Journey Skills For Life

Internationally recognized as an innovative provider of wilderness and adventure-based programming within an outpatient setting, Journey is OMNI Youth Services’ wilderness therapy program. Under the guidance of licensed professional clinicians, adolescents and/or families are challenged in outdoor settings. During a Journey experience, the wilderness confronts youth and families with real-time opportunities to problem solve, work cooperatively, and experience both the rewards and the natural consequences of their good and bad decisions.

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Outdoor Wilderness Therapy

Trips can vary from day-long rock climbing experiences to a ten day whitewater rafting trip, with many other opportunities in between. Journey trip locations occur throughout North America and feature activities such as ice climbing, backpacking, rock climbing, coastal kayaking, and whitewater rafting.

On a Journey trip, adolescents learn to work with others, improve team leadership skills, develop trust, take appropriate risks, increase self-esteem, and have appropriate fun. These intense experiences allow youth to test his or her limits as well as encourage him/her to set new personal goals. At the end of the trip, the adolescent will experience a sense of accomplishment and achievement and learn to solve problems and apply these skills to their life situations.

Our highly trained staff possess training and certifications in counseling, wilderness travel and activities, first responder medicine and the use of experiential counseling within a wilderness setting. As a leader in experiential therapy services, known throughout the entire world, OMNI Youth Services earned the Association for Experiential Education’s Organizational Member of the Year Award.

For more information contact John Conway, Coordinator of Experiential & Wilderness Therapy Services, at 847-353-1654 or jconway@omniyouth.org.

Experiential Therapy and Team Building Services

Experiential education is often contrasted with traditional learning, in which information/knowledge is given, and the instructor prescribes study/learning exercises which have “information/knowledge transmission” as the main goal.  An experiential facilitator’s role, on the other hand, is to organize and facilitate direct experiences under the assumption that this will lead to genuine (meaningful and long-lasting) learning or insight.  To put it another way, in traditional learning, instruction is given and the practical experience comes next.  In experiential learning the experience comes first and the learning follows…

• Experiential Therapy – Youth and families learn to solve problems, communicate effectively, improve communication, develop goals, recognize strengths, improve relationships, identify alternatives, and demonstrate respect through unique team-based activities and initiatives and apply these skills to their life situations.

At OMNI Youth Services, experiential education is infused into all of our services, as a way of enhancing and solidifying knowledge, skill building, and motivation to change.  In addition to the services offered on-site, OMNI Youth Services also is also able to provide off-site experiential programming to schools, churches and synagogues, park districts, and other community-building organizations.  With the use of portable initiatives, games, and problem solving activities, staff at OMNI are able to design and implement a program to address your needs ranging from 1 hour to an entire day for any size group.

• Team Building – Team Challenge Course is an activity-based, team development program designed to help groups of individuals develop positive social skills. Utilizing team building strategies, youth increase creative Problem-Solving skills, improve effective Communication, develop greater Trust with other group members, and experience positive Fun. OMNI Youth Services has provided safe, clinically based, and cost effective experiential programming for over 10 years.
• Family Challenge Program – Over the last several decades there has been a dramatic shift in the traditional family structure; including divorce, single-parent households, dual career families, etc.  These challenges can create, or increase stress in the existing family structure and lead to many physical, social and emotional problems, such as drug & alcohol use, behavioral and academic problems, suicidal threats and other risks. OMNI staff work with families to overcome these issues.
• Consultation and Training Services – OMNI Youth Services also offers professional development opportunities for your staff interested in incorporating experiential methodologies into their on-going work with students. Our staff has provided local, regional, and international training.  

For more information contact John Conway, Coordinator of Experiential & Wilderness Therapy Services, at 847-353-1654 or jconway@omniyouth.org.