LJ Mitchell and Dennis Thompson visit Woodbury Reports

LJ Mitchell and Dennis Thompson stopped by the Woodbury office for a visit after presenting at the 5th annual Northwest Get Together. The pair gave an impressive interpretation on utilizing music as metaphor. The presentation engaged all the participants experientially and showed how Dennis weaves music into metaphors to pass through new spiritual thresholds, while LJ observed and interpreted the interactions of the group. During the presentation, we broke into small groups and created our own rhythm all the while learning a powerful message about how we interpret ourselves, utilizing both the left and right hemispheres of our brains.

Dennis Thompson Co-Founder of Spokane Mountain, is a licensed substance abuse counselor. Dennis first worked with LJ Mitchell at SUWS in 1984. He became a key figure at SUWS, and is a master of primitive survival arts. Dennis wrote and implemented the first Wilderness Curriculum to receive credits in the U.S. and Canada. Dennis has lived with the Masai in Africa, the Bedouins in Jordan, the Kurds in Turkey, the Mexican fishermen in the Sea of Cortez, and the Aborigines of Australia. He and his wife work beyond traditional therapies and work with African Drumming, guitar, storytelling, permaculture gardening, working with draft horses, and working hands on with students in carpentry, drum, and Native American flutes.

L Jay Mitchell, Co-Founder of Spokane Mountain is a legend in program development, breaking barriers every step of the way. Initially, the founder of SUWS Wilderness program, perhaps the best known wilderness program in the country. He subsequently founded Alldredge Academy, and Greenbrier in West Virginia. Most recently, L Jay has teamed up with his colleague, Denis Thompson in founding Spokane Mountain, a substance abuse program for young adults, located in Washington. He is known as a person who gets outside the box and at the same time has an excellent grasp of traditional psychological theory. His work has led him to emphasize the role of spirituality and its healing powers. He felt the environment of a wilderness program is conducive to the close relationships found in small groups, and strengthens its influence on changing lives. A focus that L Jay has contributed deviates from the concept of the natural law format that requires empirical evidence describing all of human nature.

Greenbrier Academy is an all-girls� therapeutic boarding school that integrates personal discovery, character development and academic excellence. Specifically designed to assist young women in their academic development and self confidence, Greenbrier Academy embodies the vision of a healthy campus for leaders of tomorrow.

Spokane Mountain is a private residential community for young men ages 18 to 28 that are exhibiting addictive behaviors. They are not an institution or a country club, but rather they combine sophisticated therapeutic interventions with three empowering contexts, The Stage Stop, The Village, and Independent Living Structures combined to form a rustic interdepedent community through a complete and authentic passage into adulthood.

For more information on either Greenbrier Academy or Spokane Mtn Addiction Recovery, contact Beth Ragland at 877-778-8422.