Adventure Therapy Leaders Present at Experiential Education Conferences

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From left, Mike Hoover, Nic Bellegarde and David Christian pose with a College of Education and Health Professions WE CARE banner in Estes Park, Colorado.

The College of Education and Health Professions' Adventure Therapy Lab leadership and students made a significant impact at two recent conferences hosted by the Association for Experiential Education.

The conferences — the Symposium on Experiential Education and Research (SEER) and the Therapeutic Adventure Professionals' Group International Conference (TAPG) — were held in Estes Park, Colorado.

The Adventure Therapy Lab provides workshops, training and supervised experiences to promote adventure therapy and prepare mental health professionals to work with at-risk populations at different developmental levels. It's directed by David Christian, associate professor of counselor education and supervision. Faculty and students attended SEER and TAPG to collaborate with professionals from around the country and to improve adventure therapy education and research methods at the U of A.

"It was an honor for me to represent the College of Education and Health Professions and the University of Arkansas at TAPG and SEER," Christian said. "Having other faculty and students attend and co-present made me very proud of the work we are doing here at the U of A."

SEER serves as a platform and opportunity for experiential education scholars to showcase, discuss and refine their research during the Association for Experiential Education conference each year.

At SEER, Christian and Nic Bellegarde, a doctoral student and assistant director of the lab, presented findings from their year-long research study titled, "Conexiones Crecientes/Growing Connections: Using Adventure Therapy to Increase Self-Efficacy in Spanish-Speaking Middle School Males."

The lab partnered with the U of A Outdoor Leadership Program and Michael Daniel Hoover, a clinical instructor of outdoor leadership, to present Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist training ideas and resources during the conferences. At TAPG, Christian and Hoover presented "Guiding the Guide, an integrated, culturally responsive Adventure Therapy specific approach to supervision." The presentation featured Ph.D. counseling program alumna Cian Brown.

Students who attended TAPG learned from experts in the field of experiential education. Margie Pemu, a doctoral student in the counselor education program, was awarded the Mark Ames Memorial Scholarship at the conference. The scholarship recognized her achievements in adventure therapy and allowed her to attend TAPG's pre-conference workshops for free. Several master's counseling students also attended TAPG, including Ryland Arnold, Katherine Leis, AB Raiford, Savannah Endsley and Abigail Hammonds.

During the two conferences, U of A staff and students made valuable connections with organizations within Arkansas to promote using experiential learning. Christian and Bellegarde said they are excited to have connected with Immerse Arkansas, a non-profit organization that helps youth transition out of foster care and into adulthood, and the Arkansas Outdoor School, which is a part of the Division of Agriculture Research and Extension.

"It was a wonderful time in the Rockies, and the University of Arkansas had a solid and growing presence in the adventure therapy and experiential education realm," Bellegarde said.