Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors

Will White
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  • Mental Health

Stories from the Field: Mental Health in the Outdoors is an authoritative and enlightening podcast that explores the vast landscape of mental health therapies in outdoor settings. Hosted by seasoned mental health professional Dr. Will White, the podcast offers deep insights into outdoor therapies like Adventure Therapy, Eco-Therapy, Wilderness Therapy, and Experiential Therapy, among others. Dr. White engages with a diverse range of guests, including leading researchers, practitioners, authors, executive directors, guide staff, mental health clinicians, and critics, helping to shed light on the nuances of these unique therapy practices. In addition to exploring the modern implications of these evolving therapeutic modalities, he delves into their rich history, providing a holistic perspective for listeners. With over 30 years of experience at the juncture of mental health and outdoor environments, Dr. White's expertise is unparalleled. As a co-founder of the pioneering Summit Achievement, an adventure therapy program based in Maine, he has been a guiding force in the field since the 1990s. His scholarly contributions include the book "Stories from the Field: A History of Wilderness Therapy" and a chapter in "Adventure Therapy: Theories, Research, and Practice." His doctorate work, "Stories from the Elders: Chronicles and Narratives from the Early Years of Wilderness Therapy," traced the origins and evolution of this specialized field. To connect with Dr. White, visit storiesfromthefield.com. Listen to this immersive podcast to understand the power and potential of outdoor therapies in addressing mental health concerns.

  1. 12h ago

    Hurricane Helene at Foundations Asheville: Young Adults, Trauma, and Resilience

    How do you keep young adults safe after a hurricane cuts off water, power, and communication—and your own home has been crushed by trees? Adam Ray joins Will on the second anniversary of Hurricane Helene to recount what happened at Foundations Asheville, a transition community for young adults ages 18–25 that Adam was executive director at the time. With roads blocked and families unable to reach their children, Adam and his colleagues checked on students across the program's houses, filtered water, found generators and satellite internet, and eventually arranged temporary housing outside Asheville. Adam reflects on the young adults and alumni who stepped forward to help, the staff who cared for students while facing losses of their own, and the difficult decisions he made as executive director. He also speaks candidly about grief, exhaustion, and the anxiety that remains two years later. Their conversation explores what a disaster revealed about community and resilience—and why growth through hardship should never erase the real cost of that hardship. To learn more about Foundations Asheville- Foundationsasheville.com This podcast is supported by the White Mountain Adventure Institute (WMAI.org), where Dr. Will White helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate growth, change, and life transitions through coaching, consulting, and retreats.

  2. Sep 29

    Awakening Wildness: Can Nature Help Us Through Grief? With Dr. Christy McConnell

    Can stepping into the wild help us navigate grief, find healing, and truly reconnect with who we are? In this moving episode, Will sits down with Dr. Christy McConnell, author of the transformative new book Awakening Wildness: Reconnecting with Nature and Ourselves. Christy opens up about how her father helped her rediscover her direction during a difficult period by teaching her to rock climb—and how his sudden death just six weeks later irrevocably shaped her life's work, leading to decades of research into meaningful outdoor experiences. Together, Christy and Will dive into her five core pathways to a deeper ecological connection—sensory awareness, adventure, flow, spirituality, and community. They explore how nature provides an anchor through loss, why simply telling someone to "just go outside" often falls short, and practical ways parents, educators, and mental health professionals can foster presence and wonder outdoors. Whether on a remote wilderness trail or in your own backyard, Christy shares actionable insights to cultivate awe, restoration, and wildness wherever you are. To find out more about the book and Dr. McConnell- https://awakeningwildness.com/ This podcast is supported by the White Mountain Adventure Institute (WMAI.org), where Dr. Will White helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate growth, change, and life transitions through coaching, consulting, and retreats.

