This forum is for people interested in the narrative approach to bush adventure therapy. Supported by practitioners who have utilised narrative practices in bush / remote outdoor settings, this forum will be a place to post questions, share ways people are involved in this work and how it can be made available in different conversations with individuals, groups and teams.

As part of his experiences over a number of years preparing and facilitating extended bush hikes and long term community based follow-up programs with young people, we're especially fortunate to have Andy Umbers host this forum. Andy is also involved in teaching and providing supervision for people offering bush adventure programs. Andy lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. We look forward to you joining us as part of a forum dedicated to narrative practices and bush adventure therapy

Hi everyone,

Firstly, a warm thank you to Mark and Clifton Centre for the invitation to be involved in online sharing in this way - I really appreciate the idea of sharing ideas and seeing where that takes us and it's great to be involved.

I've been interested for a number of years in the fit I see between narrative approaches and working with people in programs that intentionally utilise the outdoors (bush, sea, mountains, rivers and others) as part of therapeutic work.
This partly has to do with the idea that in unknown and novel environments, people can often experience themselves in many ways that are outside of how they might in everyday life. We have found that these experiences, particularly in areas of safe challenge, can be entry points into new and preferred story developments in people's lives. It is often through these experiences, and then, critically, supporting these new stories back into everyday life with ongoing therapeutic support, that people can experience a significant shift in the way they experience themselves in the world.

At Evolve, we have worked predominately with young people at risk and in recent times with young people and families experiencing effects of the 2009 Victorian bushfires, and we are interested in continually re-thinking this practice of bush adventure therapy. We have found narrative ideas to both sustain and support this.

I've also found that sharing ideas and having others reflect on our practice is really useful, particularly as there is, no doubt, many, many ways in which narrative practices could be used in this diverse and emerging field of work.

I'd be really interested in sharing ideas and discussing aspects of this area of work and would love to hear from anybody who is doing something that is in some way similar or who might be interested in this type of work. Also, in recent times having begun to offer training and supervision to staff in this field, I'm interested in being in touch with folks who might be supporting others in demanding areas of practice.

A few of questions that I also see as really useful in thinking about this work is:

- how might we think about utilising space "outside the counselling room" as part of therapeutic work?

- how might physical journeys be useful for people who are hoping to make some changes in their lives?

- how can work in the outdoors (or other ways) help us to "be with" people on a journey?

These are just some initial thoughts - again, I'd love to hear from folks who might share an interest in this work.

Andy

Hi Andy, this sounds like a refreshing and innovative way to work with people and problems. I have been considering initiating this kind of approach, but have felt a little overwhelmed. I was wondering about how to plan, and prepare and involve people in this kind of approach. I have found my own health is enhanced in the bush. I find it rejuvenates, and offers unique opportunities (unique outcomes) to perform competencies. I work in Sydney. I would love to explore this approach further. Perhaps there are narrative therapists in Sydney whom you know, who already are thinking of this approach, or are doing it. - Nick

Hi Nick, how is your exploration of the narrative approach in bush / outdoor contexts going? I'm sure Andy will have some other suggestions but one organisation I've heard about that may be able to put you in touch with others in the Sydney area is the Australian Association for Bush Adventure Therapy. Here is a link to their website. AABAT

Here is another link, Evolve (where Andy works) offering some publications about the narrative approach to bush / outdoor therapy.

I'll look forward to hearing how this area of your practice develops.
best wishes, mark

G'day Nick I've just joined this forum and read your comment. I would very much encourage you to give it a go as I've not found any other model in 27 years of youth work that supports young people to shift as much in their lives and also to retain that shift. We run a 5 month program for youth at risk with an 8 day Bush Therapy trip (sailing on the Gippsland Lakes) in the middle.
Some ideas that may help you not be so overwhelmed; have a group of leaders that can share the load; we use Narrative approaches and come from a relational therapeutic approach - this assists in the 'how to involve people' process, as we use relationship as our cornerstone so all else arises from that. For example if unsure what to do in a given situation we refer back to the healthiest relational approach both on an individual and group basis; do connect with AABAT you will find some connections for support and ideas; maybe try some adventure therapy day trips to warm up with - we use sailing, snowboarding, day walks, horse riding etc. If you want to have a yarn send me an email. I'd be happy to chat and send you all our planning docs, reflections, rationale and team reviews of past trips if that would help.

Peace,

Robert Coller

It views problems as separate from people and assumes people have many skills, competencies, beliefs, values, commitments and abilities that will assist them to reduce the influence of problems in their lives

Hello everyone.

