Second Nature (Wilderness Program)

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Second Nature saved my son's life. He is now 22 and we have a great relationship and he is getting a college degree. I couldnt be happier with the results. While he is still negative about being sent away, he acknowledges that they saved his life and he has a great future ahead of him. Thank you Second Nature (and the theraputic high school he attended after 2N) for helping my son and helping me be a better parent.

I was sent here when I was 15 and I’m 28 now. I have to say I don’t agree with sending your badly behaved children away like this BUT the review written by Alex is absolutely insane. The only true part of it was about the hot water not being allowed to cook the dehydrated beans and rice. If we couldn’t bust a fire we had to use cold water with the beans and rice and that didn’t cook them at all so they’d stay rock hard, and it was winter when I was there so the water was ice cold. Everything else she wrote is preposterous. No one was EVER tied up or blindfolded (although I did try to remember all the turns to my first campsite so I could run away—quickly realized how far we were going so I never attempted lol). And we were certainly NEVER told our parents hate us or didn’t want to talk to us. And no one was driven to a residential home for a doctor visit. And there was no strip search. Going to the bathroom was never ever discouraged. Actually the staff made me eat prunes after I was there for 3 days and never asked to use the latrine because they were concerned for my health...I was actually “laying surfies” because I was too embarrassed to ask to use the latrine. I absolutely understand feeling trauma from this experience (although it wasn’t that bad for me—my 2 year therapeutic boarding school after wilderness on the other hand was extremely traumatic) but why make things up? I’m sure someone could think of plenty of other things that might make this a bad company. But again, I grew to love Wilderness. After 3 weeks I was in better shape so hiking became much easier which made everything much more enjoyable. The therapy sessions weren’t bad and the group therapy also wasn’t bad. Especially compared to that evil boarding school I got sent to after. I can’t say the therapy helped me really, I was an extremely hard headed teen who didn’t want help. But I am grateful for the things I learned about the great outdoors while I was there

Wow. I just read some of the reviews from the kids. Pretty harsh reviews. I can only speak for my son's experience at 2N. It was not like the one star reviews from the kids. They are apparently lying. It's understandable that they didn't like it. They're not supposed to. Our son did not get "pummeled" and ridiculed for not defecating, etc. Nor did any of the boys in his group. They were treated with compassion, but firmness. This program is supposed to be harsh. If you're a teenager with problems sent against their will to a harsh enivronment, I expect complaints. But it's a true measure of maturity and growth to come through this difficult time with a positive attitude and an improved life. I compare this program to military boot camp in the sense that the kids are broken down and helped to see their issues before they're built back up. It took a good 8-10 weeks before our son was able to come to this place in his recovery. Jared, his therapist, was great and helped tremendously. This experience is not easy on the kids nor the parents, but one we deemed necessary as our son was depressed, suicidal and not attending (aka failing) school. He wasn't eating prior to 2N and was very thin. He gained 30 lbs in 12 weeks and was absolutely ripped upon his departure! Humping a heavy pack around the mountains for 12 weeks was apparently good for his body. It seemed to do him more good than playing video games all day. Go figure.

If you are reading this review, you are most likely a parent who is scared, and lost in the sea of information available on the internet. If you read the earlier review stating "kids are blind folded, told their parents have given up on them", etc. you are now really concerned and bewildered. Please be assured that none of that happened to our son. After reading the horror stories on the internet, we did not know where to turn. A friend suggested we hire an Educational Consultant named Andy Erkis, and with Andy's help we found Second Nature. This turned out to be a very positive experience for our entire family. Our son was never blind folded, or told we had given up on him. We were in communication the entire time, so he knew we were still here and that we loved him. We were also able to visit him in camp and speak to him freely. The living arrangements are basic as this is not a playground for kids, but a place to learn self worth. My son has said it was difficult at times, but he is grateful for the opportunity to have gone to Second Nature. He also has a new found love for camping and being outdoors. As parents, we are grateful for the support we, too, received. Second Nature recognizes the importance of the family dynamic and they provided ample material to support us, the parents, during and after treatment. We as a family have learned how better to communicate and respect each other ,and we are now using these skills to move forward. Second Nature strives to teach each of us to take responsibility for our actions - whether we are the parent, the child or a sibling. They do not sugar coat the world, but teach kids that THEY CAN DO IT! Lastly, Second Nature may not be for every child, therefore I highly recommend hiring an Education Consultant to help find the best fit for your child. We are a real family, with first hand experience regarding Second Nature. Best wishes to any parent or child who is reading this review.

At first I really truly hated it here at Second Nature Uintas. It was really cold during my stay (January to April) usually in the negatives at night. The food is repetitive, the hiking was difficult, I always hated camping, the Unita basin is ugly, I was detoxing from heroin, benzos, and all my antidepressants at the same time, BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE WANTED MY TREATMENT TO GO ANY OTHER WAY. Wilderness was of course super uncomfortable, because it's not supposed to be luxurious or even comfortable at all! I hated it and swore to myself that I would never speak to my parents again for sending me there up until 5 minutes before they pulled up to pick me up from my graduation ceremony. I used to write letters telling my parents I couldn't wait for when they picked me up and brought me to Salt Lake so I could run away and become a prostitute for drugs for a week before I killed myself! I went so far as to say that I would rather have been married to the man who sexually assaulted me for the duration of my stay in wilderness rather than be in wilderness, but the reason that I am saying all of this is not to get people to not send their kids here, I'm offering it as a potential reasoning why people have written terrible things about Second Nature Uintas in the other reviews, stories of abuse, etc, which I find very hard to believe to be true, but I do find it to be possible that someone hated Wilderness here enough to make those things up. Going to Second Nature Wilderness program gave me a really solid foundation to move on and go to a Residential Treatment Center afterwards. If I hadn't gone to wilderness first, I would have most likely killed myself within the first few days of treatment. Wilderness, while it may seem not very safe to live in the high desert where it's cold for 10-12 weeks, is actually a very safe place to be and the only treatment intervention extreme enough to save my life. There aren't really any opportunities to hurt yourself, and by the time I found a cliff high enough that if I jumped off it would have killed me, I had been there for 10 weeks and realized I would give the whole "living" thing a try, and meditated at the top of the cliff instead. After I realized that there were no other options extreme enough for my issues with drugs, alcohol, suicide, and PTSD, I was no longer upset that I went to wilderness, and it gave me a really strong foundation to change my life. I learned how to be tolerable of difficult situations, and living with the same 10 girls for 3 months of my life really helped me work on my communication skills, which helped me get out of my next phase of treatment at a residential treatment center 3-6 months earlier than most do. I also learned to be less lazy, and to do a lot of things for myself. Please don't let angry letters from your kids for the first few weeks make you want to bring them home, the letters will most likely turn neutral and even hopeful by the end of their stay.

Good people

I was sent here when I was 17. I was very reluctant to participate at first. Then being outdoors in the middle of winter grew on me. It really helped me to turn my life around and the staff were always very supportive. One of the most peaceful experiences of my entire life. Anyways, it was a great opportunity for me that truly turned my life around. Thank you to everyone who works there.

I got sent here when I was 14 and I was changed. Send your kid here. It's a pretty blunt review and sounds fake but trust me, its not. I'm 15 and I saw the changes immediately.