Logan River Academy: Surrounded by Adventure, Part 1

A large piece of our work here at Logan River Academy, whether academically, therapeutically, or both, is supported by offering our clients several opportunities for stress release, healthy coping, and confidence building through various recreational pursuits. We are located in beautiful Cache Valley, surrounded by mountains, rivers, lakes and rural areas in every direction. Cache Valley is unique in that there are four separate mountain ranges that make this area a true valley. The largest, the Bear River Range, gives us our eastern boundary and a majority of our recreation opportunities are found in Logan Canyon, Blacksmith Fork Canyon, Green Canyon and several others.

Some Interesting Articles

Just a quick post with links to a couple of news articles related to our business at Logan River Academy that we've found interesting lately.

First, this article, talks about the struggle some families face as they contemplate residential treatment for their child. Specifically, this is about California where the school districts have taken over the responsibility from the counties for residential treatment and the ensuing costs and how that has affected the search for treatment for those families. We work closely with several school districts and do truly appreciate what they can do to help many children and their families who are struggling.

Secondly, this article, gives some good ideas about how to build a healthy, strong relationship with your teenage child. It talks about trust, love, and respect and how to generate those qualities in your relationship.

We hope you found these articles interesting as we did, and if you have any comments about these articles or find any other great articles please leave us a comment here on the blog!

What Will You Do?

Here at Logan River Academy we see success and struggle every day. We rejoice when our students succeed and we are saddened when they struggle. At times some of our students struggle to take responsibility for their lives and have a tendency to blame others instead of looking within. Sometimes life throws difficult things our way and we are left with the blank slate of determining how we will think about and deal with the situation.

A little over two years ago my wife, Rachel, was diagnosed with breast cancer. This news was shocking and unexpected. When cancer is diagnosed, the medical profession very rapidly bursts into action. Before we knew it we were seeing doctor after doctor trying to figure out what we needed to do. A mastectomy was strongly recommended along with breast reconstruction. They also wanted to remove lymph nodes for testing purposes. Next their plan was to have Rachel have radiation and chemotherapy. This was a very emotional and challenging time for us. Whenever one hears the word ‘cancer’ many questions start to go through one’s mind.

Adventure Learning Report - High Uintas Backpacking Trip

For the past few years Logan River Academy Adventure Learning has done a backpacking trip into the High Uintas Wilderness Area each August. August is the prime time to visit this mountain range in Northeastern Utah, the only true major mountain range that runs east to west in the US. Many of the trailheads that we use to access our destinations begin at an elevation around, and often above, 10,000’ in elevation. Dozens of the high peaks throughout the range are above 12’000’, with the highest point in Utah, Kings Peak, topping out at 13,528’. With such high elevations commonplace in the Uintas, a majority of the months in a calendar year are prone to adverse weather conditions that could compromise the enjoyment of a trip. Too early in the year and snow will be found in the shady areas on high passes and trails, too late in the year and you run the risk of waking up to the first snow of the year. Also, bugs. From the time the snow begins rapidly melting, to the first-ish part of August, you are going to be eating mosquitoes every other bite with your dinner. Hence, mid to late August is a great time for the Uintas.

 

Hiking in to our campsite

Has Life Been Unfair to You?

As a therapist I am frequently confronted with challenging scenarios in peoples’ lives that give me pause.  This past week I had a situation that not only caught me off guard, but taught me something profoundly important that I hope to remember throughout my life as well as during my work with the families I see at Logan River Academy. 

I met with an individual who recounted his life story and as he went through his experience it was apparent that this gentleman had gone through more than his fair share of traumatizing experiences.  It was also clear that many of these experiences appeared to be no fault of his own, rather cruel blows that simply befell him because he was a bit unluckier than someone else.  The story went on and on and I began to feel more and more sorry for this individual who had gone through more than I could fathom.  As he came to the end of his story, I quickly began empathizing and at one point even mentioned, “It seems like life has been a bit unfair at times to you.”  At this point the gentlemen stopped me.  He told me that indeed, many of the issues he felt were not because of choices he had made, but were rather experiences he had to go through to become the man he was.  I was taken back by his response and even felt the need to further emphasize my view that he was somehow unfairly treated.  He however again assured me that while the challenges he faced throughout his life did cause difficulties for him emotionally, he would not trade those experiences because they taught him lessons he couldn’t learn any other way.

As I pondered this, I realized that far too often in our world today we feel the need to have things fair, comfortable, and always “happy.”  However, the two poems below that I often quote, but clearly didn’t understand, came to mind and helped teach me a lesson that I needed to learn.  That challenges are not only a natural part of life, but a necessary one as well.  

Connecting with Your Active Child

Being a reader of this blog, you may not be inclined to label your child an “active child.” You are probably more likely to call them a challenge, a pain in the neck, a frustration, and possibly much worse. There is a chance you have been in such a painful, emotionally-draining time of your life that you have overlooked, forgotten or you just don’t care anymore about the skills, talents and ambitions that your child does posses. Now, I am not here, or qualified, to break down the entire complex skill set of your child and give you advice on how to appreciate, foster and enhance it. But, I would like to give you some advice on a part of your child’s life that you may not be familiar with, or if you are, some advice on how to become a part of that life even if you don’t want to be.

While your child has been away in treatment, perhaps having been through a wilderness program as well as a residential program, they have likely been introduced to many new activities and environments they didn’t even know existed. Most programs have some form of recreation program focusing on new skills and experiences that provide the child with several self-improvement opportunities. While not every child enjoys every opportunity given, I have seen the vast majority of them find excitement and enjoyment in some form of recreation we have presented to them. Your child returning home to your care is a stressful time to reconnect, build back trust, establish new roles and find ways to build a positive relationship. Capitalizing on new interests and hobbies your child may have gained in their time at treatment is a great way to help both parties find common ground for the rebuilding process.

20 Things I Want My Kids to Know

I have four children.  The oldest two are daughters, ages 16 and 14.  The youngest two are sons, ages 9 and 6.  Sometimes they all cause me to think to myself "What in the world am I doing?"  Some days feel like wonderful successes.  Other days feel like miserable failures.  I had one of those "miserable failure" days the other day.  It just seemed like nothing went right.  I found myself wondering about and questioning what I was teaching my kids, how effective (or ineffective) I was in doing so, whether they were learning anything, etc.  Later that night as I lay in bed, I finally caught my breath and had a chance to decompress.  I reminded myself that parenting is full of thousands and thousands of small moments.  Some of them go well and some of them don't go so well.  I also reminded myself that the goal is for more of those moments over time to be of the positive variety.  If that's the case, then my relationship with my children will be more positive and the things that I'm trying to teach them will hopefully sink in.

The events of that day also got me thinking about what exactly it was I was trying to teach my children with the issues that had come up (honesty, work ethic, responsibility, etc.).  It reminded me of this little list that I used to read periodically.  I would ask myself if I was doing the things in my own life that would teach my children the lessons on that list.  That day has caused me to pull that list out and review it again.  It made be feel a little more determined to be a better example to them, increase the number of positive interactions I was having with them, and hope that some of these life lessons will stick with them.  Following is the list of things that I want my kids to know.