CATS 7, September 18-20, Whitehorse, Yukon

CANADIAN ADVENTURE THERAPY SYMPOSIUM 7

Health and Wellness; Connecting to Self, Land & Community

An intergenerational perspective on the land in the spirit of Reconciliation.

September 18th to 20th, 2019

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

This is a three day event with powerful conversations that you will want to be a part of. Educators, Traditional Knowledge Keepers, Practitioners, Therapists, Outdoor Professionals, Students, Program Administrators, Social Workers, Counselors and Youth Workers will all find tremendous value at this event. In addition to the main event, there will be pre and post event options to facilitate further connection (and fun!) with the Yukon and our people.

All are welcome and we welcome your own expertise viewpoints and voices.

Save the date. Feel free to contact the Executive Director of Boys & Girls Club of Yukon, Lindsay Cornell, with any questions at: ed@bgcyukon.com 

See you all there! International delegates welcome!

https://www.facebook.com/CanadianAdventureTherapySymposium/

New Nature-based therapy book: Spring 2019

Order your copy of the new Nature-based therapy book from New Society Publishing. 

https://www.newsociety.com/site/Books/N/Nature-Based-Therapy

A Practitioner’s Guide to Working Outdoors with Children, Youth, and Families

by Nevin J. Harper, Kathryn Rose & David Segal

The number of children, youth, and families seeking help for a wide range of mental health concerns is growing at an alarming rate, and many struggle to thrive despite well-intentioned interventions from skilled helpers. Unplugging from technology and reconnecting with the web of life is a powerful antidote to the highly technological and fast-paced realities of so many.

Nature-Based Therapy addresses this underlying disconnection between humans and their ecological home, exploring theories and therapeutic practices undertaken with children, youth, and families, including:

• Developing sensory awareness of outer and inner landscapes
• Navigating risk in play
• Case examples with a diverse range of settings, intentions, and interventions.

Nature-Based Therapy is for counselors, therapists, youth and social workers, educators, and parents working in educational and therapeutic settings who want to take their practice beyond the office walls and into the powerful terrain of the wild, partnering with nature as a co-facilitator to create lasting change.

8th International Adventure Therapy Conference

Returning to the place of it's origin, the IATC was held in Australia in 2018. 

AUGUST 29 - SEPTEMBER 2   2018

See details at link below:

https://internationaladventuretherapy.org/8iatc/

Almost 500 practitioners, researchers, students and others interested in adventure therapy attended this wonderful event which was hosted by a local organizing committee on behalf of the Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC). The confernece was held in a stunning location at Stanwell Tops south of Sydney. 

What is ATIC?

The Adventure Therapy International Committee is made up of a group of some 40 members from 23 nations who oversee hosting of triennial International Adventure Therapy Conferences and together support adventure therapy around the globe.

Core principles of ATIC

ATIC’s mission is to promote and support professional practice, research and the development of adventure therapy worldwide.

ATIC’s vision is to contribute to a world where adventure therapy is widely understood as a transformative way to help individuals, families and communities achieve their full potential.

ATIC’s motto is to inspire change through adventure therapy.

ATIC’s objectives are that:

1. All people will have the opportunity to experience the power of adventure as a therapeutic medium
2. Adventure-based practices will be recognised as valuable in all therapeutic contexts
3. Strong international and intercultural linkages will exist between adventure therapy practitioners, researchers, academics, trainers, facilitators and students
4. The global community of adventure therapy will be a strong, creative and respectful community.

ATIC’s values (under development) are:

• Peace between cultures
• Freedom for individuals
• Human – nature relationships
• Opportunities for all people to reach their full potential
• Adventure therapy as a powerful therapeutic medium

For more information on the history and composition of ATIC, please see the link above and click on IATC.

Canada has held two representative positions with ATIC since hosting the IATC in 2003 in Victoria, BC. Currently representing Canada on ATIC is Nevin Harper from the University of Victoria and Virginie Gargano from University of Quebec. If interested in attending this conference and you have questions, please email njharper@uvic.ca for more details. 

CATS 6 NOVEMBER 12 . 2017

A 1-day CATS was held in Montreal, QC in November 2017. The symposium followed on the heels of the Association for Experiential Education conference and both gatherings were well attended. CATS6 had 47 registered delegates and was a fine mix of presentations, dialog and networking. 

See symosium details in the CATS6 Final Report on this site.

There were rumours surfacing about CATS going north next. A working group in Whitehorse has proposed to host, so details should coming soon!

The CATS Advisory Committee has been in discussions with other outdoor organisations and leaders in outdoor adventure programming across Canada about the possibilities of a Canadian Outdoor Symposium which would be inclusive of adventure tourism through adventure therapy. We are quite open to this conversation as the aims of CATS was to have a national dialog on adventure therapy to determine the needs of practitioners, and how to proceed. With our move to the North it could be argued that CATS will complete its mission and be faced with decisions about its future. 

Until next time, be well.

nevin

CATS committee member and founder

IATC co-chair

International Adventure Therapy Conference, Denver CO, June 4-7 2015

The 7th IATC was held in Denver and hosted by the Metropolitan State University. This was the first time the IATC has been held in the US, and second in North America (Canada 2003). It was announced that Australia has won the bid to host 8IATC in 2018. I will post information and links here when it comes available.

This exciting gathering was host to a diverse group of practitioners, researchers and students from around the world. It followed the TAPG (Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group of the AEE: Association for Experiential Education).

Keynotes included:

• Dr. Val Nicholls
  
• María José “Mache” Treviño González
• Jeffrey M. Jenson, Ph.D.

I am looking forward to another three years as the CDN representative for the Adventure Therapy International Committee along with Dr. Stephen Ritchie of Laurentian University. If you have any questions regarding the international gatherings, please feel free to email me at nevin.harper@gmail.com. 

nevin

CATS 5: October 17-19, Wolfville Nova Scotia

Hi all,

Well another group of hard working and dedicated folks on the East Coast have now hosted the 5th Canadian Adventure Therapy Sympysium.

Final Report is now available in the Summary Reports & Reccomendations Folder.

Details of the Symposium can be found on the conference website: http://canadianadventuretherapysymposium.ca/

shine on,

nevin