Background Complex trauma is the developmental harm done to people's bodies, brains, and minds from childhood adversity. These experiences of inadequate care and nurturance, often not involving major events, are harmful in embodied ways that interfere with, and are contained, outside of cognitive awareness. Experiences of excellent, or even good enough, care and nurturance can overlay these developmental harms. Therefore, adventure therapy experiences may be restorative for adolescents with complex trauma. However, adventure therapy and complex trauma are emerging practices and bodies of knowledge, and at present there is no purpose designed theory that joins these two fields.

Purpose This research project sought to build a theory and practice framework for complex trauma-informed adventure therapy. [...]