Adventure Based Counseling and Mentally Ill Adults

Facilitating Adventure Based Counseling programs absolutely takes skill and Paul Radcliffe, Project Adventure senior trainer, co-creator of Adventure Based Counseling and former school psychologist is one of the best. Last week Paul had the opportunity to work with five participants, all men diagnosed with a major mental illness. Their medical forms were sometimes multiple pages in length, including powerful medications such as prolixin, depakote and seroquel.

In a recent interview, Paul described some of the highlights of the day.

In the program, the Full Value Contract was the basis of their weekly group meetings. Before getting started the men gathered under the tent and talked about what the FVC meant to them. The most talkative of the group spoke about the concept of Being Here. He said, "We all have some psychological problems. We take a lot of meds and sometimes it is hard to be present."

Paul noticed right away that three of the five men were responsive. One was hardly participatory and another seemed nearly mute. Paul moved on to get a sense of their motor control by introducing Group Juggle, connected to a name game. The men and the staff stood in a close circle. Paul said, "Today we're going to learn something new about each other. As we go around the circle, say your name and a nickname that you have had and tell how you got it."

"My name is Robert and my nickname is Fred Flintstone 'cause my best dog's name was Barney." Everyone, including the staff, participated, calling a person by his or her nickname and tossing them the ball. Even the seemingly mute participant called out,
"My name's Eugene and I have a nickname, Skip because when I was little, I skipped all over town." It seemed to be the beginning of building a new rapport.

They continued on, through Stepping Stones and Mass Pass, making adjustments, increasingly engaged, increasingly relying on one another. Paul noted how valuable it was having the staff participate in the activities. It was important for the men to see the ways in which they shared common emotions, from fear to jubilation.

After lunch, they participated in a warm-up activity that required them to hold hands. Paul asked if they were comfortable with this. At first, they were somewhat reluctant, but after three rounds, they were all focused on and ecstatic about their improved time. After a shaky but enlightening initiative of finding balance on the Whale Watch, the debriefing session was spirited. Everyone participated. The mute was mute no more. They all shared the satisfaction of having found balance together. "We need to slow down and be patient with one another." "I see how my behavior can affect your behavior and how our behavior can affect the whole group."

The last activity of the day was the Mohawk Traverse. This is a balance activity in which a knee-high wire is strung between two trees; using a series of hanging guide ropes for support. The challenge is to get from one tree to the other in the best way they can. At this point, Paul emphasized the importance of assessing the group every step of the way, modifying the activity when necessary, always having spotters in place. After some real effort and true team work, in single file partnerships, they all made it across. Paul said that they were jubilant afterward and instantly talked about how important it was to know and encourage one another.

Skip smiled broadly and said, "Yup, I'm takin' all this with me back to the house!" Everyone nodded in vigorous and radiant agreement.


Adventure Based Counseling is one of the foundational models developed by Project Adventure (Radcliffe, Dick Prouty and Jim Schoel) in the early 1970s. Cindy Simpson, Director of Project Adventure Kids (PA’s direct service residential and day treatment program for children and youth) took the ABC model and expanded it to develop Behavior Management through Adventure, a holistic, social and emotional skill building program implemented for over 20 years and now licensed to other alternative schools and treatment agencies nationally.