience is necessary. 16 CEU's available through NBCC. Early bird registration is $325 until July 31, after which registration is $425. |
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SUWS of the Carolinas is a therapeutic wilderness program in Old Fort, NC. It is an integrated strengths based program that addresses the biological, psychological and social needs of adolescents with mental health, substance abuse and behavioral challenges. Learn More |
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