Therapeutic Adventure Program (TAP)
The Therapeutic Adventure Program is an innovative positive youth development program that works closely with treatment centers, schools, Juvenile Justice, Protective Services, Schools, Tribal Courts and Tribal Social Services, as well as private programs to provide at-risk and high-risk youth intervention and prevention services. These services are available to groups through funding from Value Options New Mexico or private contracts with schools, institutions and organizations.
We provide dynamic therapeutic learning experiences that incorporate elements of adventure, challenge and interpersonal processing/reflection coupled with life skills curriculum; experiences include cooperative games, problem solving initiatives, high ropes challenge courses, rock climbing, backpacking, and rafting. Programs include sequences of four to ten sessions, overnight therapeutic camps, and/or wilderness experience programs.
We work closely with clients to prescriptively design programs that meet the presenting needs of the groups being referred. Utilizing our Experiential Adventure-Based Resiliency Model, we provide a mixture of core lesson plans and experiential methodologies that include conflict resolution, anger management, problem solving, decision-making, leadership development and social skills. These content areas have proved to be core components to fostering resiliency in youth. The physical and psychological challenges are designed to:
- Stimulate social competencies and personal growth
- Deepen personal values
- Expand individual capabilities
- Provide awareness around identity development
- Develop self-confidence and insight
- Improve interpersonal skills and relationship
The SFMC Project Coordinator works closely with juvenile probation officers, treatment center staff and school teachers or counselors in order to provide prescriptively planned programming. These staff provide us with critical pre-assessment information regarding participant needs. During the assessment stage, the SFMC Project Coordinator works with both agency staff and the participant to develop an individualized treatment plan, examine medical history and psycho/social information, explore clinical red flags, and in some instances conduct the Mental Health Screening and Children's Functional Assessment Scale (CFARS). The Project Coordinator uses this information to plan prescriptive program sequences with specific goals for a particular participant group. A variety of experiential methodologies and activities (full value commitment, experiential learning cycle, high and low challenge courses, rock climbing, rappelling, hiking, rafting, and backpacking) are coupled with our skills curriculum units (Anger Management, Decision Making, Problem Solving, Conflict Resolution, Leadership, Social Skills, and HIV Prevention). This curriculum incorporates evidenced-based practices and provides us with the structure to objectively measure the impact of our unique programs.
Please contact Jenn Jevertson, TAP Program Manager at 983-6158 x13 or jenn@santafemc.org.