Modern Rites of Passage in the Wilderness: Guiding Young People to a Sober Adulthood
Meghan Vivo
Much of what you read about wilderness therapy speaks of the life skills young people learn in the wilderness, such as communication, teamwork, and understanding natural consequences, which teach them to build positive relationships and pull themselves out of the pitfalls of adolescence. And all of that is certainly true.
But equally, if not more important, is the broader opportunity in wilderness therapy for young people to mark their transition into adulthood. Practical skills are essential in daily life, but young adults also need a greater sense that they are building toward a future that is worthwhile.
Honoring the Transition into Adulthood
In order to observe and commemorate a young person’s transition from adolescence into adulthood, some wilderness treatment programs utilize traditional rites of passage. One program, Passages To Recovery, in the high desert of Loa, Utah, incorporates “solo” experiences and “vision quests” as part of the therapeutic experience for young people ages 18 and older who are struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring mental health issues.
“Many of our clients have missed that step into adulthood,” says Ray Barlow, field director at Passages To Recovery. “They don’t know what’s expected of them; they don’t know which direction to go. That’s why we’re here – to help give them that focus.”
Passages To Recovery therapist Bryan Thomas was drawn to wilderness therapy because of his own rites of passage experience as a young man. “I was an alcoholic seven years ago, but I knew there was something more for me,” he says. “After college, I moved out west to start a new life and fell in love with the wilderness. I know that I’m sober today because of the vision quest I experienced years ago.”
During school, Thomas worked with adults with mental health issues during the week and went on solo hikes and camping trips on weekends. As he felt the wilderness experience changing him, he decided to bring others out to explore the natural world. The profound changes he observed led him to Naropa University, where he earned a master’s degree in transpersonal counseling psychology with a concentration in wilderness therapy. Unlike most graduate students, Thomas lived in a teepee for two years. “I knew I needed to study wilderness therapy, but I also wanted to live it,” he explains.
Two years ago, Thomas found his way to Passages To Recovery as a field instructor, then became an intern, and is now a therapist. He has chosen this field because of his personal and professional transformation through rites of passage.
“What’s lacking in our culture is the transition from adolescence into adulthood,” he says. “A lot of young people use drugs or alcohol as a false attempt to transcend that barrier, but they’re getting stuck in no-man’s-land and remaining adolescents into their 20s, 30s, and beyond. Passages To Recovery helps young people replace this false transition with something real – an authentic relationship with self – and mark it through ritual and ceremony.”
Some members of the younger generations have grown up with a sense of entitlement that has led to a prolonged state of adolescence, says Thomas. “We’ve built up to this point culturally. Our grandparents wanted more for their kids, and our parents wanted more for us. But we’re realizing now that more is not necessarily better.”
In primitive cultures, rites of passage generally occurred between the ages of 13 and 17, and involved the child seeking out his strengths and purpose in life. The rites of passage recognized in modern culture are milestones like driving at 16, going to war at 18, and drinking at 21, observes Thomas. Also, in old tribal cultures, it was the aunts, uncles, or grandparents who initiated the child into adulthood because there was too much history for the parents to initiate their own children. Parents had to let go and trust the larger community.
“There’s no one to initiate us into authentic adulthood because no one has been initiated themselves – we don’t have any elders,” Thomas notes. “At Passages To Recovery, we play a surrogate role in rites of passage to guide young people into discovering their life’s purpose and get them excited about a life of sobriety. I believe we had to get far away from the old values in order to return – but we’re finding our way back. The wilderness experience is part of the journey back to the old values and wisdom and back to nature.”
The Process of Change
According to Thomas, there are three phases of a rite of passage: severance (putting an end to drug or alcohol abuse and leaving home), threshold (building new relationships with peers and family through the wilderness experience), and return (to everyday life with a new set of skills). “Going through all of these phases and emerging with two months of sobriety behind you puts young people in the best position to launch into adulthood free from drugs and alcohol,” he advises.
