Second Nature Wilderness Family Therapy

We sent our son to Second Nature mainly to prevent him from being so dependent on marijuana that he was lying and stealing to make sure he had enough supply to maintain an almost constant high, and to prevent him from escalating to more serious drugs (which he was starting to try). We didn't expect Second Nature to completely "fix" this problem (and it didn't), but his experience there made him realize that marijuana didn't actually make him happy. He (and we) also learned more about how his brain works (for and against him) during the first few weeks than we had in years of weekly therapy sessions, because the conditions there made it virtually impossible for him to hide anything. His therapist knew how to strike the perfect balance between showing our son understanding and pushing him to truly feel (and identify) the tough emotions he had been using drugs to avoid. His therapist and the other staff were able help our son BEGIN to learn how to deal with those emotions in a healthy way and to recognize that this change would take several months. Second Nature also provided a great parent-coaching program. Everyone at Second Nature was very professional and nice. We could not have had a better experience at a wilderness program, and our son agrees with that! Thanks to the start that Second Nature provided, our son is well on his way to knowing how to deal with his challenges and hard emotions in a healthy way!

We lost influence over our 15 year old daughter who we had once been very close to. She lost herself, her way and was on a spiral downward that we feared she may never come back from. Her depression and anxiety were suffocating her. Making the hard decision to entrust her to the staff and care at Second Nature was by far the hardest thing we have ever done as parents. It was like holding our breath and jumping into the unknown. But it was better than holding our breath everyday and feeling like we were going to pass out from hopelessness. 10 weeks into the program, and 4 weeks home now, we would do it 10 times over to watch our daughter come back to herself, to life and to see light in her again. Grateful doesn't even begin to describe what we feel. There simply are no words. This was not just her transformation, it was all of ours. In her words, "I have never felt so happy, or laughed that hard ever." And yes, that was with all of her comforts, distractions and numbing devices removed. Was it hard yes? But it was harder to live disconnected from herself so being at Second Nature was a good hard. A hard that makes you grow, instead of devouring you. Every staff member, therapist, field guide, on and on - all felt like angels on earth and carried the burden when we no longer could. Thank you to EVERYONE at Second Nature.

My son left for Second Nature angry, destructive, self-sabatoging and blaming others for his actions. When I picked him up I saw his sweetness, empathy and humor for the first time in years. He is still not completely out of the woods but his time at Second Nature was, I think, life changing. Not easy, not comfortable emotionally or physically, but it started him down a path of transformation. We have been involved in other programs in the past and none was as effective as Second Nature

Don\'t send your child away. This place ruined a good 15 years of my life. I will forever have issues because i was sent there. My parents will forever regret sending me there. If you care at all for your child then you will not see these \"programs\" as a solution. You may be desperate but if you send your child here you will carry deep regret for the rest of your life.

Best decision of our lives! Sent our 16yr old daughter here feeling hopeless and believing that she would hate us forever but what happened was nothing short of a miracle. The tools we all learned to cope with our feelings and emotions and deal with stress were life changing. She is now almost 20 and in her second yr of college and working part time, just bought her own car. I’m not saying that she magically turned into to perfect child but she absolutely turned her life around and works at being good to herself and others daily. You do have to put in the work but it’s absolutely worth it! She still says if there was a way to enroll herself back into this program but be able to keep her cellphone and laptop, she would go in a heartbeat!