Sky‘s the Limit Fund (STLF) Speaker Series

Mariah Loftin, MA, LPC -Clinical Director and Senior Therapist- Young Adults at Open Sky Wilderness Therapy Our guest, Mariah Loftin, Clinical Director at Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, discusses how wilderness therapy can support an individual on the autism spectrum. She explains how they are able to thrive with the support of evidence-based treatment, an environment of neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals, a consistent structure while supporting the students to be able to respond to life's unpredictabilities, and healthy living.

Britta Zimmer, N.D., Medical Director at Pacific Quest It's confusing and sometimes frustrating when you're dealing with a list of medications for psychiatric conditions and help from various medical and professional resources. What's working and what's not? Our guest, Dr. Britta Zimmer, a licensed Naturopathic Physician, started the Integrative Model at Pacific Quest of blending conventional psychiatry with nature-based interventions and whole person wellness. In this episode, Dr. Zimmer talks about the benefits of Integrative Psychiatry to optimize an individual's mental health and treatment plan including the importance of incorporating nutritional supplements, mind-body practices along with a complete diet containing anti-inflammatory foods.

Noel Koons, MS, CMHC, Lead Therapist at Evoke Therapy Intensives and counselor & owner of Volition Counseling   This is an introduction to Emotional Needs 101 by Noel Koons. Noel explores the 6 emotional needs including how emotional need issues contribute to struggles leading up to treatment. "What are Emotional Needs? Emotional needs are the essential, inner, subjective conditions that must be met for well-being. If we meet them well, we'll experience lasting periods of peace, joy, and wholeness. When we meet our emotional needs both personally and interpersonally, we feel serenity, self-efficacy, contentment, and thriving. If we don't meet them, we may become chronically frustrated, dysregulated, desperate, resentful, anxious, depressed, pessimistic, cynical, listless, numb, and nihilistic."

Ryan Price, MA, LPC, MAC | Primary Therapist, Young Adults at Deschutes Wilderness Therapy In this episode, Ryan Price discusses an alternative approach to working with young adults and their families that focuses on relational repair and healing as a means of resourcing the young adult to step boldly into adult life. This is in contrast with some approaches that reduce focus on family therapy and parental involvement in the therapy process for young adults. Parent involvement in family therapy with their young adult child does not have to feel stifling to the young adult. When done well, the reinforced secure attachment with their parents creates a solid "home base" from which the young adult can embrace independent life with confidence. View full episode webpage

A captivating interview with Samira Madden, a wilderness therapy graduate. Samira is a young teen and is remarkably poised, honest, and courageous. She talks about her experience at wilderness, the life lessons it has taught her, and through this, she hopes to communicate her conviction to break the stigma.  View full episode webpage    

Tami Ann, mother and author of A Wilderness Journey Tami Ann is the mother of a son who attended a life-changing wilderness therapy program followed by a therapeutic boarding school. With her son's collaboration, she wrote a book about their family's transformative experience called A Wilderness Journey. This episode features delightful conversation with Tami Ann as she shares her inspiration to write the book - to provide healing and to provide a source of relatable information to help others - and why she created the unique components to tell the story as a hero's journey. View full episode webpage

Tony Issenmann, Ph.D., LMFT Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness Parents are increasingly struggling with anxiety and fear about sending their struggling adolescents to treatment. Dr. Issenmann's conversation is to empower anxious and ambivalent parents about the developmental model and research that show out-of-home treatment is often necessary for the life-changing results.  Through this, he provides suggestions on what parents can do to navigate through the tough decision. View full episode webpage

Sarah James, MA, LCMHC, LCAS at Trails Carolina What is neurodiversity? In this episode, Sarah gives an overview of what neurodiversity is and how parenting can be different. She discusses how to recognize potential neurodiversity in your child and how and why neurodiversity often gets overlooked in females. Sarah also talks about the pros and cons of formal diagnosis, the unique needs of neurodiverse adolescents and strategies for addressing these needs. View full episode webpage

Casie Fariello, Co-Founder & CEO of Other Parents Like Me In this episode, Casie Fariello, discusses the vulnerability of being a parent - uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure, guilt and acceptance and overcoming societal “norms”. Through her own experience as a wilderness therapy alumni parent and what she's learned as the Co-Founder & CEO of OPLM, she talks about managing expectations, how to be vulnerable with your children, and the importance of self-care especially during difficult times. View full episode webpage

STLF Coaches, Heather Menzie May, MA, LPC and Stephanie Smith, LCSW, LAC This episode is Part 2 of a panel discussion featuring our Sky's the Limit Fund Coaches. Heather and Stephanie will talk about the transition home and take a deeper dive into what progression may look like, a discussion about falling back to an old pattern for the youth and parents, what happens when there's a crisis, and holding boundaries. View full episode webpage

