Emerging stories of self: long-term outcomes of wilderness therapy in Norway

ABSTRACT

This paper is a twelve-month follow-up study that explores perceived outcomes from participation in a Norwegian wilderness therapy program. Through a critical realist approach, the authors performed an in-depth analysis of individual interviews with ten adolescent participants. Long-term outcomes included the transfer and adaptation of calming and nature-supported strategies to the participants’ home environments, improvements in mood and emotional regulation, and increased social interaction. Overall, the adolescents seemed to exert greater independence and agency in their lives at twelve months post-treatment. This ability appeared to be facilitated by underlying processes that entailed insight, awareness, and acceptance of oneself and one’s situation. The authors suggest that these emerging stories are fragile, yet conditioned by a fundamental (re)connection with the self and address this cautious proposition in the discussion. Finally, a more precise theoretical framework should be developed to support future in-depth explorations.

KEYWORDS:

• Wilderness therapy
• friluftsterapi
• adolescents
• mental health treatment
• outcome

Acknowledgments

We first and foremost thank the participants for their willingness to share their stories. Furthermore, we thank the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Sørlandet Hospital and the Sørlandet Knowledge Foundation for supporting the friluftsterapi project.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carina R. Fernee

Carina R. Fernee, PhD, is a researcher and wilderness therapist in the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Sørlandet Hospital in Kristiansand, Norway. Carina has been involved in a clinical research project that explores nature-based therapeutic work. Carina and her colleagues are active in regional and international professional communities. Carina is currently a co-chair of the Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC) and a Norwegian representative in the Nordic Outdoor Therapy Network (NOTN).

Leiv E. Gabrielsen

Leiv E. Gabrielsen, PhD, is a researcher and wilderness therapist in the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Sørlandet Hospital in Kristiansand, Norway.

Anders J. W. Andersen

Anders J. W. Andersen, Dr.PH, is dean at the Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences at University of Agder in Kristiansand/Grimstad, Norway.

Terje Mesel

Terje Mesel, PhD, is a senior researcher in the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Sørlandet Hospital in Kristiansand, Norway, and a Professor in the Department of Religion, Philosophy and History at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway.