Program Overview
NATURE-BASED THERAPY AT SECOND NATURE
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
Second Nature was founded in 1998 by a group of clinicians who believed meaningful change happens when exceptional clinical care is thoughtfully integrated with the restorative power of the natural world. Nearly three decades later, we remain owner-operated and guided by that same philosophy.
As the first nature-based program to implement a therapist-led model, we placed licensed clinicians at the center of treatment while using everyday experiences to deepen therapeutic work. Since then, we have continued to help shape the field through clinical innovation, individualized treatment, specialized groups, comprehensive family programming, integrated academics, and the Family Dynamics Assessment.
Today, our mission remains unchanged: to provide individualized, evidence-based care that helps adolescents and families create lasting change. Guided by experienced clinicians, supported by highly trained field instructors, and grounded in an unwavering commitment to safety, we bring nearly three decades of experience, clinical expertise, and passion to every family we serve.
We believe adolescents don't change simply because they gain insight. They change when insight is practiced, supported, and repeated in everyday life.
A Therapeutic Experience Designed for Real Life
Every aspect of Second Nature's backpacking experience is intentionally designed to enhance the therapeutic process. Living in a small, supportive community and moving through the natural environment creates daily opportunities for students to practice new skills, build confidence, strengthen relationships, and experience success in ways that feel genuine and lasting.
Most students arrive with little or no backpacking experience. Hiking is low impact, typically three to six miles per day with pack weights adjusted for each student's size. Layover days provide time for individual and group therapy, family therapy, experiential activities and more.
A typical day includes hiking, group therapy, individual assignments, academics, shared responsibilities, mindfulness, games, and downtime. Activities such as backpacking, bouldering, bow-drill fire-making, cooking, and setting up camp aren't simply experiences to fill the day. They are intentionally integrated into treatment, creating natural opportunities to build resilience, improve communication, strengthen problem-solving, and practice emotional regulation.
Because students live and work together throughout the day, the same patterns that create challenges at home naturally emerge within the group. Therapists and field instructors help students recognize these patterns as they occur, providing immediate coaching, feedback, and opportunities to practice healthier ways of responding. Rather than waiting until the next therapy session to discuss what happened, the therapeutic work unfolds in real time, making new insights more meaningful and easier to carry home.
This integration of everyday life with intensive clinical treatment is one of the defining features of Second Nature. Students don't simply talk about change. They experience it, practice it, and build the confidence to continue it long after they leave the program.
It's often the smallest moments that create the greatest change. A conversation on the trail, solving a problem together, encouraging a peer, or choosing a different response can become the turning point that helps a student move forward.
Lasting Change
Everything at Second Nature is designed to prepare students not only for success during treatment, but for life beyond it. As students develop greater self-awareness, healthier ways of responding, stronger relationships, and increased confidence, they become better equipped to navigate home, school, and whatever comes next.
One of the greatest compliments we receive comes from residential treatment centers and other aftercare providers. They consistently tell us that Second Nature students arrive engaged, self-aware, and ready to build on the progress they've already made.
