It was a lovely drive to Santiam Crossing through the lush Oregon countryside in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. From the interstate near Albany, OR, I turned onto a local highway, then to a winding county road, and finally down a dirt road that seemed somewhat questionable given the recent flooding in the area. Soon I saw my fears were unfounded; the winding road ended up in a clearing where an A-frame building housed the Santiam office. Nearby was a pond where a kayak was tied to the dock, waiting for warmer weather. They also have a floating gazebo where they hold meetings and have individual therapy sessions. Though it was a chilly February morning, inside the cozy A-frame office a woodstove created a warm environment for my meeting with Clinical Director, Jenevive Rollins, LCSW, CADC I and a group of her female clients who were soon to graduate.

Jenvive explained that Santiam Crossing is a four part program consisting of wilderness adventure, therapy, academics, and community work. The typical length of stay is between six and nine months, averaging about seven and a half. There is a six-month minimum stay. Their only criterion is that students must come directly from the wilderness program, with no interruption between graduation from the wilderness and enrollment at Santiam Crossing. They will accept students from all wilderness programs, including Catherine Freer Therapeutic Wilderness Program with which they are affiliated.

During my conversation with the girls it was particularly interesting to hear them discuss their past and how strongly it contrasted to their currently lives. They described how they had distanced themselves from negative behaviors, and were glad that their relationships with their family had deepened and that communication had greatly improved during their stay at Santiam. They were obviously encouraged that the individualized online instruction and the teacher-lead classes had helped them catch up on lost credits. Once a student arrives at Santiam, he or she is assigned an academic advisor who outlines coursework and encourages them to develop an active interest in school subjects and in working toward on-time graduation.

Santiam is accredited by The Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC). It is a good environment for students to do credit recovery, as there are teacher-lead classes and self-paced curriculum with some media packets. Due to small class size, Santiam teachers demonstrate the enthusiasm and expertise necessary to get students excited about learning, are certified and have success working with non-traditional learners with a variety of mild to moderate learning difficulties. They are also able to provide more advanced instruction when appropriate. Santiam credits are based on seat hours as well as the satisfaction of goals and objectives determined by the State of Oregon. Santiam students can do online college courses and dual enrollment. Their students often are ready to apply to a four-year university upon graduation. The students I interviewed described the confidence they had gained in their academic ability while there and how they had learned to advocate for their academic needs.

Professional development is available to Santiam students, including certification in swift water rescue, basic horsemanship, wilderness first responder, bike repair and rock climbing certification, most of which is conducted by a neutral third party, though there is also some in-house certification offered. The students participate in a 10-day adventure once a quarter, which involves going back to the wilderness for 10 days. Activities vary depend on the season. Students receive two leadership credits upon completing the wilderness component. Santiam also offers a "third classroom" for students having trouble concentrating through a school day. With the teacher's permission, these students can spend half an hour to a couple of hours doing physical work such as wildfire training, trail building, sawing wood, construction and maintenance, stream restoration or food stocking and pantry clean-up. The students can earn elective credit for their participation.

Students are able to have a home visit when they reach Level 3, which usually takes four to five months to attain. Family calls occur every other week, and parent workshops occur on the weekend once a month. If a family is unable to visit, it is possible to arrange a video phone call via Skype. During my visit the girls had just returned from an expedition. All the students occasionally go on service project excursions into the local community.

Santiam enrolls students between the ages of 13 and 18 years old. Typical students need to have a 'reasonable IQ' which might include a lot of variation in the subtest scores of the cognitive testing. An appropriate student is one who likes experiential education and is willing to agree to their safety requirements. Typical students may be experiencing depression, low self-esteem, anger, defiance, impulsivity, attentional issues, attachment issues, motivation issues, poor academic achievement or substance abuse. He or she may have had suicidal ideation in their history, but should have no psychotic features, no FAS or developmental delays. They will consider a student with Axis II traits, and ODD. The therapeutic part of the program is client-centered and individualized. Each student is assigned to a mature, experienced, master's level clinician that specializes in working with adolescents and families. Therapy includes individual and group therapy as well as mindfulness and DBT. The youth counselors hold bachelor's degrees, preferably in psychology, social work, or a related field, and have experience working with adolescents.

Students sleep in canvas cabins heated by stoves, and cook their meals in outdoor kitchens with propane stoves. One instructor sleeps in each of the cabins, providing supervision, and males and females are located at different parts of the 157 acre campus. They have recently built a large new shower house and laundry facility, a lovely yurt classroom as well as another school building for classes, workshops, internet access and Skype calls for family therapy. A smaller yurt provides space for therapists' offices and individual therapy. In addition to the various recreational opportunities on and off campus, there is also a basketball court.

Over the years since I first began using this program, Santiam Crossing has continued to expand and improve their program components, including a connection with nature, supervised activities and nurturing peer groups in conjunction with therapy and effective academic support. This unique rustic wilderness therapeutic school has definitely provided my students with the opportunity to get back on track academically, and internalize what they have learned in their previous wilderness intervention. It has enhanced family therapy and has helped the students develop the skills and confidence needed to help them transition to their next step.