Journey Wilderness

Children and adolescents do not yet have the maturity to see when they are headed down a perilous path. Parents have to be the ones to stand in the road, and stop the run-away bus of self- destruction. This is a difficult place to be, but just as a parent would not let a child run out into traffic, sometimes a parent of an adolescent must stop the pattern of harmful choices, interrupt the dangerous behavior, and allow the teen time to assess the situation, so that a safer path can be chosen as well as Positive Youth Development implemented.

We believe that change happens when someone, adult or teen, comes up against an obstacle, or realizes that the path they are on is a harmful one. The person first has to take full accountability for what he/she did to get here. As we journey with our students through this process, we ask three essential questions:

1. What are you doing?
We help them explore past choices, while opening the doors to future possibilities. They can then begin to see how they got here and take accountability.

2. How’s that working for you?
Now they can assess the consequence of past choices to themselves and their families, while discovering the vast world of positive options for the future.

3. What do you want to do differently?
Once they have made a decision to change, then we help them with the elements they will need to re-ignite their light within and return to a healthy balance so they can experience the joy that life has to offer.