The Blog of P.U.R.E. and Sue Scheff

Have you been told your teen needs a wilderness program? As a Parent Advocate and Family Consultant in the Teen Help Industry since 2001, there’s no secret -it’s a  big business . On a weekly basis we receive calls from parents that have parted with thousands of dollars after a conversation with someone that advises them that their teenager needs a wilderness experience. But how do you really know this? Take time to consider the following. Wilderness programs,  why are some people always so quick to say, “ Your teen needs a good wilderness experience .” Do you really understand what a wilderness program is? Do you understand that the majority of participants are asked to continue on to a Residential Treatment Center (RTC) or Therapeutic Boarding School (TBS) – which means your teen will be starting all over again with a new therapist as well as  you   paying  all over again for start-up fees? Why not start and finish in one place? Well, ...

On a weekly basis we receive calls from parents asking about wilderness therapy programs. In many situations they have already parted with thousands of dollars to an educational consultant that has recommended this type of program for their child. Sadly, we've heard this scenario it causes us to wonder what the motivation is. In our opinion, they must have their reasons - which hopefully parents can figure out. In the meantime, this is not against the reputable wilderness programs that are in our country, it's more about the awareness that the majority of teenagers need more than 6-9 weeks to change the behavior that causes you to read this post or call that educational consultant. Learn more about wilderness programs and our thoughts here . Be an educated parent before you spend that extra $15-30K.