Short term wilderness programs for teens with ADHD

Wilderness programs are based upon a teen spending time away from the normal comforts of home, living a much simpler life for a period of time and learning to fend for themselves. This does not mean to say that your teen will be dropped into a desert with a bag of supplies and told to get on with it!

Wilderness programs are some of the most highly structured teen therapy programs around, for exactly the reason that teaching survival skills can leave no room for error. These types of programs can be highly beneficial for teens with ADHD as the structure is comforting for them, it gives them focus and there are no confusing alternatives by which to be distracted.

How to plan a wilderness program effectively for an ADHD teen

• Let them know in advance that this is happening


• Refer to it weekly, have it on the calendar, allow the teen to get used to the idea


• Choose a camp that has a structured program and no more than an hour of "free time" ADHD teens hate unstructured time it makes them anxious


• "Green time" is scientifically proven to have a beneficial effect, so the more wilderness the better!


• Check the "Wilderness" aspect is not too much desert and rock; the AHDH teen needs grass, trees, living things around them


• Choose a camp that has specific experience with ADHD teens, then there will be plenty of kids similar to your teen, who may become friends for the future


• If friendships are made, get contact details, both teenager and parents. It helps enormously for parents to know that they are not alone, and the ADHD teenager needs as many friends as possible.


• Follow up on these contacts, friendships are easy to maintain with the Internet, IM and mobile technology


• Consider planning next years' summer program as soon as this one is over, perhaps with other parents, booking early can save you significant sums of money!

Wilderness camps have been shown to be of therapeutic value to many angry teenagers, but especially valuable to teens who find life loud and unstructured. You will do yourself an immense favor if you approach part time therapy such as teen summer camps for your teen in as organized a fashion as possible. Try to avoid seeing summer vacation as a time to be dreaded, but see it more as an opportunity to help improve your teens' outlook, and to give you peace of mind.