Legacy Outdoor Adventures

08/19/2025

08/08/2025

Catchin’ embers in the rain! Jefferson didn’t fold under the pressure- even in front of parents during family week💪🏼

07/16/2025

Guides doin guide stuff. Staying cool in high elevations this week🏕️

07/16/2025

⬇️Special Announcement!⬇️

There will be a new Wilderness Therapy documentary that begins filming this September at Legacy Treatment Center. There are significant scholarships available for willing participants! Please forward this to anyone who could benefit from a special opportunity to start a heroic journey of healing in the Utah wilderness.

07/10/2025

Hey folks! We’d love to run a stellar alumni event this Sept 4-7 over a long weekend(Thurs-Sun). We will plan and execute the itinerary and really hope you can join! Don’t hesitate to reach out for any questions or additional details.

06/23/2025

Spoon carving is used as a hands-on metaphor for personal growth. Participants start with a raw piece of wood and slowly shape it into something useful through patience, focus, and effort. The process mirrors their own therapeutic work: removing layers, revealing what’s underneath, and creating something meaningful. It’s also a grounding practice that builds mindfulness. Sometimes there’s a group ceremony where spoons are shared or gifted with intention, marking milestones or messages of support.

06/19/2025

Our Core Values Throughout the Client Journey:

• Therapeutic Adventure: Every activity has purpose—wilderness is the co-therapist.
• Respect & Autonomy: Clients are treated with dignity; change is self-driven.
• Evidence-Based Practice: Legacy is deeply invested in outcomes research and clinical rigor.
• Mentorship: Peer connections are critical to long-term recovery and identity formation.

06/17/2025

Stoke is high.

06/17/2025

We are deeply honored to collaborate with Dr. Michael Gass, a true pioneer in the field of outdoor behavioral healthcare. His life’s work has transformed wilderness therapy from a loosely defined intervention into a respected, research-backed clinical model.

For over four decades, Dr. Gass has advanced our field with integrity, curiosity, and an unwavering belief in the power of nature to heal. His impact is far-reaching:

• He blended outdoor education with clinical training, helping to legitimize adventure therapy as a mental health intervention.
• He co-founded and led the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Center at the University of New Hampshire, producing over 200 research studies.
• His findings showed OBH to be up to three times more effective for adolescents than traditional treatment, with long-term, sustained results.
• He proved that wilderness therapy is statistically safer than many common youth activities, challenging public misconceptions.
• He co-authored foundational texts like Adventure Therapy and Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming.
• He co-developed core models like the Experiential Learning Cycle and Four Purposes of Adventure Programs.
• He played a key role in developing accreditation standards through OBHC and AEE.
• His research and advocacy helped create a dedicated insurance billing code for OBH.
• In 2023, NATSAP established the Michael Gass Research Award to honor his lasting legacy.

Dr. Gass has given programs like Legacy the framework to serve with purpose and evidence. We are grateful to call him a colleague and mentor.

06/10/2025

Scenes from the 2025 Awareness Therapy Symposium

This year’s gathering brought together some of the most passionate minds in outdoor and experiential therapy, united by a shared commitment to safety, ethics, and evidence-based practice.

From powerful presentations on trauma-informed care and risk mitigation to thoughtful discussions about how we communicate the real-world impact of therapeutic wilderness and adventure programs, every conversation felt timely and vital. This work matters deeply, especially for a generation facing unprecedented mental health challenges.

Two standout moments from the week included Dr. Laura Mills’ keynote, where she shared groundbreaking findings from a cross-program outcomes study made possible through industry-wide collaboration and a shared commitment to data transparency — and the celebration of Joanna Bettmann Schaefer, who was honored with both the OBH Eagle Award and the Michael Gass Research Award for her outstanding leadership and contributions to the field.

Here’s to the practitioners, researchers, and leaders who continue to move this work forward together.

06/09/2025

At Legacy, we stand on the shoulders of giants.

Two of those giants, Dr. Madolyn Liebing and Gil Hallows, continue to shape the soul of our work every day. We are grateful for their tireless efforts, visionary leadership, and quiet, steady belief in the healing power of wilderness.

Dr. Maddy was pioneering this field before it had a name. From her early research on dropout prevention in the 1970s to becoming the first licensed psychologist in a primitive skills program, she has been a torchbearer for ethical, effective, and evidence-based care in the outdoors. Her fingerprints are on the very standards that guide this industry today. And still, she presses forward, helping make wilderness therapy accessible through insurance and founding centers like Juniper Canyon Recovery that walk their talk.

Gil has matched that pioneering spirit with a visionary heart. From co-founding Legacy and Juniper Canyon from a blank slate to building one of the field’s first hybrid treatment models capable of securing insurance reimbursement, Gil has made it his mission to bring this transformative work to more families. His leadership culture—firm, kind, humble, and transparent—ripples through every field guide and clinician who walks these canyons with a young person in need.

Together, they remind us: this is more than treatment. It is a way of being. A path back to connection, to purpose, and to hope.

With deep gratitude, we honor you, Gil and Maddy, for blazing the trail.

02/19/2025

Climbing is a practice in trust, communication, and awareness-skills that extend far beyond the Utah desert.
Before anyone ties in, our guides scout the terrain and build solid anchors and systems. Then, clients must learn to communicate with clarity, listen with intention, and offer support in a way that fosters both safety and growth. These moments-checking knots, calling commands, reading body language-are more than technical skills; they are the fundamentals of meaningful relationships, personal accountability, and the ability to navigate challenge with confidence.
It's never just about climbing. It's about developing the mindset and capacity to engage with life fully, to show up for others, and to trust both yourself and the process.