Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors

Will White
  • 4.7 (106)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

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. 5d ago

    Autism Outdoors: How Nature Helps Autistic Children and Families Thrive

    What happens when a therapist who has spent years working with autistic individuals suddenly becomes the parent of an autistic child? In this episode Will talks with Damon Bryan, co-founder of Autism Outdoors Utah, about how his son's autism diagnosis transformed both his personal life and his clinical perspective. Damon shares his journey from outdoor and residential mental health programs to creating a nonprofit that helps autistic individuals and their families experience the outdoors through hiking, rafting, paddleboarding, family retreats, and community events. Together, Will and Damon explore what it means to provide autism-affirming care, why traditional mental health services often overlook the importance of community and family connection, and how time in nature can support emotional regulation, confidence, and belonging. Whether you're a parent raising an autistic child, a mental health professional, educator, occupational therapist, or someone interested in outdoor therapy and neurodiversity, this conversation offers practical insights and an inspiring vision for how nature can become a powerful partner in supporting autistic individuals and the families who love them. Check out Autism Outdoors Utah Website. This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching facilitated by Will White.

    44 min

  2. Jun 9

    10 Years of Change: How Confluence Behavioral Health Evolved

    How does a program built around relationships, adventure, and the outdoors evolve over ten years while staying true to its mission? In this episode, Will sits down with Foster Post, co-founder of Confluence Behavioral Health, as the Vermont-based program celebrates its 10th anniversary. Foster shares his journey into outdoor mental health treatment and reflects on the lessons learned from building a small, owner-operated program during a time of unprecedented change. From its early years featuring multi-day wilderness expeditions to its current model serving young adults through residential treatment, adventure-based programming, and community engagement, Confluence has continually adapted while staying true to its core belief in the healing power of relationships and the outdoors. Foster and Will also explore the changing needs of young adults, including rising anxiety, social isolation, self-doubt, and the impact of technology on mental health. Together, they discuss how outdoor behavioral healthcare is evolving, why community and experiential learning remain essential for growth, and what the future may hold for nature-based treatment programs. This conversation offers valuable insights for parents, clinicians, educational consultants, and anyone interested in young adult mental health, outdoor therapy, and the future of behavioral healthcare. This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching facilitated by Will White.

    41 min

  3. Jun 2

    Nature Deficit or Mental Health Crisis? Scott Shepherd on Reconnecting Young People with the Outdoors

    What happens when a generation grows up more connected to screens than to the natural world? In this episode, Will sits down with outdoor educator and Wildward Institute founder Scott Shepherd to explore the growing disconnect between young people, nature, and one another. Drawing from more than 15 years of experience in outdoor, environmental, and experiential education, Scott explains why time outside is no longer just recreation—it has become an essential component of mental health, emotional regulation, resilience, and healthy youth development. Scott shares his own transformative journey sailing around the world as a teenager, discusses the challenges facing outdoor education today, and examines how screens, overprogrammed childhoods, and reduced opportunities for unstructured play are impacting young people. Together, Will and Scott explore the role of nature in supporting neurodiverse youth, building self-confidence, fostering environmental stewardship, and helping young people develop the skills they need to thrive in an uncertain future. This conversation is a powerful reminder that connecting youth to the outdoors may be one of the most important mental health interventions of our time. Here is the Wilderward Institute Website. This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching for men and facilitated by Will White.

    42 min

  4. May 26

    Can Wilderness Therapy Be Proven Scientifically? Rob Meltzer on Research, Critics, and the Future of the Field

    What if wilderness therapy has been helping people heal for a long time—but the field never fully understood why it works? In this episode Will sits down with Rob Meltzer, founder of the new Wilderness Therapy Institute. Rob explains why he believes wilderness therapy may function as a form of "metabolic health treatment" and shares groundbreaking efforts to study how sleep, movement, sunlight, nutrition, circadian rhythm, inflammation, and extended time in nature impact mental health. The conversation explores emerging research in metabolic psychiatry, biological mechanisms of healing, and why wilderness experiences may create profound psychological and physiological change. At the same time, this episode does not avoid the field's controversies. Rob and Will examine critical questions surrounding authority, transport practices, ethical intervention, trauma, and the evolving identity of wilderness therapy in a post-"Hell Camp" era. Rob argues that the field must improve without losing its core foundations: extended wilderness immersion, primitive living, deep human connection, and nature-based healing. This episode will resonate with therapists, researchers, parents, former students, outdoor professionals, and anyone questioning both the promise and the problems of wilderness therapy today. Wilderness Therapy Institute Webpage:  Rob was featured in pervious episodes: Episode 5: Rob Meltzer, educational consultant and founder of the wilderness therapy symposium 201: Celebrating 20 Years of Wilderness Therapy Symposium This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching for men and facilitated by Will White.

