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TRUE NORTH EXPEDITIONS
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Connecting Mind and Body - A Theme From Our Expedition

28/8/2015

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Each program ends at this beautiful remote beach house!
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A crisp morning in the Flinders Ranges
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Celebrating a participant birthday!
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The first sign that Spring is truly on the way!
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Success! Reaching the top.
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We get the best sunsets in the bush.
 We're back from our latest program this week and as we reflect on our time in the bush with our female participants, we discuss themes that were apparent throughout the expedition. One such theme I noticed was a kind of disconnection between mind and body. That is, not noticing how we feel emotionally leading to a manifestation, into our physical senses, causing symptoms such as shortness of breath, a tight chest, and feeling queezy or exhausted. 

Many mental health organizations have emphasized awareness of such symptoms and on our last program, psyhco-education, awareness, self-regulation and moving forward were ways in which we tackled this invisible barrier between the emotional and the physical. Of course, increased heart rate can be normal when experiencing anxiety, but not being aware of the anxiety may enable it to manifest, to breed. And of course constant anxiety and an increasing intensity of anxiety has huge negative effects on our physical health. 

This can result in panic attacks or even digestive disorders. If we shrug off a traumatic incident which induced a fight or flight response - something physiological, something natural - and never allow our body to repair and find that maintenance level of safety - from a physiological perspective - we will forever be fatigued and stressed. 

Day to day we may not experience any trauma, but if we are never aware of what's going on, our jar of emotional pebbles will start to spill over and create both mental and physical issues. For some of us, it has become our engrained defense mechanism to 'turn off' - and we don't even realize we're doing it. Instead we may only feel the physical symptoms which we often ignore or shrug off. Stopping to sit with what we feel - emotionally and physically can be uncomfortable - but hugely necessary, beneficial and therapeutic. 

Within our group, awareness and regulation are about learning. Learning about how the mind and body intertwine. "You're feeling angry, where in your body can you feel that? What does it feel like in that spot?" Or "I noticed you have been experiencing shortness of breath each time we receive letters from home, can you tell me what you are feeling and where you are feeling it at these times?" 

Basic Mindfulness is simply awareness. Once we realize the connection between our feelings and our physical being - we can practice our awareness and regulation. Perhaps daily - stop and focus on what's going on inside us. Take some deep breaths. Sit with it. 

A logical tool we used in the bush and continue to use with some clients individually is a Feelings Chat, allowing clients to scale from 0-10 how they feel throughout the day. This helps us to stop and check in with ourselves. It forces us to pay attention to what's going on inside us, and it helps prevent our pebble jar of emotions from overflowing creating these physical symptoms of stress and anxiety.
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Meeting Balou - Animal Assisted Therapy

21/8/2015

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Earlier this month, Will and I had the pleasure of meeting with Annemarie Menne, a clinical psychologist at Neaves and Menne in Adelaide, to discuss the concept of 'animal assisted therapy'. We know that somehow, animals can be hugely therapeutic. We form bonds with them. Playing with our dog, sleeping with the cat, and, from my own personal experience, I noticed as a child that my Father would visit the horse if he needed to 'de-stress' at the end of a long day at work. 

Annemarie uses a therapy dog, a beautiful, well natured labrador who greeted us with slobbery hellos and friendliness, before smelling us, and taking a liking to my chair - to which he jumped on before falling asleep behind me. 'Balou' - the huge sleeping puppy behind me sits in the office daily, contributing to an animal assisted approach to psychotherapy. 

Annemarie explains that sometimes Balou sits quietly with little client interaction, and other times he plays a role in gaining trust between child and therapist, as well as acting as a bridge of communication. Annemarie showed us some videos of how mindfulness techniques can be used with Balou and children within therapy - "Can you feel Balou's heart rate? Can you feel your heart rate?"; "Where is the softest of Balou's fur?"; "Can we be quiet with Balou and notice what he smells like, what he feels like, what he sounds like?" She showed us how having Balou in the room can provide her with a conversation starter and relationship builder with her clients. Many clients keep coming back just to check in on Balou and see how he is going! 

