Podcast Episodes
Our recent podcast episodes
Anson McNulty is the Operations Director and Co-Owner of Summit Achievement. Anson grew up in New York City, and at a young age, he was diagnosed with dyslexia and sent to boarding school for teens with learning disabilities, where he first experienced the outdoors.
Tim McMahon and Jason Cox are co-owners of Brightstone Transitions, a Young Adult Transitional Program. They met over a decade ago in Georgia when Tim was directing a state-funded wilderness therapy program, and Jason showed up late for a job interview dressed in a suit and tie.
Sarah Gallimore is a field guide at Elements Wilderness Therapy. Sarah grew up in New Hampshire and went to the UNH for college, which is where she learned about wilderness therapy. Sarah shares how helping out with an AEE Accreditation review in Utah was when she realized that she wanted to be a field guide in a wilderness therapy program in Utah.
Samuel Adams, Lead Field Guide at Aspiro Adventures. Sam grew up in the Adirondacks region of New York with a family who embraced the outdoors. In high school, he became a father and struggled to handle it. He grew through the struggle and became connected with wilderness therapy in college.
Norman Elizondo is the Family Wellness Counselor at Open Sky. Norman's journey into the wilderness field began when his dying mother encouraged him to leave his finance career and "do something that would really help people."
Doug Dobkowski is a Team Leader at Summit Achievement. Doug grew up in New Jersey and went on to get a teaching degree in college. Doug worked as a middle school teacher for eight years in Newark. He shares his story of how he began an Outing Club at the middle school, which inspired him to become an outdoor leader.
Zhenda Glover is a field guide at Evoke Cascades located in Oregon. She was born and raised in Bulgaria and had never heard the two words "wilderness' and "therapy" put together until she moved to Oregon. Zhenda became enamored with wilderness therapy after attending a field guide orientation at Evoke and has been committed to the field ever since. Zhenda was recognized for her outstanding field guide service at Evoke at the 2019 Wilderness Therapy Symposium, where she was a Jumping Mouse recipient.
Rachel Rollins is a therapist at Juniper Canyon Recovery Center in Utah. She first learned about wilderness therapy when she was enrolled in a program as a teen which is where she first learned to "love self and wilderness." After graduating from the University of Vermont, Rachel traveled the world but felt unsatisfied until she returned to the wilderness field.
L. Jay Mitchell is one of the elders in the field of wilderness therapy as he co-founded the School of Urban and Wilderness Survival (SUWS) in Idaho and Alldredge Academy in West Virginia. SUWS was the first for-profit, private pay primitive skills wilderness therapy program in the U.S.
John Conway was the chair of the Outdoor Behavioral Council during a time of rapid growth. He grew up in Illinois and wanted to work in wilderness therapy but thought he would have to move away from Chicago to get a job in the field.
Emily (Jonesie) Jones spent every summer of her childhood living at a summer camp that her parents worked at. After college, she worked at a farm and traveled all over, including South America. Jonesie shares the fascinating story of being in Peru and participating in a ceremony that changed the course of her life.