Up Next...
Hi everyone!
Exciting news- I've heard back about the opportunity I hinted at a few weeks ago. Beginning 2 days after the AABAT conference, I'll be working as a volunteer mentor on Human Nature Adventure Therapy/Recre8 Young Women's Program (www.humannature.org.au)! This is really exciting. The Recre8 Young Women's Program is a four-month long therapeutic process using a combination of traditional office-setting psychotherapy and Bush Adventure Therapy. The program is for "troubled" girls aged 14-19 who are interested in developing self-esteem and self-efficacy skills, and may be experiencing or have experienced mental health issues, childhood trauma, drug and alcohol problems, behavioral difficulties, or social exclusion. Recre8 serves the northern region of New South Wales, so while I am in NSW right now at Wangat, Recre8 is still almost 7 hours away! During the 10-day expedition portion of the process, I'll be coming along with the participants and a team of BAT practitioners, licensed psychologists, and outdoor guides to help facilitate the program. We'll be hiking around Moreton Island and sailing through Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Islands. Participants on the program will learn to sail traditional wooden boats alongside dugongs, whales, turtles and dolphins, camp on remote beaches, and stargaze and storytell by the fire. They will also have individual and group counseling sessions during the expedition!
I can't even begin to explain how perfect this opportunity is for me and my Watson year. I'm going to learn so much about facilitating individual and group counseling in nature, using nature as a co-therapist, the design and structure of wilderness therapy programs, the importance of different facilitators, etc. I didn't even know about Recre8 when I applied for the Watson, but I came across it a few months ago while doing research and now I can't think of a more ideal fit. The director of HNAT is one of the keynote speakers for the AABAT conference too, so I'll get to spend some time with him and his colleagues before beginning the program.
While I'm stoked for my next few steps in Australia, I'm also experiencing the deep pangs of realizing that I have to say goodbye to the friends I've made in Dungog and my home at Wangat. This will be just the first of many, many goodbyes during the year. Verity and Dan are incredible people, and have embraced me like family during this last month. I'll really miss going to the local brewery on Friday nights and hanging out with their friends who are now my friends! Last Saturday, a couple of my new friends and I went to a drag show at this small town community hall in the next town over, and it was one of the best experiences ever. Almost everyone in attendance was 50+ years old, and the room was filled with so much laughter and community. I was basically the youngest person there. When thinking about what my Watson year would look like, I admit that I never thought I'd find myself in Wallarobba, NSW at a drag show in a community center filled with a hundred elderly people. I'm finding that the moments I feel most connected to the world and people are unplanned, and happen when I say "sure, why not?". It's definitely tough for me to embrace the unknown aspect of this year and to essentially put my life and trust in the hands of strangers, but so far it's paid off unbelievably. I'm really enjoying solo-traveling, but it's not easy.
Alright, that's enough from me. Hope you're all well!
-Andi
Exciting news- I've heard back about the opportunity I hinted at a few weeks ago. Beginning 2 days after the AABAT conference, I'll be working as a volunteer mentor on Human Nature Adventure Therapy/Recre8 Young Women's Program (www.humannature.org.au)! This is really exciting. The Recre8 Young Women's Program is a four-month long therapeutic process using a combination of traditional office-setting psychotherapy and Bush Adventure Therapy. The program is for "troubled" girls aged 14-19 who are interested in developing self-esteem and self-efficacy skills, and may be experiencing or have experienced mental health issues, childhood trauma, drug and alcohol problems, behavioral difficulties, or social exclusion. Recre8 serves the northern region of New South Wales, so while I am in NSW right now at Wangat, Recre8 is still almost 7 hours away! During the 10-day expedition portion of the process, I'll be coming along with the participants and a team of BAT practitioners, licensed psychologists, and outdoor guides to help facilitate the program. We'll be hiking around Moreton Island and sailing through Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Islands. Participants on the program will learn to sail traditional wooden boats alongside dugongs, whales, turtles and dolphins, camp on remote beaches, and stargaze and storytell by the fire. They will also have individual and group counseling sessions during the expedition!
I can't even begin to explain how perfect this opportunity is for me and my Watson year. I'm going to learn so much about facilitating individual and group counseling in nature, using nature as a co-therapist, the design and structure of wilderness therapy programs, the importance of different facilitators, etc. I didn't even know about Recre8 when I applied for the Watson, but I came across it a few months ago while doing research and now I can't think of a more ideal fit. The director of HNAT is one of the keynote speakers for the AABAT conference too, so I'll get to spend some time with him and his colleagues before beginning the program.
While I'm stoked for my next few steps in Australia, I'm also experiencing the deep pangs of realizing that I have to say goodbye to the friends I've made in Dungog and my home at Wangat. This will be just the first of many, many goodbyes during the year. Verity and Dan are incredible people, and have embraced me like family during this last month. I'll really miss going to the local brewery on Friday nights and hanging out with their friends who are now my friends! Last Saturday, a couple of my new friends and I went to a drag show at this small town community hall in the next town over, and it was one of the best experiences ever. Almost everyone in attendance was 50+ years old, and the room was filled with so much laughter and community. I was basically the youngest person there. When thinking about what my Watson year would look like, I admit that I never thought I'd find myself in Wallarobba, NSW at a drag show in a community center filled with a hundred elderly people. I'm finding that the moments I feel most connected to the world and people are unplanned, and happen when I say "sure, why not?". It's definitely tough for me to embrace the unknown aspect of this year and to essentially put my life and trust in the hands of strangers, but so far it's paid off unbelievably. I'm really enjoying solo-traveling, but it's not easy.
Alright, that's enough from me. Hope you're all well!
-Andi
Andi - That is so exciting! I know that this was something you were really hoping would come together. I've checked out their website - it is a perfect place for you to be. Love you :)
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