Mariah Loftin, MA, LPC -Clinical Director and Senior Therapist- Young Adults at Open Sky Wilderness Therapy

Our guest, Mariah Loftin, Clinical Director at Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, discusses how wilderness therapy can support an individual on the autism spectrum. She explains how they are able to thrive with the support of evidence-based treatment, an environment of neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals, a consistent structure while supporting the students to be able to respond to life's unpredictabilities, and healthy living.

Britta Zimmer, N.D., Medical Director at Pacific Quest

It’s confusing and sometimes frustrating when you’re dealing with a list of medications for psychiatric conditions and help from various medical and professional resources. What’s working and what’s not? Our guest, Dr. Britta Zimmer, a licensed Naturopathic Physician, started the Integrative Model at Pacific Quest of blending conventional psychiatry with nature-based interventions and whole person wellness. In this episode, Dr. Zimmer talks about the benefits of Integrative Psychiatry to optimize an individual’s mental health and treatment plan including the importance of incorporating nutritional supplements, mind-body practices along with a complete diet containing anti-inflammatory foods.

Ryan Price, MA, LPC, MAC | Primary Therapist, Young Adults at Deschutes Wilderness Therapy

In this episode, Ryan Price discusses an alternative approach to working with young adults and their families that focuses on relational repair and healing as a means of resourcing the young adult to step boldly into adult life. This is in contrast with some approaches that reduce focus on family therapy and parental involvement in the therapy process for young adults. Parent involvement in family therapy with their young adult child does not have to feel stifling to the young adult. When done well, the reinforced secure attachment with their parents creates a solid "home base" from which the young adult can embrace independent life with confidence.

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A captivating interview with Samira Madden, a wilderness therapy graduate. Samira is a young teen and is remarkably poised, honest, and courageous. She talks about her experience at wilderness, the life lessons it has taught her, and through this, she hopes to communicate her conviction to break the stigma. 

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Tami Ann, mother and author of A Wilderness Journey

Tami Ann is the mother of a son who attended a life-changing wilderness therapy program followed by a therapeutic boarding school. With her son’s collaboration, she wrote a book about their family's transformative experience called A Wilderness Journey. This episode features delightful conversation with Tami Ann as she shares her inspiration to write the book - to provide healing and to provide a source of relatable information to help others - and why she created the unique components to tell the story as a hero's journey.

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Tony Issenmann, Ph.D., LMFT Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness

Parents are increasingly struggling with anxiety and fear about sending their struggling adolescents to treatment. Dr. Issenmann's conversation is to empower anxious and ambivalent parents about the developmental model and research that show out-of-home treatment is often necessary for the life-changing results.  Through this, he provides suggestions on what parents can do to navigate through the tough decision.

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Sarah James, MA, LCMHC, LCAS at Trails Carolina

What is neurodiversity? In this episode, Sarah gives an overview of what neurodiversity is and how parenting can be different. She discusses how to recognize potential neurodiversity in your child and how and why neurodiversity often gets overlooked in females. Sarah also talks about the pros and cons of formal diagnosis, the unique needs of neurodiverse adolescents and strategies for addressing these needs.

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