During the first stages of adventure therapy, students often express negative emotions due to the new environment and way of life they are introduced to. But this anger generally dissolves into more worthwhile emotions and understanding within a few weeks as they begin to see more clearly the reality of their lives and the necessity of what the experience is teaching them.

It is understandable that as a parent you are concerned about the safety and welfare of your child. At Wingate, we take that concern very seriously. The truth is, nature-based adventure therapy is much safer than what most of our students were subjecting themselves to back home. If you think about the friends and activities they were engaged in, it is easy to see how a controlled wilderness environment (albeit challenging and uncomfortable) is far safer than the often unreliable situations they often found themselves in. In nature there are no drugs or alcohol, no cars, no windows to sneak out of or compromising situations to get into.

Plus, we have incredible, trained field staff who are with your child 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you think about it, this will likely be the safest your child has been in a very long time.

During their stay at WinGate, your child will be guided and counseled by experts in the field of Therapy and Wilderness living. They will receive weekly therapy from trained clinicians, frequent visits from medical staff, and daily interaction and guidance from professionally trained field coordinators who cook their own meals, sleep under the stars and engage in the same daily activities as the students.

During your child’s stay at WinGate they will be in the care and protection of caring professionals from a multitude of disciplines, each one providing the right support and care at the proper time.

Our students have the opportunity to send letters on a weekly basis and receive communication back one day a week. Depending on their progress, every parent will be invited (exceptions made during Covid restrictions) to the facility to spend a full day with their child and become acquainted with the daily rituals they are experiencing. Due to the nature of the therapy we provide and the need for each student to be free from influences that can alter the progress they are making; we do limit their interactions from outside environments in order to protect the purity of the process.

As a parent you will receive weekly communication from your child’s therapist, informing you of their health and overall progress.