A descriptive study on the effects of adventure-based counseling and the enhancement of coping skills for at-risk youth

• Main Author: Taylor, Matthew
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 2004
• Subjects: Social Work
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/1611; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3127&context=dissertations

This study examines the effects of adventure-based counseling on the enhancement of coping skills of at-risk youth. Adventure-based counseling is an innovative form of therapy designed to enhance the coping skills of at-risk youth receiving treatment at residential facilities. This unique form of therapy is a burgeoning alternative to traditional forms of therapy. It places patients in a group setting (supervised by a counselor), for the purpose of attaining a specific goal through interaction with group members. Adventure-based counseling, a form of experiential learning, has not been widely adopted by facilities seeking to provide treatment services to youth diagnosed with at-risk behavior. Based on empirical data, a large number of adventure therapy studies reviewed were not related to residential facilities; rather, they were independent studies conducted by researchers trying to assess the effects of adventure-based counseling in relation to youth. This study sought to determine the effect of adventure-based counseling on enhancing the coping skills of at-risk youth at Inner Harbor Hospital, a residential treatment facility in Douglasville, Georgia. This study was conducted to assess the effect of adventure-based counseling. Experiential therapists were interviewed to determine whether or not desired outcomes were being achieved through the interaction of patients in experiential activities. Patients from various campsites/units at Inner Harbor were used as the sample studied, and five experiential counselors were interviewed to assess the effects of adventure-based counseling. The findings suggested that there was a relationship between adventure-based counseling and the enhancement of coping skills, despite the many limitations of the study which imply that further research is needed.