Into the Wilderness—A Case Study: The Psychodynamics of Adolescent Depression and the Need for a Holistic Intervention

Abstract

Adolescent depression has become epidemic in the United States, with statistics showing that one in five adolescents may suffer from depression (Brent and Birmaher in N Engl J Med 347(9), 2002). This article examines adolescent depression from a psychodynamic perspective, and identifies the psychodynamics of adolescent depression as the affective correlates that stem from unresolved developmental conflicts, issues of separation/ individuation, the search for identity and the development of the true self. This article presents wilderness therapy as a holistic intervention which can be used to address the intrapsychic, developmental and relational factors that give rise to adolescent depression. Wilderness therapy is a modality of mental health treatment that takes place outdoors and utilizes challenge and adventure, group work and other structured clinical interventions. A clinical case study presents wilderness therapy as an effective intervention for adolescent depression that can promote positive self-image and enhanced coping skills, and discusses limitations and implications for social work practice.

Social work and the environment: An ecosocial approach

“…According to Besthorn and Saleebey (2003), it is critical to educate clients about the restorative effects of nature‐based interventions (Berman et al., 2008) and to encourage them to alter their natural surroundings, with an eye towards ecological health and well‐being. Social work can find creative ways of implementing evidence‐based eco‐therapeutic interventions, such as wilderness therapy (Clark, Marmol, Cooley & Gathercoal, 2004; Davis‐Berman & Berman, 2008; Norton, 2010), in more accessible settings, given that being in relationship with nature begins right in one's backyard. The social work maxim to ‘start where the client is’ is a useful mandate for beginning a human–nature dialogue wherever one is.…”

The Roots of Practice: An Anti-Colonial Critical Discourse Analysis of Western Nature-Based Mental Health Therapies

“…The impact of trauma on overall "ill mental health" is a common theme across many areas of sociological and psychological scholarship (Blay et al, 2008;Duvall & Kaplan, 2014;Gray, 2007;Harper et al, 2007;Hawthorne et al, 2009;Mills et al, 2015;Munoz, Garrison, Enke, Freedman, Hart, Jones, Kirby, Lester, Nakamura, Pomerleau, & VanHooser, 2008;Norton, 2010). Traumatic experiences have been found to dampen people's physical and social functionalities (Blay et al, 2008;Duvall & Kaplan, 2014;Hawthorne et al, 2009;Mills et al, 2015).…”

The Roots Of Practice: An Anti-Colonial Critical Discourse Analysis Of Western Nature-Based Mental Health Therapies

“…Since nature-based therapies are still quite new in Western social work, there exists a majority of positivist and biomedically-driven research in this field (Barton, Griffin, & Pretty, 2012;Bettman & Tucker, 2011;Blay, Batista, Andreoli, & Gastal, 2008;Corring et al, 2013;Duvall & Kaplan, 2014;Hawthorne, Green, Folsom, & Lohr, 2009;Lariviere, Couture, Ritchie, Cote, Oddson, & Wright, 2012;Mills, Wilson, Iqbal, Alvarez, Pung, Wachmann, Rutledge, Maglione, Zisook, Dimsdale, Lunde, Greenberg, Maisel, Raisinghani, Natarajan, Jain, Hufford, & Redwine, 2015;Norton, 2010;Tucker et al, 2012;Unterrainer & Lewis, 2013). As a result, the voices of interpretive and critical researchers, as well as any "alternative" "mental health" practitioners, are limited.…”

“…One of these groups is adolescents facing social, vocational or economic challenges (Bettman & Tucker, 2011;Harper et al, 2007;Lariviere et al, 2012;Norton, 2010;Tucker et al, 2012). In five of the fifteen studies, adolescent participants were either voluntarily or involuntarily placed in wilderness or adventure therapy programs for observation (Bettman & Tucker, 2011;Harper et al, 2007;Lariviere et al, 2012;Norton, 2010;Tucker et al, 2012). Interestingly, although the adolescents were the research subjects, the voices represented in the findings were primarily of parents, guardians, educators or staff members working with the youth rather than the youth themselves (Bettman & Tucker, 2011;Harper et al, 2007;Lariviere et al, 2012;Norton, 2010;Tucker et al, 2012).…”