Earlier this month, Juniper Canyon’s very own Dr. Madolyn Leibing (Dr. Maddy), was interviewed for Stories From The Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy, an industry-specific podcast from Dr. Will White. The Stories from the field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy Podcast (which is available on all listening platforms) is dedicated to “demystifying” the field of Wilderness Therapy. In this podcast, Dr. White interviews Wilderness Therapy researchers, program founders, writers, executive directors, guide staff, clinicians, critics, former clients and more. The mission of the podcast and Dr. White’s work is to educate the listener to the long history of the field and different trends related to this evolving treatment option.
This particular episode begins with a reading from Dr. White’s own book, Stories From the Field: The History of Wilderness Therapy, which correctly places Dr. Maddy as one of the founders of the field, and in fact the first ever psychologist at a Wilderness Therapy program. In other words, the clinical component of Wilderness Therapy that we know now to be so foundational to the field began with Dr. Maddy! Dr. Maddy goes on to tell Will and the listeners her perspective on the history of Wilderness Therapy. She had a seat at the table during impactful conversations with the state about licensing, and the OBH Council (Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Council) about defining what Wilderness Therapy even is! She also shares her personal experience as a working mother in a full-immersion wilderness program. To learn more about Dr. Maddy’s story as one of the founders of this field, listen to this interview, and check out her recent post!
In addition to helping to demystify many things about Wilderness Therapy and it’s history, Dr. Maddy also gets the opportunity to talk on this podcast about her time at Juniper Canyon Recovery Center of Women and Legacy Outdoor Adventures. Dr. Maddy explains how she came back to Loa to help start Juniper Canyon, and what it was like to have the chance to start the only gender-specific Wilderness Therapy program for young adult women. She talks about some of the things that make Juniper Canyon and Legacy so different from other programs, including our ability to work with insurances and our unique hybrid model.
Previous episodes of Stories From The Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy have also featured members of the Juniper Canyon/Legacy team including Executive Director Gil Hallows, Business Development Director Derek Daley, and Assistant Clinical Director Rachel Rollins.
You can listen to Dr. Maddy’s episode of the podcast and others on Spotify, Apple, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts!
