Today’s rehabs understand the importance of fresh air, sunshine, and physical activity in your recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. This is why so many offer outdoor activities, sports, and therapies. Hiking therapy provides a great example of these healthy activities. During your hiking activities, you learn more about yourself and your capabilities, building self-esteem, and preparing for life in recovery.
For years, therapists and counselors have added outdoor activities to addiction therapy services as part of busy rehab schedules. In fact, the first uses of recreation therapies date back to 1854. At that time, Florence Nightingale started using this type of activity for injured soldiers of the Crimean War. She noted excellent health improvement in these patients, leading to the expansion of these therapies in other hospitals around the world.
How Hiking Helps You In Recovery
Studies show that hiking and other outdoor activities help people just like you build self-esteem and greater self-awareness after addiction. You enjoy peaceful surroundings during a hike and temporarily remove yourself from distractions. You gain a clear mind, a better life perspective, and time to think about personal habits and motivations. Your hiking in rehab gives you the place and means for starting a healthier life.
People around the world enjoy hiking. This activity suits a wide range of ages and physical capabilities. In fact, your fitness level builds as you start enjoying hiking on a regular basis.
During your hiking therapy program outings, you gain some breakthroughs in your treatment. Your therapist or counselor leads you through the hike with specific goals in mind. Progress experienced during your outing bridges the gap between talk therapy and overcoming hurdles in sobriety. Hiking proves especially helpful for people who need dual diagnosis treatment and suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses.
Hiking helps you connect with nature, providing a safe and natural “high” feeling of joy. You also gain benefits from teamwork, self-control, accountability, and understanding of consequences for yourself and the people around you. All of these skills help you stay focused, calm, and on the right path in recovery.
Hiking Therapy As One Part of a Treatment Plan
Of course, your hiking must fit into a range of therapies on an individualized treatment plan. But hiking therapy fits nicely with individual therapy, group therapy, and family therapies of other types, such as educational sessions, support groups, talk therapies, and behavioral therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Your individualized treatment plan must contain a wide range of therapies because no one therapy works for all people. You gain moments of understanding, insight, and enlightenment during each of your therapies. Some of these activities and types of therapy provide more healing or awareness than others. But through a mix of approaches, you gain far more benefit than just talk therapy, alone.
Hiking Therapy Program and Other Treatment Methods in Portland, Oregon
In Portland, Oregon, Crestview Recovery provides a wide range of therapies and treatment methods for adults seeking strong recovery from addiction. Whether you suffer from addiction alone or experience co-occurring conditions combined with substance use, Crestview Recovery or another drug treatment program in your area can help you achieve the healing and strong sobriety needed for a better life.
Programs of Crestview Recovery include:
- Residential and inpatient treatment
- Partial hospitalization program (PHP)
- Intensive outpatient program (IOP)
- Outpatient drug rehab
- Rehab aftercare
- Trauma therapy
- Exercise therapy program
Your path to lasting recovery begins with a hiking therapy program and other therapies of Crestview Recovery. Join peers from all over the Pacific Northwest to start building a better life for yourself and the people you love. Call Crestview Recovery now at 866.262.0531 for information about available programs.
Since 2016, Dr. Merle Williamson, a graduate of Oregon Health Sciences University, has been the Medical Director at Crestview Recovery, bringing a rich background in addiction medicine from his time at Hazelden Treatment Center. He oversees outpatient drug and alcohol treatments, providing medical care, setting policies, detox protocols, and quality assurance measures. Before specializing in addiction medicine, he spent 25 years in anesthesiology, serving as Chair of Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and Chief of Anesthesia at Kaiser Permanente. This experience gives him a unique perspective on treating prescription drug addiction.