Learning the Ropes

Why a Ropes Challenge Course Is Therapeutic for Teens

Ropes courses have existed since the early 1970s. Designed to challenge groups of participants to connect, communicate, and build trust, ropes courses offer an educational way to increase self-esteem, awareness, motivation, problem-solving abilities, communication and conflict resolution skills, leadership abilities, and morale.

Challenge courses are one of the most effective ways to unite, bond, and empower groups, teams, families, and at-risk youth. Corporations and organizations around the world began utilizing ropes courses in the early 1980s as a means of motivating employees and increasing productivity. These courses also have become popular in wilderness therapy programs for teens struggling with depression, substance abuse, attention deficit, learning difficulties, and other behavioral issues.

Ropes Courses in Wilderness Therapy

Lone Star Expeditions, a wilderness therapy program for teens, is the first wilderness program to integrate a ropes therapy course into the weekly therapeutic curriculum. The use of a ropes course is based on the theory that by taking teens out of their comfort zone and helping them have a successful experience, you build confidence and create the right environment for positive, and often profound, change. 

The Lone Star program specializes in helping troubled teens who have behavioral, emotional, or substance abuse issues. A few hours north of Houston, Texas, Lone Star teens experience a wilderness adventure that removes them from the distractions of modern life that often prevent them from examining and changing their self-destructive behaviors. Teens learn wilderness skills as they trek through the Texas “outback.”

According to Mike Bednarz, Executive Director of Lone Star Expeditions, “We recognized that the course work not only had a powerful impact on our teens, but offered us a unique perspective on these kids’ behavior within groups. We realized weekly ropes course work would help them improve their relationships with their parents and other family members. In effect, the team-building aspect of the ropes course experience became a testing ground for these teens to learn how to better interact with their parents and peers.”

Lone Star’s therapeutic wilderness camp, featured on Dateline NBC, offers a unique alternative to boot camps and military schools. Teens spend four to six weeks in a natural, outdoor environment while working with licensed therapists. University-based research validates the effectiveness of outdoor treatment for youth struggling with behavioral problems or substance abuse.

What Is a Ropes Challenge Course?

Ropes challenge courses allow for a wilderness experience in a fixed, controlled setting. Courses generally consist of a series of activities, sometimes on or close to the ground (usually referred to as a low course) and sometimes built on utility poles or trees (a high course). At Lone Star, the challenge course consists of more than 10 low elements, focused on teamwork, communication, trust, and problem-solving, and more than 10 high elements, designed to boost individual self-confidence, improve goal-setting, and encourage peer support.
The unique appeal of a ropes challenge course is the seemingly high-risk, high-reward nature of the activity. With strict and thorough safety measures in place, including safety (belay) lines, harnesses, and a full safety and inspection team complete with contracted facilitators, the perceived risk is much greater than the actual risk. Although the participants logically understand they are safe, the task remains daunting at 30 feet in the air. This turns the ropes course into a mental challenge as well as a physical one.

Why Do Challenge Courses Work?

Teens benefit from the ropes course not only because it is a thrilling and fun thing to do, but also because they learn to commit to action even when results are uncertain. Participants prove to themselves that a seemingly insurmountable problem can be overcome, which is satisfying and esteem-building. Through the experience of overcoming the demanding task of successfully completing a ropes course, students learn skills to handle daily problems as well.

Program facilitators create a challenging, but non-threatening atmosphere where the participants feel comfortable enough to stretch personally beyond the self-imposed limits that have resulted in problematic behaviors. Every student has a history of set of experiences which has molded him and taught him how to respond, think, and behave. By questioning these programmed responses and replacing them with new, positive ones, teens embrace important life skills. By accomplishing difficult tasks together, teens learn cooperation, communication and trust.

For example, at Lone Star, after the entire group has completed one element of the course, they discuss the obstacles encountered, which aspects proved difficult, and which approaches yielded positive results. They analyze how they did as a group and as individuals, how they could improve, and how the same skills apply to real life at home, at work, and in school. Each activity builds on the previous one, reinforcing and encouraging further growth and expansion.

“Our therapists not only observe the ropes initiatives, but actively participate with the students, which creates a foundation for positive interactions that can help young people who may have had negative therapeutic experiences in the past that created roadblocks to change,” says Julie Elliott, Clinical Director of Lone Star Expeditions. “The ropes course work also provides a framework that readily encompasses the philosophy of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. The ropes initiatives create constant opportunities to utilize the DBT skill sets of Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance.”