"I was the pretty boy," he said, describing a part of himself he wanted to change. "My parents took us to Aspen, but I wouldn't go out. I would stay inside on the computer."
The 17-year-old said he had a near perfect grade-point average before he began lying to his parents and smoking marijuana. His parents eventually sent him to Lehi-based Outback Therapeutic Expeditions, where he learned to spark a fire with a primitive bow-and-drill set, carve Aboriginal flutes and track animals.
He also learned a little about himself in the company of counselors and seven other boys in a group called the Dingos. (All Outback's groups are named after a species of Australia's distinctive fauna.)
"I noticed how much I was hurting my mom, who really cares about me," Jason says. "I really wanted to change, but I didn't know what to expect when I got here. It was like, whoa, but after three days you get used to it. The program isn't telling you to do this or do that. You have to find it out for yourself and get a chance to grow as a person."
Outback follows a "nomadic" approach (as opposed to a "base camp" model). Groups move from one location to the next most days. Twice a week, the group hunkers down for therapy, both as individuals and as a group, and to restock food and do laundry.
On travel days, they wrap their gear in the tarps they sleep under and affix the bundles to primitive packs the students make themselves from sticks and skins. Making their own equipment ã such as musical instruments, fire sets, spoons and especially the packs ã acts as a therapeutic metaphor.
"When it's falling apart during a hike, we'll say, 'How is this pack like your own life?' " said Outback founder Rick Meeves.
Program officials use artifacts from Australian Aborigine culture. One key object: A bullroarer is a piece of wood that is swung from a string to produce a sound for communicating across open distances and comes into play when parents visit their children midway through their two-month stay.
"I never thought I would be that sad and happy at the same time," said Jason of his midpoint reunion with his parents last July. "They saw me as a different person."
-- This story is part of a package on wilderness therapy camps. Please see the links box at right.
