Proceedings of Cave Think Tank (2022): What are the necessary ingredients of International Adventure Therapy training and development?
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Smith, Amanda
Carpenter, Cathryn
Ginwala, Tanya
Hjorth, Sophia
Horn, Amy
Hsu, Shuan
Hsu, Jasper Chien-hsi
Huang, Jhong-fu
Javorski, Stephen
Jeffery, Helen
Knowles, Ben
Natynczuk, Stephan
Norton, Christine Lynn
Peeters, Luk
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Abstract
In 2018, directly before the 8IATC in Sydney, Australia, a group of 24 Adventure Therapy practitioners from 11 nations gathered for 3 days in a Cave, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney to explore the question: ‘What are the necessary ingredients of International Adventure Therapy training and development? The ‘Cave Think Tank’ processes and themes were based on an underlying thirst for exploring, articulating, and debating, defining and refining shared beliefs, values and ‘ways of being’ an AT practitioner. Importantly, by the end of our time together, consensus was reached regarding the philosophical assumptions held by adventure therapy practitioners, underpinning values and beliefs, essential skills and knowledges, and some common intervention strategies. At the end, a ‘list’ was developed (not exhaustive) and clustered into five clusters of essential training content. We agreed this list and set of clusters could be used as a guide to develop international AT training programs with a view to graduating ‘good enough’ practitioners. These proceedings highlight the process and outcomes from the Cave Think Tank’.
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The Cave Think Tank workshop was a pre-conference workshop leading up to the Eighth International Adventure Therapy Conference, held in Australia in 2018. The workshop took place over three days, from 10.30am Friday 24th Aug until 3pm Sunday 26th Aug. Group discussions took place in a cave and a shed, surrounded by natural bushland in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. The 24 participants came from eleven nations, listed here in alphabetical order: Australia (5), Belgium (1), Canada (1), Hungary (2), India (1), New Zealand (2), Norway (1), Spain (3), Taiwan (4), UK (2), and the USA (2). The Adventure Works Australia teaching team (Anita, Pete, Ben, Amanda and Cathryn) voluntarily hosted the workshop, displaying impeccable organisation and catering skills, and helping create a safe and productive space for the work to be done. Participants were diverse in their culture, experience, professional background, ways of using adventure therapy practices, language and food preferences! All were able to speak from their experience and from their understanding of what their local practices and practice needs are. However, all were also aware that they did not necessarily represent their home nation, that they spoke from their own perspective, and that nations represented were limited to those who had volunteered to attend. The workshop aims were co-developed with participants at the outset, and co-facilitated by participants in order to meet agreed aims. It is our shared commitment to strengthen our collective Adventure Therapy practices that motivates us to share Cave outcomes. At heart, it is the benefits we’ve experienced, and the benefits we’ve seen for our participants that motivates our shared efforts. The document is free to be shared with due acknowledgement.
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Education
Conference
Workshop
Adventure therapy
training
curriculum
international partnerships
nature-based interventions
adventure therapy
cross cultural
trauma informed
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Borroel, F., Carpenter, C., Ginwala, T., Hjorth, S., Horn, A., Hsu, S., Chien-hsi Hsu, J., Huang, J., Javorski, S., Jeffery, H., Knowles, B.,Natynczuk, S., Norton, C.L., Peeters, L., Pryor, A., Rae, P., Rákár-Szabó, N., Richards, K., Rodriguez Sebastian, R., Rose, A., Ruiz De Cortazar Gracia, N., Smith, A., Szabo, G., Yu, L. (2022). What are the necessary ingredients of Adventure Therapy training and development? Proceedings of the Cave Think Tank, Australia, 2018. Adventure Works Australia Ltd. https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/4461