“Mountainside's Adventure Based Initiatives has given me a new outlook towards life and has helped me to overcome the fear of trusting others that has kept me from achieving sobriety in the past" Pam G.

One of the many treatment options at Mountainside that clients can choose to participate in is our innovative Adventure Based Initiatives program. Through an innovative and flexible curriculum we are able to fit the diverse needs and interests of all of our clients. Whether the individual is 18 or 80 years of age, all that is needed to participate in the program is the willingness to try something new and a sense of adventure.

Therapeutic Challenge

“You can learn more from a person in an hour of play than you can in a lifetime of conversation” - PLATO

Many behaviors that arise in a person during the Adventure Based Program can be expected to re-occur in other situations that may be similar through-out that person’s life. This program gives our clients a unique and memorable experience to look back on as they attempt to identify and address key issues and behaviors that impact their recovery process. Through the participants involvement in adventure programming the group and the individuals are placed in circumstances that provide immediate information that can be transferred metaphorically into meaningful real-life lessons.  Therefore, the adventure-based setting itself presents learning opportunities for participants to draw upon.

Hiking | High and Low Ropes Course

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks".John Muir

Hiking affords clients the opportunity to address the physical component of the three-pronged disease of addiction which affects the mind, body, and the spirit.  Exercise has long been known to alleviate stress.  Providing the option to participate in some outdoor programming gives clients a chance to appreciate nature and explore different avenues of spirituality.  For people who have been suffering from debilitating and painful addictions, having enjoyable sober experiences are superb motivators for them to pursue a better way of life. The adventure based facilitators incorporate many therapeutic tools into each hiking and low ropes course experience. With each activity there is the appropriate processing and debriefing period. The purpose of these activities is to encourage discussion, have good old fashioned FUN and give residents creative new ways to look at recovery and spirituality.

Mountainside has one of the best ropes courses in the country that was designed specifically around the programming needs of our clients and the unique program of Mountainside. Whether it is on the ground or safely tethered on platforms 50 feet off the ground, clients are assured to have an engaging experience that will have lasting benefits.

Sweat Lodge

The Sweat Lodge ceremony is a traditional Native American process of purification or cleansing of the mind, body, and spirit. The term “Sweat Lodge” describes both the physical structure and the ceremony that occurs inside of it.  Our Sweat Lodge is located at a special base camp on our mountain next to a rushing mountain stream. We bring stones heated in a fire into the lodge. Water is poured over the stones thus creating steam. This optional offering is very special to all of those who choose to participate.

All clients, from those who are fully motivated to those  who have difficulty being engaged in treatment, have demonstrated that TCP can help them so long as they are committed to its process.