Just following up to share a few more ideas about how we see the fit between narrative approaches and bush adventure therapy to be a good one!

The following are some ideas that we at Evolve have found useful in designing programs and using narrative ideas in our work. I think the ways in which narrative approaches can be used in experiential process and bush work are limitless - so the ideas below represent some of these ways, and certainly not the only way to think about this work.

The following principles are outlined with specific reference to working with those who have experienced trauma, but are more broadly applicable to working with other in the bush.

- It is highly important that the work is initiated and is ongoing in people’s local communities, where relationships are built and people can voluntarily choose to be involved.

- Following this initial stage, therapists and participants have the opportunity to venture out into new places, particularly the unfamiliar environment of the bush. Working with people in a physical environment other than that in which they routinely live and understand life creates the possibility of thinking, feeling and understanding themself in a different way.

- Within this environment, away from (a) social constructions, roles and relationships that support known and familiar identity conclusions and (b) places associated with traumatic experience (e.g. in the instance of natural disaster), people participate in an achievement-focused program. The adventures and challenges of the program are carefully scaffolded to give participants the best chance of experiencing themselves in a way that feels good, and also to minimize the risk of people (re)experiencing themselves as ‘a failure’ or ‘hopeless’.

- The events of the program (such as bushwalks, canoe trips, building skills in wood and metal workshops) are constructed in a way that participants routinely have experiences of ‘success’, achievement, capability and competence. These are often experiences that sit outside of dominant stories and negative identity conclusions. As such, the bush context is a landscape in which many unique outcomes can emerge and the therapist works gradually to scaffold participants in their meaning making, from the immediacy of their environment and task to broader understandings about life and possible ideas about their identity.

- The experiential aspects of the program offer numerous opportunities for inquiry and meaning making, which are possible entry points for alternative, preferred story development. Many narrative practices are useful in this story development, including unique outcome conversations, re-authoring conversations, re-membering conversations and use of metaphor. Importantly, as work is generally done in the bush in groups, there is significant opportunity for outsider witnessing of the events of the day and emerging stories.

- Trips away from home and local community to bush environments are extended, up to two weeks in length. This extended and cumulative context for activity, meaning-making and performance can consolidate and reinforce preferred identities, in ways that might not otherwise be possible due to the often ephemeral nature of therapeutic conversations.

- Both (a) the reinvigoration of a preferred sense of self and (b) a different physical environment contribute significantly to repositioning people in a way that offers a safer ground (both metaphorical and literal) from which to give expression to experiences of trauma and other hardships.

- For the experiences and meanings made in the bush context to be transferred to people’s everyday lives in a meaningful and sustainable way, people must have
a) the opportunity to enact and perform these meanings in their day-to-day lives
b) audiences of significant others in their everyday lives that can acknowledge preferred storyline developments and support future actions that are in harmony with these preferred identities
c) their experiences in the bush context documented in a ways that are personally and collectively resonant and renders meanings accessible and available for sharing with others
d) a therapeutic relationship that is stable and continuous from the local community to bush context then ongoing upon return to local community.

Narrative practices such as definitional ceremonies, therapeutic documents, generating of collective documents and song writing, amongst others, are significant in the task of supporting the consolidation and sharing of preferred stories that have been uncovered in the bush context.

- The therapist is involved as a co-participant and co-author. He/she participates in the outdoor and adventure activities and does everything parallel to other participants on the program. Thus, the therapist and participant are audience to each other’s experiences on the program. The therapist position is de-centered and does not attribute meaning to the experiences of the program, but rather is influential in providing space for people to attribute their own meanings to events in the program and, then, to broader understandings of life and identity.

- In the bush context, in challenging outdoor activity, there are numerous opportunities for participants to not only support themself, but also to support others (including the therapist!) to get through challenging times. This is highly significant as an opportunity for people to experience themselves as expert, knowledgeable, useful and contributing to the lives of others and is often a key aspect of building preferred identity.

- The challenge of the bush experience reflects the idea of ‘symbolic stress’, as evoked by Victor Turner (1967) in his writing on the liminal period of a rites of passage journey. In working with people who have experienced trauma, generating a rich description of the steps taken to overcome the often significant challenges of an extended bush trip is an entry point to broader conversations about skills and knowledge in getting through hard times in life. These skills and knowledge can be linked to social, cultural and relational history, as well as other physical environments that are significant in people’s lives.

If you have gotten this far, thanks for persisting! I'd be really interested in any thoughts or responses to these ideas.

All the very best,

Andy Umbers