Project Rebirths David Scheinfeld, along with our Project Cohort partners Outward Bound and The Sierra Club Outdoors who also co-sponsored the event, participated in the National Symposium This Land Is Your Land: Toward a Better Understanding of Natures Resiliency-Building and Restorative Power for Armed Forces Personnel, Veterans, and their Families in Salt Lake City, Utah last week. “What started out as a conversation over coffee with Vietnam & Vietnam Era Veterans and Professor of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism at the The University of Utah, about what we could do together to promote the value of the outdoors for veterans back in 2012, ended up being a first of its kind, international (representatives from Australia and Denmark) symposium bringing together an outstanding group of academics, practitioners, speakers, and others interested in how we can harness the power of nature to support our nation’s heroes.” Our Role in the Adventure and Nature Resilience Therapy Movement for Military and Veterans: Project Rebirth, The Sierra Club Mission Outdoors, Outward Bound, and Georgetown University will be piloting and integrating a systematic outdoor therapeutic component called Project Cohort to the VA existing mental health service treatment in order to improve both the level of recovery and numbers of veterans treated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Project Cohort will encourage Veterans to avail themselves of post-military mental health care through the use of Rebirth curriculum and transformative experiential learning challenges. Research from the The University of Texas at Austin indicates that these programs for Veterans: 1) improve overall mental health including symptoms of depression, anxiety 2) increase resilience 3) increase sense of social connection and reduce loneliness and 4) increase motivation to seek mental health treatment. We are looking forward to Spring 2015, and cannot wait to help in the overall recovery of those who have sacrificed so much for this country. #ProjectCohort #TeamRebirth #TherapeuticAdventure #NatureTherapy #Healing
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:37:02 +0000