| New
Perspectives
- Feb, 1992 Issue |
Eckerd Family Youth Alternatives
Dwight Lord, Admissions
Clearwater, Florida
(813) 461-2990
Calling their young people
(age 10-17) campers, the Eckerd programs are designed to combine the
wilderness living experience with the reality treatment perspective,
the psychology perspective, and behavior modification techniques. They
have 13 camps in 6 states with about 600 campers at any one time. Tuition
is $95 a day, and the average stay is 9-12 months. The number of campers
that come from direct parent inquiries is increasing, though most of
the campers come from the program's involvement with Employee Assistance
plans and in working with insurance companies' Cost-Containment programs.
"The program, by design, offers
an alternative approach to education which is developed from an ecological
perspective. Central to this perspective is the belief that learning
involves changing attitudes and behavior as well as acquiring knowledge
and skills. In addition, it recognizes the power of nature's structure
and orderliness in helping children heal."
"Wilderness camping is now
accepted nationally as a legitimate and effective technique for intervening
with certain children who are often classified as emotionally disturbed
and who frequently manifest their condition by acting out behavior.
A theory of wilderness camping has emerged that has its roots in various
intervention strategies, but uses the natural environment of the wilderness
as the setting for services."
Copyright
© 1992, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without
prior approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author
attribution accompanies the copy.) |