Whether our students realize it or not, the rite of passage starts the moment they leave their parents and set out for the wilderness, says Thomas. Arriving in the vast Utah desert can be a shock to the psyche, which sparks the process of change. One of the first ceremonies at Passages To Recovery is creating fire with a bow drill. This is no easy task, but with hard work, patience, and determination, it can be done.
When a student “busts a coal” for the first time using only primitive instruments, the pride and sense of accomplishment are tangible. The students and staff celebrate this success, knowing the degree of skill and dedication it takes to turn a tiny ember into a flame. Students know they have learned a skill that can sustain life and that will ensure a hot meal for field instructors and peers alike.
The bow drill can be a metaphor for life in many ways. For example, when students are struggling to make fire, they have to figure out which parts of their fire kit aren’t working and make improvements. Field staff may then discuss how creating fire is a metaphor for life – find the pieces that aren’t working and change them.
Students at Passages To Recovery and a handful of other wilderness programs also participate in the ritual of a sweat lodge. Each group constructs a small dome structure in the field and sits inside as field staff usher in heated volcanic rocks that symbolize those who have gone before us and what they have to teach us. These stones are dedicated to suffering addicts and other loved ones who are struggling. The students bless the rocks with water and burn sage, and settle in for three hours of introspection, songs, stories, and cleansing.
“The sweat lodge is a metaphor for rebirth,” notes Thomas. “Students build a collective energy inside the lodge and participate in four rounds before they emerge from the darkness being ‘reborn’ both physically and psychologically. For many students, the sweat lodge is a pivotal experience in wilderness therapy. There’s something sacred facilitated within the process of this ritual.”
The “solo” experience is another rite of passage common to wilderness programs like Passages To Recovery. Two or three times throughout the wilderness experience, students will spend 24 hours alone in the wilderness to reflect on their lives thus far and contemplate their hopes for the future. At the end of each solo experience, students return to their group and process the journey with their peers.
Walk Your Vision
The entire wilderness experience at Passages culminates in a three-day vision quest, another traditional rite of passage. The vision quest is based on the traditions of the Sioux. “When youth came of age, they went to the wilderness to find their vision of the future and the gifts they had to bring to their people. They believed that to know your gifts is to know your purpose in life,” explains Barlow.
During the vision quest, students spend 72 hours alone in the wilderness, with frequent checks by field instructors. Three days of quiet reflection gives young people a unique opportunity to face their poor choices, confront their demons, and get motivated to live the life they want. For those with special conditions, every rite of passage experience can be tailored to meet each student’s particular needs. Every experience is closely supervised and designed first and foremost with safety in mind.
“The vision quest is a time for students to digest their time here and say goodbye to this experience,” says Thomas. “Many don’t want to leave because they feel safe and know they can stay sober here, but I remind them they have to take what they’ve learned and step back into the fire – into life and society – and walk their vision. There’s a time to sit and contemplate, but there’s also a time to take action.”
Thomas explains you have to walk your truth and live within society. “My hope for all wilderness graduates is that they can stand in the still spot in the center of the hurricane,” he states.
Preserving the Wilderness Experience
The benefits of wilderness therapy don’t disappear when the wilderness program ends. Students are encouraged to preserve the wilderness experience as they move on to the next stage of treatment. At Passages To Recovery, there are opportunities for students to return for a volunteer week once they have three months clean, and they may apply to work at Passages To Recovery once they have been sober for one year.
“Roughly one-quarter of our current staff are former students,” explains Barlow. “It’s amazing to see how far they’ve come, and I think it benefits them to come back and experience the rites of passage from another perspective. It speaks volumes of the program that many of our best staff members are former students.”
When the wilderness program ends, students keep their gear so they are equipped to enter the wilderness on their own. The staff at Passages To Recovery encourages young wilderness graduates to develop a relationship with the natural world wherever they may be.
“You can get to a natural setting within an hour in most places, even if it’s Central Park in New York City,” says Thomas. “Part of the return phase of a rite of passage is bringing the experience back home to everyday life and finding that clarity or ‘nature mind,’ no matter where you are. Once you know it, you can access it anywhere, any time.”
Source: Aspen Education Group
« Back to Main Page
