My internship

I have begun my social work internship at an adventure therapy program for those with behavioral issues. Thus far, it has been fun and interesting to say the least. The hours are 8 days on and 6 days off. There are several groups I work with, teen boys, teen girls, adults, and a group of youth with learning disabilities, including aspergers and high functioning autism.

Here I have several roles. One is that I am a trail guide. Each week they have various itineraries which include, hiking, backpacking, canyoneering, mountaineering, rappelling, river rafting, bouldering, rock climbing, mountain biking, and skiing to name a few. These activities provide wonderful teaching moments. The students, also have homework packets to complete, so I am also available to be there tutor, in addition to providing supervision, learning experiences to help them learn to make better choices and learn better ways of coping with life stressors.

Last week, I went camping and bouldering in down in Triassic, at the Land of a Thousand Boulders (near Price, UT). It was the first time learning to boulder and I feel like I made some amazing climbs. For those who don't know, bouldering is rock climbing but on smaller heights and without a harness. You do however have climbing shoes which provide great traction to the rock face. There are also people spotting you and a crash pad above is a rock I climbed
(a little mattress type thing) below you incase of falling.