Evoke Therapy Programs
Santa Clara, UT

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A Former Student’s
Inside Perspective

written by Jake Reedy and originally posted on Evoke Therapy Program's blog

Jake Reedy

I walked out of the theatre after seeing the play Wilderness with all of the feelings that I had felt when I was a teenager in a wilderness therapy program fresh on my mind again. I was 13 when I went to the wilderness. I got “gooned,” or transported to the program straight from Juvenile Hall. I knew it was coming because my dad owned the program and I had gotten myself into enough trouble. I knew when they dropped me off out there in the middle of nowhere that it would be a long journey. I didn’t know, however, all that I would learn and the person that I would become by the time I left.

When I got back, friends asked if “it worked,” or if I was “fixed”. Those seemed like strange questions, because, of course, at the age of 13 I felt like I already had a B.A. in communication, understood myself well and knew how to deal with my emotions. I also thought I knew how to take care of myself and take responsibility for my actions. However, out there in the wilderness, I learned that when I fought against the system and didn’t build a good shelter, instead of being lectured or grounded, I just woke up in the middle of the night drenched from rain. That was a powerful lesson.

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Evoke Therapy Programs provide personalized therapeutic care with a focus on whole-health. Evoke's programs include wilderness therapy for adolescents and young adults, individual and family therapy intensives, and adventure pursuit programs.