Presenter: Caro Kellough, CMHC
Caro Kellough, CMHC, has over a decade of backpacking and guiding experience. After receiving her masters in clinical mental health counseling at Lesley University in Cambridge Massachusetts, Caro moved out west to forge a new path that would include mental wellness, the outdoors, and social justice. She is a fully licensed mental health counselor with a specialization in Trauma and Holistic Mental Health. She recently completed a 200 hour yoga teacher training and is certified to teach trauma informed yoga. As a wilderness therapist and guide, Caro has worked for various guiding companies including Outward Bound and Andrew Skurka Adventures and has logged over 300 field days. She uses an eclectic set of clinical skills but focuses predominately on IFS, narrative therapy, and Structural Family Systems.
Presentation Description: Trauma Processing in the Wild- Body Centered Work, Wilderness Metaphor, and Group Dynamics in treating Mood Disorders and (C)PTSD
This presentation will give participants an introduction to wilderness based therapy and will encourage them to think about how they can adapt their current practices to a wilderness setting. We will go over how wilderness metaphor can be used in conjunction with narrative therapy, bi-lateral stimulation, and how group dynamics in wilderness groups can mirror interpersonal relationship dynamics. We will use some experiential modeling to show how you can bring the wilderness into your office and will address things like access to care and gatekeeping in the outdoors.