  3. Sep 22

    Can Woodworking Transform Addiction Recovery? Jeremy French and Making Whole

    What if addiction recovery isn't simply about stopping drugs or alcohol, but about learning new ways to solve problems, face uncertainty, and build a life worth living? In this episode Will speaks with Jeremy French, founder of Making Whole in Asheville, North Carolina. Drawing on three decades of his own sobriety, Jeremy challenges conventional ideas about addiction and treatment. He argues that drugs and alcohol often become powerful because, for a time, they work—they provide solutions to pain, fear, discomfort, and other problems. Recovery, then, requires developing new solutions for navigating the human condition. Making Whole approaches that challenge through a classical woodworking apprenticeship where men recovering from addiction work alongside experienced craftspeople creating studio-quality furniture. But Jeremy isn't primarily trying to create woodworkers. Through complex projects, apprentices learn to ask better questions, tolerate uncertainty, solve problems, experience failure, develop agency, and discover who they want to become. Jeremy and Will explore mentorship, purpose, intimacy, community, the limitations of traditional addiction treatment, and the parallels between apprenticeship and experiential approaches such as wilderness and adventure-based programs. It's a provocative conversation about what can happen when recovery moves beyond treating addiction and begins helping people learn how to live. Jeremy's bio: Across three decades of sobriety, Jeremy French has built some inspiring things: a meaningful marriage, curious children, furniture, art, a love of soccer, and a few thriving businesses. Along the way, he's crafted deeper questions, informed solutions, and confronting dialogues. This podcast is supported by the White Mountain Adventure Institute (WMAI.org), where Dr. Will White helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate growth, change, and life transitions through coaching, consulting, and retreats.

  4. Sep 15

    Can Adventure Help Young People Grow Up? The Mountain Goat Movement

    What happens when young people step away from their phones, leave behind an increasingly automated world, and enter experiences that require them to be fully present? In this episode Will speaks with Greg Morrissey, founder of the Mountain Goat Movement, an adventure travel and outdoor education organization serving high school and college students. A former literature teacher, Greg explains why he left the classroom to create outdoor experiences that combine skiing, surfing, trekking, environmental learning, digital detox, and long-term mentorship. Greg shares stories ranging from students attempting to order Uber Eats in the Adirondack backcountry to a reluctant 14-year-old hiker who eventually summited Mount Kilimanjaro. He describes how Mountain Goat Movement partners with schools, educators, explorers, and outdoor brands to help young people develop resilience, confidence, community, and a stronger sense of purpose. Although Mountain Goat Movement is not a therapy program, the conversation explores how adventure, trusted mentors, self-authorship, and time away from technology can provide something deeply therapeutic—and help young people become the authors of their own lives. Check out the: https://www.mountaingoatmovement.com/ This podcast is supported by the White Mountain Adventure Institute (WMAI.org), where Dr. Will White helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate growth, change, and life transitions through coaching, consulting, and retreats.

  5. Sep 8

    Can You Save Someone Without Drowning Yourself? PTSD, Caregiving, and Wilderness Survival

    What happens when caring for someone you love begins to pull you under too? In this episode of Stories from the Field, Will speaks with journalist and author Virginia Eubanks about her new memoir, A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving: Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival. After her partner, Jay, survived two violent attacks and developed severe PTSD, Virginia became a primary caregiver while trying to navigate a fragmented mental health and healthcare system. Years later, she was diagnosed with collateral PTSD herself. Searching for practical guidance, Virginia found some of the most useful lessons not in traditional caregiving advice, but in an unexpected place: a lifesaving manual. Virginia went on to become a certified lifeguard and study wilderness first aid, kayak self-rescue, navigation, bushwhacking, and winter survival. She shares how these experiences taught her that caregivers need more than self-care—they need competence, training, tools, and a team. Virginia and Will explore what wilderness survival can teach us about responding to crisis without becoming another victim, how she used progressively challenging experiences in the outdoors to rebuild her own tolerance for fear, and why she is skeptical of the simple idea that nature itself is inherently healing. At the heart of their conversation is a powerful question: How do we care deeply for another person without losing ourselves in the process? This podcast is supported by the White Mountain Adventure Institute (WMAI.org), where Dr. Will White helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate growth, change, and life transitions through coaching, consulting, and retreats.    Check out Virginia Eubank's website at https://virginia-eubanks.com/ to buy books or see where she it speaking in the near future:

  6. Sep 1

    Beyond Walk-and-Talk Therapy: Lindsay Cray on Integrating Nature into Psychotherapy

