Experiential Education is a dynamic and holistic approach because it brings about personal growth in the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual domains, which ultimately leads to transformation in character development. Through a multi-stage program of individual-centered experiences that are characterized to be dynamic, challenging, and transferable to every day life situations, individuals can work towards changing destructive thoughts, feelings and behaviors that have proven to have a detrimental effect on their lives.

Individuals need to be actively engaged mentally in their learning, not passively. The leadership role involves setting a tone for a safe, therapeutic environment, with minimal involvement except to offer support and guidance as deemed necessary. It is the goal of the facilitator to minimize their role as teacher by placing the responsibility for what is learned on the individual.

In order to bring about the greatest degree of change for each individual, the program must be individual-centered. Individuals need to be, and have a right to be, involved in their learning environment in which they are actively engaged in exploring and discovering their true selves and others. The more the individual feel actively involved in their learning process, the more ownership they will take in their learning and growth.

Individuals learn best in an environment where they experience a concept first hand. If there is special meaning or value attached to the experience, the concept becomes more engrained in the individual, and has a greater chance of resulting in significant behavioral change. As the experience unfolds, certain behaviors will come to surface in reaction to the situation and/ or feelings will occur which can place an individual in an uncomfortable state. At this point, the individual has a choice to withdraw, respond in a destructive manner or to work towards establishing a new and more congruent nature.

The first step to change is awareness of a problem, which leads to acceptance, then towards taking responsibility for one’s behavior. As the participant works through this process, rather than blame others, society, or play the victim role, old destructive behaviors change into new behaviors leading to a more productive and meaningful life.

Change for individuals can be threatening, intimidating, and risky due to unknown experiences. Change takes time. Often positive results are blinded by experiences of failure, not realizing the experiences of failure often leads to success. Individuals might struggle with trusting these results, so therefore it is extremely vital and critical that the environment be one of support, encouragement, affirmation, and acceptance as one struggles to learn the skills necessary for success.

An environment, which is both physically and emotionally safe, allows individuals the opportunity to take risks by stepping outside their comfort zone, thus developing trust, one step at a time. As the individual begin to master success in areas where they once viewed themselves as failures, self-esteem and self-concept will naturally rise. Individuals will begin to value themselves for who they are becoming and begin to develop a sense of hope, willpower and strength to overcome the barriers of life which have for so long kept them bound in drug addiction, criminal behavior, unemployment, and unproductive lifestyles in the community.

Through utilization of games, initiatives (group problem solving activities), trust activities, and peak experiences individuals will be challenged to experiment and test alternative behaviors. Following each activity a time of self-reflection and group processing occurs creating the opportunity to identify thinking errors and behaviors that have hindered their personal development and success, leading into new goals and new behaviors.

Key elements include fun/humor; trust building, goal setting, communication, cooperation, problem solving/decision making, challenge/peak experiences, social responsibility and personal responsibility.

Wilderness Experiences have been proven to enhance social skills necessary for future job possibilities due to “hands-on-experience” in s setting that can be easily transferable back to the environment. Skills include, but not limited to: (1) communications (both listening and speaking); (2) problem solving /decision making skills, interpersonal skills, negotiation, and teamwork skills, (3) self-esteem, (4) goal setting, and (5) leadership (Russel, Keith; Hendee, John; and Cooke, Steve (1998).