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BOB HANNA
Interview by: Kathy Nussberger
Kathy@woodbury.com
During his recent visit to Woodbury Reports,
we decided to write the February profile on Bob Hanna, Executive
Director of Phoenix Outdoors, headquartered in Roswell, GA.
Phoenix is a new wilderness therapy program that is set to
open in March/ April 2005. Field operations for Phoenix Outdoors
will be southwest of Asheville, NC.
Bob said he's worked with troubled youth most of his life,
beginning as a YMCA camp counselor, he saw how the combination
of adolescents and wilderness created positive transformations
in the kids' lives. “This was my introduction into the field
of psychology and more specifically, the integration of psychology
and wilderness programs.”
After graduating from Long Beach State University in 1988
with a Bachelors psychology, Bob attended Brigham Young University
where he completed his doctorate in psychology. “At that time
there really wasn't a specialty field you could tack on to
your doctorate, but my focus was in working with adolescents.”
In 1990, Bob began working for Aspen Achievement as a therapist.
“That was a very exciting time for me to be a therapist. While
I was working with the kids in the field, I discovered how
different my relationship with them was in comparison to working
with kids in an office setting. In the field they were more
receptive, willing to work on their issues and made significant
gains. The whole healthy experience of living and working
outdoors with a group was remarkable to me.”
While at Aspen Achievement, Bob completed his dissertation
on the impact of wilderness programs. His research included
a study on eight former students of various wilderness programs
and their parents.
“The students, all who had graduated from the wilderness program
at least two or more years prior, talked about their sense
of self-efficacy, the positive changes in their self-esteem
and confidence, and their newfound ability to relate to others,”
he explained. “They talked about changes in their self perception,
confidence and team concepts. A lot of the kids said that
after attending a wilderness program, they felt that no matter
what life threw at them, they would survive and continue believing
in themselves.”
Bob left Aspen Achievement in 1993 to complete his internship
at Notre Dame University. He worked with college students
at the university counseling center, as well as teenagers
and adults at a traditional psychiatric hospital. “After my
internship, I rejoined Aspen Achievement Academy for another
two years which included helping Aspen Ranch in its early
inception.” He then moved to Salt Lake City and oversaw the
therapeutic care of adjudicated youth in residential homes,
and worked for a Utah-based employee's assistance program.
While working at Aspen, Bob met his wife Caryn, and they were
married in the desert at Capital Reef National Park. "We've
been married for seven years and Caryn is an amazing woman
who is my best friend. My daughter Danielle is the light of
my life. I am truly blessed."
With no room for advancement at the employee's assistance
program, Bob began looking for something in the Southeast
area of the country that offered an increased responsibility
and would allow him to use and advance his skills.
“I found SUWS of the Carolinas during their start up phase
and I became their first clinical director,” he explained.
“It was a very exciting time for me because I was involved
in the process of starting up the wilderness program. I worked
with SUWS for three years, and I realized that this was what
I wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to work in this
industry, work with this type of kid and in this type of program,
so I began to focus on developing my relationships and skills
in this industry.”
At this point, Bob accepted the opportunity to work with Jim
Glaeser, the former director of SUWS of the Carolinas, to
help open Adirondack Leadership Academy in up-state New York.
“However, my family wasn't ready for the harsh winters, and
we decided to explore other opportunities. When I was offered
the position of clinical director with Rocky Mountain Academy
in Bonners Ferry, ID, I saw it as a great opportunity to experience
firsthand the benefits of long-term residential care and wilderness
programming. I worked there for about 15 months until CEDU
downsized and eliminated my position in June 2004.”
After leaving RMA, he met the founder of Phoenix, Carolyn
Bradfield, who asked him to join her team as the executive
director. “I can't tell you how excited I am about this new
venture because it provides me the opportunity to develop
what I have learned to be invaluable in wilderness programming.
Our team emphasizes working collaboratively which is incredibly
important to me. I want people who work for Phoenix to feel
empowered and that their input, ideas and efforts are valued.
I want people to know they can talk to me about their experiences
and problems, and that I am invested in helping them grow
personally and professionally.”
Bob added that he plans to participate in the
fieldwork of the program and be accessible and supportive
to both the students and the employees. “I want the students
and field staff to feel comfortable about discussing their
experiences in our program.”
Carolyn lives in Roswell, GA, and founded Phoenix Outdoors
based on her experiences as a parent whose daughter completed
a wilderness program. “After her difficult experience with
her daughter, Carolyn was inspired to build a wilderness program
that focused on meeting the emotional needs of the family
as well as the teens in the program. Their input is invaluable
in designing this program, and I hope that as our students
graduate from the program, I can follow up with them and their
parents to get their feedback on what we are doing and use
that information to make our program stronger over time.”
Phoenix Outdoors will begin accepting admissions in March/
April 2005. In the meantime, their phone lines are up and
running for parents who are considering a wilderness program
for their child. “If parents call in a crisis situation before
we are open, we will do what we can to connect them with the
necessary resources, such as educational consultants, the
www.strugglingteens.com
website or a program that may fit their needs. The goal of
this industry is to help the kids and their families get past
a crisis, moving in a positive direction. There are a lot
of good programs out there; I feel our unique spot in this
industry is that we offer a high level of family support,
safety and overall expertise of our staff.”
Copyright © 2005,
Woodbury Reports, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(This article may not be reproduced without written approval
of the publisher.)
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