 ANDAAT - the Australian network for the development of animal assisted therapies provides useful definitions of therapy animals or assisted animal therapy and highlights the importance of client and therapist collaborating on a specific therapeutic goal, and using the animal as a tool - rather than the dominant resource of psychotherapy - hence the term animal assisted therapy and not animal therapy. 

A number of studies have linked animal assisted therapies to reductions in anxiety and depression, decreases in loneliness in the elderly, facilitating an inviting environment for psychotherapy to take place and an increase in the relationship between client and therapist. 

Both Annemarie and Balou taught us why it is that animals can have a therapeutic value - Balou provides a kind of unconditional positive regard - something that clients are drawn to. This  regard is something that we as therapists approach our work with. However, it can be harder to convey and for clients to perceive. We ended our discussion with Annemarie by inviting her along to speak at next years National AABAT Forum held next year in Adelaide. 


We're excited to continue learning more about animal assisted therapy and hope to one day incorporate it into our own approach at True North Expeditions.

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The Second R: Relationship 

5/8/2015

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A participant drawing a True North thank you card for our station managers
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A group on the top of Eke's Peak
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Dinner and a bon fire on the beach for the last day of our May Boys Program 2015
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Boys fishing on the beach
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An eagle representing strength and vision
Recently we have been talking about Dr Bruce Perry’s Three R’s: Regulate, Relate and Reason and how we use this framework in the bush when working with children and adolescents. Our post about the first R: Regulate, discussed how our higher level reasoning and ability to think rationally can be affected during times of emotional distress and anxiety. For us to find light at the end of the tunnel, we need to first help regulate difficult emotions. Only then can we complete Dr Perry’s other two R’s. 

In a nutshell, therapy does not work without a relationship. Research regularly indicates that the relationship built between the practitioner and client is the best predictor of a positive outcome, not the therapist’s orientation or the program’s model.

This is why with True North Expeditions everything we do relates to Dr Gabor Mate’s quote saying that we need to “collect them before we direct them.” If there is no relationship there is no therapy. 

Before worrying about survival skills, such as fire making or navigating with a map or compass, program leaders focus solely on earning the young person’s trust and building a strong alliance. 

Spending time in nature itself is very regulating. In the bush we are exercising, eating well and getting healthy amounts of sleep. All of these factors help us to remain regulated and emotionally stable. This calmness, with the addition of caring and nurturing professionals, gives us the perfect ingredients for Dr Perry’s first two R’s. 

Many parents ask us how we can build a strong relationship with adolescents that have seen multiple psychologists and counsellors before. Using a relationship rating scale each night of the program, we actually welcome the child’s feedback and allow them to let us know if we are helping and what we can do to be more effective. 

By giving adolescents the chance to score us on our listening, our approach, what we talk about and overall connection, we take all the guessing out of how to build the best connection. Additionally, this creates a relationship that welcomes honest feedback and change. 

Imagine seeing your therapist change for you…for your needs…for your strengths. This is empowering.

In our 2014 Program Evaluation Research parents wrote anonymously that their child had never had the connection with a practitioner until they came to the bush. Participants wrote that they felt comfortable enough, or regulated, to talk about whatever was on their mind. They felt trusted, cared for and as if the program leaders had their back. 

I said in the beginning that therapy does not happen if we do not have a relationship and if the child is not regulated. The relationship is the best predictor of a positive outcome and is what practitioners should emphasise more often.  

Next time, I will write about what we do once we have this strong relationship with participants that are able to regulate themselves during times of stress. What does “Reasoning” really mean and how do we do it? 

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    Author

    True North Expeditions, Inc. provides adventure therapy programs and services for children and teenagers in Australia. Based in Adelaide, the TNE team writes about child and adolescent psychology, family dynamics and how adventure therapy programs can connect with struggling adolescents.

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True North Expeditions, Inc
Adelaide, South Australia
E: admissions@truenorthexpeditions.com.au
P: 0477161768
F: 8271 5599
ABN: 21 970 107 614
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