STLF Coaches- Lauren Lollini, MA, LCPC, Mackenzie Keefe, MSW, MS and Robin Wolthausen This episode features a panel discussion with the Sky's the Limit Fund Coaches. Take a deeper dive into their process as coaches to help parents and young adults with transition after wilderness therapy. They'll discuss the key strategies for setting up a path to success and how these strategies may be different for a young adult. View full episode webpage  

Lindsay Myrick, LCPC, Assistant Clinical Director and Primary Therapist at blueFire Wilderness Therapy You may have heard it before when someone says, "just calm down". It's not that easy when you're in the thick of things. Lindsay Myrick dives into what the "Window of Tolerance" means to help us understand our emotions and why it's okay if we're not calm all the time. She also discusses the importance of mindfulness practice and simple ownership to help us appropriately respond rather than react to our children. View full episode webpage

A deep conversation with Amanda Mojave, LPC about how the stigma of mental health affects parents who are seeking treatment for their child. She offers healthy advice to help parents navigate during this difficult time. 

Parents often feel helpless when their child starts to experiment with substances and life feels out of control, but research shows they are one of the most influential factors in helping a teen or young adult make healthier choices and be open to accepting help - if they know what to do. Brenda Zane and Cathy Cioth discuss the "Invitation to Change" approach that parents can put into action.  

Siblings are our longest standing relationships; in 1998, 83% of the adult population in the U.S. had at least one sibling in their family. Leah Madamba sheds some light on the importance of this relationship and engaging them in family work.

Communication is a challenge in many families. We don't always realize how powerful our words are. This is an informative conversation with Jason McKeown about how to talk WITH your child versus talking AT your child. Jason gives us a fresh perspective as well as some helful reminders.

Liz Deardorff, LCSW is the Clinical Director of Nest Family Services at Deschutes Wilderness Therapy, located in Bend, OR. An incredibly informative conversation about defining co-dependence, enmeshment and interdependence. - When do we parent from the head versus the heart - How our attachment needs and trauma responses get in the way of speaking from the heart - How to bravely step into vulnerability with your child - How heart focus v. head focus allows us to step into healthy interdependence with our child versus rescuing, enabling, and enmenshment: the “fix it” behavior

An informative discussion with Steve Sawyer about stress and trauma. His conversation helps us understand extensive stress and differentiates going from Trauma Informed to Trauma Responsive treatment.

What happens when sons can't live up to their perception of who their father is? Chris Tarver discusses the importance and misperceptions of the father-son relationship and what to do to help improve the relationship.

A birds-eye conversation with David Chandler about a typical day in wilderness for youth and young adults and the work of the field guides. He shares how his passion for nature and adventure helps his well-being as well as providing support to families through wilderness therapy.

Much of what we hear about parenting has to do with consequences and boundaries. So our go to as parents when our children make choices we don't agree with is to apply consequences. The opposite of that is that we avoid and don't do anything. Greg invites us to think about conversations by analyzing our emotions and belief systems regarding consequences.

Travis Slagle, Clinical Director at Evoke Intensives, discusses the role of experiential therapy for parents. A conversation with Travis helps us understand the importance of parents engaging in their own therapy to increase positive outcomes in their child's treatment.

A conversation with Andy Goldstrom about his family's experience and a discussion about what should you expect while your child is away at wilderness therapy and what should you consider doing as parents when your child is away. Andy provides helpful tools that helped him throughout his family's journey.

Group milieu, nomadic model, expressive arts, rites of passage, relational approach all contribute to the efficacy of wilderness therapy saving a sense of Self for young people today.  These components will be explored, examples from over a decade of on-the-ground experience referenced, and literature cited.

Many parents struggle with effective ways to set and maintain boundaries as their children transition from adolescence to young adulthood, especially when a young adult is struggling with mental health or other life challenges. In this episode, Senior Clinical Therapist, Mariah Loftin offers tangible strategies for establishing healthy boundaries that will help young adults launch into a life of independence.

Joanna Lilley, M.A. and Chris Blankenship, LCSW work with parents to understand and address the myriad reasons why young adults are so often unprepared for independent adulthood. They place added emphasis on the difficulty of leaving home in the tumultuous and unpredictable environment that COVID has created. Joanna and Chris explore alternate ways of preparing young adults to better address the stress, anxiety, and empowerment that can come from life as an adult working towards independence.

Will White, a 30 year professional in wilderness therapy, author of "Stories from the Field: A History of Wilderness Therapy" and the host of the weekly podcast, Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy", takes a deep look at the current controversies surrounding wilderness therapy, talk about the evolution of and changes to the practice of wilderness therapy, and where it's is headed in the future.

In this episode, Tracy Hopkins shares her own experiences of belonging and provides insight on the what to look for in wilderness.

A conversation about getting healthy for moms in particular when your family is in crisis. Brenda Zane tells her experience as a mother of a child with substance abuse and discusses the importance of self-care as she shares ideas to help cope and seek support.

Dr. Brad Reedy discusses the importance of finding one's self through parenting and its relevance in fostering resilience.