Providing services in small groups, Chicago Adventure Therapy approaches outdoor activities in a therapeutic fashion using the sports themselves and group process to raise and address issues. During CAT’s customized programs, participants learn outdoor activities such as sea kayaking, cross-country skiing, rock climbing or cycling, as well as related skills such as rescue, repair, map reading and trip-planning. The goal is that participants gain new skills that enable them to make and implement healthy decisions in their daily lives. CAT programs can be custom designed around particular issues, and depending on program activities and technical skill instruction, participants may work on developing the following therapeutic skills:

  • Interdependency
  • Personal responsibility
  • Communication skills
  • Leadership skills
  • Accountability
  • Supportive behavior
  • Giving and receiving feedback
  • Coping with fear
  • Personal safety
  • Skill mastery
  • Confidence building

Welcome to our 2010 partners!
We are currently working with or have summer plans with youth at Association House, Youth Guidance, Jones Prep High School, Kaliedoscope, The Latin School, Alternatives, Inc, and The Night Ministry. Please check out their websites to see the great work they’re all doing with Chicago youth.

New Partners!
We’re happy to be talking with NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) and the Urban Life Skills Program about possible programming. If you’d like to help us fund our new programming, follow this link. Thanks in advance!

8 weeks with Girl World
We’re in the middle of our summer program with the girls in the Girl World Program at Alternatives. We were stunned by their levels of support while we climbed with them. We started paddling with them at Montrose Beach last week, on August 5. Check out pictures from the program, and video of their first kayak launch.

Navigating around the city with BUILD
We spent time with the youth from BUILD in Humboldt Park, Millenium Park, Simons Park and at North Avenue Beach. The youngest children in this program are the youngest we’ve worked with. The youngest through the oldest all learned to use a compass effectively and had a chance to reflect on Chicago, it’s communities, and the resources available to the youth. Here are the pictures – A shout-out to Byron young, too; past CAT intern from Loyola who just got hired by BUILD. Byron worked with the seniors in Millennium Park during our last day with BUILD. Congratulations Byron!

3 days with The Night Ministry
We so enjoyed our tine with the youth from the Youth Outreach Team at The Night Ministry. We climbed with them on June 4 at Lincoln Park Athletic Club, navigated with them at the North Park Village Nature Center, and paddled with them at Jackson Park Inner Harbor. The youth also participated in a focus group with Lisa Hutson as part of the program evaluation she’s doing for us as part of her dissertation. The program was initiated by Melania Spain, a volunteer at The Night Ministry and student at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Check out the photo album on Facebook.

3 days with Jones Prep
We got 8 days with rising Freshmen in the Community Schools Program at Jones Prep High School over three weeks in July. We were pleased to work closely with Andy Brake of Youth guidance to deliver 8 days of navigating in Millennium Park, climbing at Lakeview and Lincoln Park Athletic Clubs, and cycling with Bike Chicago. We were glad to work with this group again this summer; and saddened to hear that the Community School Initiative will no longer be funded by Chicago Public Schools. Here’s the album.

Working with interns from Kaleidoscope
On July 14 we got to work with 21 college students participating in an internship program with [Kaleidoscope(http://www.kaleidoscope4kids.org/programs.php). These young adults are all exiting the child welfare system. We got the opportunity to paddle with them, help them overcome anxiety about the paddling, and then talk with them about other areas of their lives where they’re nervous (succeeding at college, exiting the child welfare system, getting a job, to name a few) and what things from the evening of paddling they might be able to use in those bigger areas of their lives (just try it; learn from someone who knows how to do it; seeing your biggest fear happen to someone else and realizing it’ not so bad…) The [photos](http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chicago-Adventure-Therapy/155189538870#!/album.php?aid=197325&id=155189538870) from this program are fantastic!

Coming up – Night Ministry
We’re looking forward to our first program with The Night Ministry in a couple weeks. We’re collaborating with Melanie Spain, a volunteer at The Night Ministry who is also a student at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She received a fellowship that she’s using to design a Mental Health and Wellness program for The Night Ministry’s Youth Outreach Program. We’ll spend three days with youth in this program. Our first day with them is Friday May 21, when we’ll be climbing with them (many thanks to Lakeview Athletic Club for their continued partnership and support!). Stephanie Vacin, who started working with CAT last year, is planning this program with Melanie. We’ll spend a day orienteering and a day paddling with these youth as well.

7th Grade Cycling
We had a great time with the 7th graders from The Latin School We had small groups cycling all along the Lakefront Path, with North Avenue Beach as our “Base of Operations.” Our youth explored issues of trust and personality styles in their small groups, as well as taking a look at the resources they have available to them. You might be surprised at the solitude we were able to find along the bike path for a journaling exercise, too. We had a group that cycled to the north end of the Bike path, a group that cycled south to Northerly Island, and groups that turned around at many spots in between. We also had a group that stayed at North Avenue Beach, where we had the opportunity to teach them to ride a bike. (You can see pictures and descriptions of these locations on our Facebook page). With perfect weather for the whole thing, it was a great day!

Cycling with 78 7th graders
We have our biggest program to date coming up next week, on April 30. We’re spending the day cycling with the 7th grade class at The Latin School. Our staff is hard at work figuring out the logistics and plans for the day. (The logistics? – we’ll have 100 people on bikes, but no more than 10 riding together.) We’re looking forward to the program and hoping for good weather! Thanks to Bike Chicago for a third season of collaboration.