    What makes nature-based psychotherapy different from simply taking therapy outdoors? In this episode Will speaks with licensed mental health counselor Lindsay Cray, founder of Integrating Nature, about how the natural world can become an active partner in trauma treatment. Lindsay traces her path from seeking safety in the woods during a turbulent childhood to working in conservation, environmental education, and mental health counseling. She explains how nature can support nervous-system regulation, expand sensory awareness, and help clients experience safety, connection, and resilience in ways that may be difficult to access in a traditional therapy office. Lindsay also introduces her 12-week Core Calm framework, which brings together ecotherapy, mindfulness, experiential activities, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and narrative therapy. Drawing on her work with veterans, first responders, and other emergency service professionals, she shares powerful examples of helping clients recognize hypervigilance and practice distress tolerance in safe outdoor settings. The conversation also explores what therapists need to know before integrating nature into clinical practice—including informed consent, accessibility, weather, risk management, professional training, and developing their own authentic relationship with the natural world. This podcast is supported by the White Mountain Adventure Institute (WMAI.org), where Dr. Will White helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate growth, change, and life transitions through coaching, consulting, and retreats.    Lindsay Cray's website and bio is- https://www.integrating-nature.com/about

  7. Aug 25

    Adventure Isn't Just for the Young: The Call to Adventure Later in Life

    Why do we associate adventure and transformation with young people when adults may need them just as much? In this solo episode of Stories from the Field, host Will White reflects on a conversation with his mentor, Dr. Dan Garvey, who predicted more than 20 years ago that the future of adventure therapy would include older adults. Drawing on Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, Will explores how career changes, empty nests, loss, changing relationships, health challenges, and shifting identities can call adults into a new stage of growth, purpose, and possibility. Will introduces the White Mountain Adventure Institute, which grew out of more than 35 years of experience in behavioral healthcare, clinical practice, teaching, leadership, writing, and podcasting. Together, those experiences led him to develop adventure-based coaching for adults and leaders navigating transitions, changing roles, and questions about purpose and what comes next. Through coaching, immersive retreats, and organizational consulting, WMAI helps individuals and organizations turn periods of change into opportunities for reflection, growth, and renewed direction. Learn more at WMAI.org.

  8. Aug 18

    NatureDose: Can Tracking Time Outdoors Improve Mental Health?

    How much time in nature do we need to improve our mental health? And how can we track and quantify our exposure to it?  In this episode, Will speaks with NatureQuant co-founder and CEO Jared Hanley about the science of nature exposure and its relationship to stress, mood, sleep, and overall well-being. Jared explains how NatureQuant uses satellite imagery and data science to measure health-supporting nature through NatureScore, while its free NatureDose app tracks the time people spend outdoors and in natural environments. Jared discusses why even a 20-minute nature break may be beneficial, what emerging research suggests about spending up to 300–400 minutes in nature each week, and how nature prescriptions could become part of routine mental healthcare. The conversation also explores America's growing "nature deficit," equitable access to parks and urban tree cover, data privacy, AI-powered health coaching, and NatureQuant's vision of making nature exposure a standard health measurement alongside exercise, sleep, and heart rate. This podcast is supported by the White Mountain Adventure Institute (WMAI.org), where Dr. Will White helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate growth, change, and life transitions through coaching, consulting, and retreats.

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About

Stories from the Field: Mental Health in the Outdoors is an authoritative and enlightening podcast that explores the vast landscape of mental health therapies in outdoor settings. Hosted by seasoned mental health professional Dr. Will White, the podcast offers deep insights into outdoor therapies like Adventure Therapy, Eco-Therapy, Wilderness Therapy, and Experiential Therapy, among others. Dr. White engages with a diverse range of guests, including leading researchers, practitioners, authors, executive directors, guide staff, mental health clinicians, and critics, helping to shed light on the nuances of these unique therapy practices. In addition to exploring the modern implications of these evolving therapeutic modalities, he delves into their rich history, providing a holistic perspective for listeners. With over 30 years of experience at the juncture of mental health and outdoor environments, Dr. White's expertise is unparalleled. As a co-founder of the pioneering Summit Achievement, an adventure therapy program based in Maine, he has been a guiding force in the field since the 1990s. His scholarly contributions include the book "Stories from the Field: A History of Wilderness Therapy" and a chapter in "Adventure Therapy: Theories, Research, and Practice." His doctorate work, "Stories from the Elders: Chronicles and Narratives from the Early Years of Wilderness Therapy," traced the origins and evolution of this specialized field. To connect with Dr. White, visit storiesfromthefield.com. Listen to this immersive podcast to understand the power and potential of outdoor therapies in addressing mental health concerns.

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