PROGRAM:  WILDERNESS SEARCH AND RESCUE  |  THE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE
                  FAMILY WORKSHOPS  |  SAFETY INFORMATION
                  PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING  |   TESTIMONIALS

Wilderness Search and Rescue

The Wilderness Search and Rescue component of Alldredge is a one-month expedition that focuses on physical challenge, group skill building, and emotional growth.

The first phase of treatment is the Search and Rescue (SAR) wilderness-based program. Field staff guide the teens through the local mountainous terrain while helping them navigate and negotiate obstacles between where they are and where they want and need to be, both physically and emotionally.

Our highly experienced staff are committed to providing a safe and therapeutic experience for all of our teens. Student safety is our number one priority. Many of our field supervisors are certified instructors through the National Association of Search and Rescue organization. All of our field staff are trained in Crisis Prevention Intervention and are certified in CPR and First Aid.

During this phase, students are intensely trained in First Aid, CPR, and wilderness first-responder-level care. We provide all necessary clothing, food and equipment for a positive wilderness experience. Each student’s personal safety is our top priority. Our teams utilize GPS technology and satellite phones to maintain location and communication. Before completing this phase, students are involved in a rescue scenario. This powerful experience allows teens to understand what it is like to make a difference in someone else’s life, while utilizing the newly acquired first-aid-related skills.

Alldredge wilderness search and rescue also provides intensive group and individual counseling. Counseling sessions are designed to help students identify and address the underlying cause of negative behaviors while reevaluating their own sense of self worth and discover their inherent strengths.

Troubled teens often enter our program with very limited coping skills. Often, they are defiant, depressed, frustrated, and hopeless. The Search and Rescue model teaches adolescents how to take care of themselves and then quickly focus on the mission of helping others. Through therapeutic counseling sessions, dynamic skill building, first-aid exercises and the natural challenges of the wilderness, teens become aware of how their behaviors affect others and begin the process of taking responsibility for their behaviors instead of blaming others.

The SAR phase prepares teens for sharing these powerful insights with their families, peers, and eventually, in “real-world” environments. Students at Alldredge then have the opportunity to test and refine these skills and insights while in the next phase of treatment, the Village.