    51 min

  5. May 19

    Healing Trauma in Adolescent Girls: How ROOTs Transition Blends Nature, Family, and Residential Care

    What happens when a clinician decides that traditional residential treatment isn't enough for adolescent girls struggling with trauma? In this episode Will talks with Kami Black, founder of ROOTs Transition in Park City. Founded during the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic, ROOTs Transition was built around a bold idea: combine the healing power of nature, intensive family systems work, and trauma-informed residential care into one integrated model for adolescent girls ages 15–18. Kami shares how her own experiences, years in residential treatment, and deep commitment to trauma work shaped a program focused not just on behaviors like anxiety, eating disorders, substance use, and depression—but on the underlying developmental and relational trauma driving them. Throughout the conversation, Kami offers a thoughtful and nuanced look at how trauma actually develops in young people and why many traditional behavioral approaches can miss the deeper issues. She explains ROOTs' emphasis on family engagement, outdoor integration, emotional regulation, and helping girls reconnect with themselves in a culture increasingly shaped by social media pressure, comparison, and disconnection. This episode is especially valuable for parents, clinicians, educational consultants, and anyone interested in innovative approaches to helping adolescent girls heal from trauma while building resilience, self-worth, and healthier relationships. This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching for men and facilitated by Will White.

    46 min

  6. May 12

    30 Years Later: How Summit Achievement Was Built to Last

    Thirty years later… What happens when one of the earliest outdoor behavioral healthcare programs refuses to follow the trends of the field? In this episode Will sits down with CEO Nichol Ernst to reflect on the 30-year evolution of Summit Achievement — a program Will co-founded in 1996. Together, they explore how Summit survived massive shifts in the wilderness therapy world: the rise and fall of therapeutic boarding schools, the influx of venture capital into behavioral healthcare, the smartphone era, COVID, and growing public controversy surrounding outdoor treatment. Rather than chasing trends, Summit doubled down on a model blending accredited academics, family therapy, and adventure-based treatment in the outdoors. Nichol also shares his own journey from Summit field guide to clinical social worker and CEO, while discussing why the program doesn't use transport services, how family involvement became central to treatment, and why today's adolescents are struggling with anxiety, school refusal, technology addiction, and uncertainty in ways previous generations did not. This conversation is part history lesson, part reflection on leadership, and part exploration of what ethical, relationship-based outdoor mental health treatment may still offer in a rapidly changing world. This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching for men and facilitated by Will White.

    52 min

  7. May 5

    How Venture Capital Grew Wilderness Therapy… and Then Ran Away

    What happens when a field built on healing becomes shaped by money? In this episode, Will revisits a 2020 exploration of the business of wilderness therapy—tracing its evolution from nonprofit, mission-driven roots to a rapidly expanding, privately funded industry. From early non-profits programs to the rise of private-pay models in the 1980s and the explosive growth fueled by outside investment, this episode examines how financial forces didn't just support wilderness therapy—they fundamentally shaped its direction, priorities, and structure. And what happens when that money leaves? In a candid reflection recorded in 2026, Will revisits his earlier assumptions and confronts what's changed: the collapse of programs tied to venture capital, the shrinking of industry organizations, and the loss of research funding that once legitimized the field. As closures in recent years have come faster and more abruptly than in past downturns, this episode asks a difficult question—can a field rooted in care and connection survive the realities of a risk-averse, profit-driven system? This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching for men and facilitated by Will White.

    39 min

  8. Apr 21

    The First Therapist in Wilderness Therapy: Dr. Madolyn Liebing and the Clinical Origins of the Field

    How did wilderness therapy become outdoor behavioral healthcare—and who made that shift possible? In this re-released and historically significant episode Will sits down with Dr. Madolyn Liebing, widely considered the first licensed mental health professional to work in a primitive skills wilderness therapy program. As a co-founder of Aspen Achievement Academy in 1988, Dr. Liebing helped transform early outdoor programs from survival-based experiences into clinically grounded treatment—introducing psychological assessments, treatment planning, and family systems work into the wilderness. In this powerful conversation, Dr. Liebing shares her journey from high school counselor to trailblazing psychologist, her role in shaping Utah's first wilderness therapy licensing standards, and her perspective on how the field has evolved over decades. She reflects on the integration of trauma work, attachment theory, and family therapy in outdoor settings at Legacy Outdoor Adventures—and why the combination of clinical sophistication and immersive nature experiences remains so effective today. For anyone interested in the history, ethics, and future of wilderness therapy, this episode is essential listening. This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching for men and facilitated by Will White.

    1h 9m
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4.7
out of 5
106 Ratings

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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