The Adventure Based Counseling program compliments traditional treatment approaches by teaching transferable adventure and life skills. The goal of the program is to empower individuals to make positive decisions, to discover functional ways of relating to the world around them, and to move beyond self-imposed limitations.

Housed in a 10,000 square foot, state-of the art facility, the Course offers 53 physically and mentally challenging, individual and group obstacles, ranging from ground level to forty-foot elevations. Consistent with George Junior Republic’s behavioral/educational motivational system, all youth must earn the privilege of going in the air by demonstrating competency in various initiatives. Safety, the primary consideration, involves the use of spotters, safety helmets, seat harnesses and belay ropes attached to both the participant and the instructor.

Treatment is specifically designed to target the cognitive functioning of the population, by providing initiatives which allow participants to see a vague concept, such as empathy in a very concrete manner. This technique allows youth to reflect on their past experiences and current situation in order to think more abstractly about the learning objective at hand. After each task, facilitators help participants to process their interactions so that they may transfer their learning and growth to different aspects of their lives. Students usually attend ten, 2 1/2 hour sessions.

This program helps to foster both personal and group challenges. The youth exercise problem solving and trust building skills, engage in individual risk taking and goal achievement, and cope with fear and pressure, so they may begin to take healthy risks. As a result, when a child is encouraged to climb higher with the support of his peers, he is really being asked to take a risk and trust that he can overcome obstacles in life. All that he has to do is try.