Adventure Therapy Programming as an Alternative Rehabilitation for Female Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA)

Abstract

In recent years there has been a rise in environmental consciousness. Given this re-prioritization of ecological wellness, there has been a renewed interest in wilderness exploration. Eco-feminist scholars have examined the effectiveness of alternative therapeutic processes such as Adventure Therapy (AT) programs for the rehabilitation of several DSM-IV clinical conditions. Many scholars have observed the efficacy of such programs for women. Given the goals of both AT programs and traditional psychotherapies for female survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA), the current study seeks to contribute an original AT curriculum for rehabilitating the self-confidence and identity formation of female survivors of CSA and how the effectiveness of AT programs could be empirically tested.