2007 Adventure Therapy Best Practices Conference
"I had a fantastic time. This conference was a wonderful opportunity for my personal & professional growth as well as networking. I will be back."
-2007 Adventure Therapy Best Practices Conference attendee
From June 22-24th over one hundred conference goers convened at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH for three days of workshops, keynotes, and networking focused on best practice therapeutic adventure work. The conference was a joint effort between the Association for Experiential Education's national (AEE) office, AEE's Northeast Region, AEE's Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group (TAPG) as well as both the Social Work Department and the Outdoor Education Program at UNH.
Keynotes were presented by Dr. Mike Gass, Dr. Dene Berman, and Dr. Simon Crisp and were accompanied by a series of workshops facilitated by other leaders in the field. The content was focused both on the practical applications of adventure-based work with therapeutic populations, as well as the meta-issues of a field at an evidence-based crossroads. Hands-on explorations of experiential work aimed at helping trauma survivors, aiding family therapy, and building resiliancy factors in youth, for example, were accompanied by sessions outlining current trends towards licensure, evidence based practice, and manualization. The final day was devoted to TAPG's current efforts to research, write, and disseminate a standard (if developing) set of best practices.
An exciting element to the conference was the international flavor of the event. In addition to attendees from the United States, there were professionals in attendance from: Hungary, Portugal, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Canada. This not only was an exciting tribute to the broad ranging interest in therapeutic adventure, but also made for an exceptionally fun and culturally interesting conference environment.
A Special Thanks to:
The conference presenters for volunteering their time and knowledge
The Association for Experiential Education's Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group for providing vital guidance and support (particularly Sean Hoyer, Carolyn Romano, Steve Glass,
Kim Sacksteder and Gary Stauffer)
The staff at the AEE Boulder office for their time, energy, and conference expertise
(particularly Evan Narotsky and Natalie Kurylko)
The members of the conference planning committee for an incredible effort:
Anita Tucker, Sharon Gagne, Joe Bertoletti, Matt Liddle, Amy Weisser, Katie Asbury,
Chris Lamontagne and Michael Young
Other conference planning volunteers: Jen Wirth, Shabbir Latif and Paul Shirilla
The Service Crew for their help
This was the second Best Practices-inspired therapeutic adventure conference and TAPG is excited as a group to follow with a third in the near future. If you are interested in helping with the next one, feel free to e-mail michael.young@unh.edu.