Parent who have completed Trails Carolina’s program report positive changes in their children’s behaviors, emotional well-being and family dynamics as a result of wilderness settings, therapeutic interventions and supportive staff collaborating towards success.
Trails’ holistic approach to treatment emphasizes therapy techniques, confidence building and mindfulness skills that will continue to assist participants long after graduation from our program.
Experienced Staff
Trails Carolina, an initiative of North Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources, supports community-based trail projects with technical assistance and grant funding. This program aims to develop an extensive and sustainable network of trails throughout North Carolina for the benefit of its citizens.
Trails Carolina “Investigation” staff members are highly-trained and qualified. With experience working with adolescents from public school systems to therapeutic boarding schools as well as wilderness training, Trails Carolina staff can provide students with all of the support and guidance they require for success.
Trails Carolina staff take great satisfaction from seeing how well their work impacts students’ lives, which includes having deep connections to nature – which adds another meaningful layer to their work! Furthermore, they love that this work is more than just helping kids – it truly believes in wilderness therapy which makes Trails Carolina so effective.
Personalized Therapy
Trails Carolina strives to meet your child’s individual needs through wilderness immersion and therapeutic interventions, offering highly tailored experiences designed to produce long-term change. Your child will work alongside primary therapists, family therapists, field instructors and certified teachers all working collaboratively together to offer him or her new opportunities and challenges.
Grace found assistance at Trails Carolina where she learned how to identify the causes of her depression and anxiety, form healthier relationships with family members, and develop effective coping strategies to manage symptoms. She also developed better academic focus – she recently entered traditional coed boarding school for junior year!
As part of your evaluation of a wilderness therapy program, it’s crucial that you seek authentic testimonials from former participants and their families. Hearing how well something worked for others will often give an accurate picture of how it might suit you too – something which may help guide your own decision process.
Mindfulness
Trails Carolina, as a leading wilderness therapy program for kids and teenagers ages 10-17, recognizes that mental health is integral to success in life. Therefore, they have developed an integrative approach which integrates confidence building, therapy and mindfulness practices – this holistic method has proven successful at aiding students find long-term transformation and healing.
Mindfulness practices help students pause, observe, and control their emotions – this allows them to shed any harmful behaviors, develop healthier emotional relationships with themselves and develop resilience when faced with challenging situations. Trails Carolina’s mindful activities include hiking in North Carolina hardwood forests as well as guided breathing exercises designed to remove distractions caused by technology.
Trails Carolina provides parents with various educational resources, such as weekly family calls with their child’s therapist. In addition, family workshops give families tools for healthy communication and support their child’s progress. Furthermore, their new yoga and meditation class for families is an added perk!
Confidence
Trails Carolina is a wilderness therapy program dedicated to supporting adolescents with behavioral issues. Utilizing outdoor activities and experiential learning experiences to address various concerns ranging from substance abuse and depression to self-awareness and resilience development in an outdoor setting, Trails Carolina combines wilderness therapy techniques with more conventional forms of therapy to provide comprehensive help.
Trails Carolina has won praise and positive reviews from some participants, yet is still subject to controversy. Allegations of abuse and mistreatment against participants has altered public perception of wilderness therapy programs like Trails Carolina.
These troubling narratives have given rise to speculation regarding the need for greater regulation of the industry. This section addresses allegations, their effects on Trails Carolina and wider wilderness therapy movement as well as steps taken by Trails Carolina to investigate them further and uncover any truth hidden behind these claims.