Outdoor Experiential Therapies
June 1, 2023
Outdoor therapy is clinical treatment that happens outside instead of in a room. At Healing Pines Recovery, it means structured hiking, equine work, team sports, and adventure challenges built into a men-only inpatient program on 40 acres near Elizabeth, Colorado.
Outdoor therapy isn’t a break from treatment or a recreation add-on. Every activity is paired with the therapy sessions and 24-hour care that make up the rest of your day.
Most men who come here haven’t moved their body with purpose in a long time. Addiction takes the hikes, the pickup games, and the early mornings first, and it takes them quietly. Outdoor therapy is how you get those back, and how you learn what your days look like without a drink or a substance in them.
If you’re ready to find out whether this program fits, you can start the admissions process and verify your coverage in a few minutes.
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Recover in the Mountains
What Is Outdoor and Experiential Therapy?
Outdoor therapy, sometimes called experiential or adventure therapy, is a therapeutic approach that uses physical activity and shared challenge in a natural setting to do the work talk therapy does in a room. Rather than describing a problem, you run into it. Frustration on a trail, hesitation before a hard task, the urge to quit when something gets uncomfortable: those show up in real time, with a clinician there to work through them with you.
Experiential simply means learning by doing. The activity is the raw material. What you and your therapist do with your reaction to it is the treatment.
The approach shows up across our holistic therapies, and it pairs closely with the group therapy work you’ll do indoors. What happens on the property in the morning usually becomes what the group talks about that afternoon.
Heal from Addiction
Why Does Outdoor Therapy Work in Addiction Recovery?
Experiential outdoor therapy can help participants reconnect with themselves, peers, and nature. In addition, this type of therapy can help with the following:
- Problem-solving
- Psychical activity
- Goal setting
- Advanced planning
- Commitment
- Peer Support
- Accountability
- Communication
- Gaining self-confidence
- Achieve goals
There is no limit to the types of conditions and disorders that can benefit from outdoor therapy. Research has shown that wilderness experience can particularly help people suffering from certain mental health conditions, which often coexist alongside substance abuse.
Adventure therapy can help people work through a variety of mental and behavioral health challenges.
Men's Recovery
How Does Outdoor Therapy Support Men's Recovery?
Men often struggle to open up sitting across a desk from a stranger. Put the same two men on a trail, walking the same direction, and the conversation changes. Side by side is easier than face to face, and a lot of the most useful work in this program happens that way.
Outdoor therapy also gives men something addiction has usually taken: competence. Caring for a horse, finishing a climb, or holding your own on a court restores a sense of being capable, which is a different thing from being told you’re capable.
Underneath the substance use, there’s usually something else. For most of the men here, that’s trauma, or an untreated condition like anxiety or depression. Our integrated dual-diagnosis care treats both at once, and outdoor work is often where the first real crack appears in what a man has been carrying. We built the entire program around men’s mental health for that reason.
Because we’re a small, men-only program, groups stay intimate. You do these activities with the same handful of men every day, which is how the accountability actually forms.
Paying for Treatment
Don't Let Anything Stop You From Getting Help.
We work with most major commercial insurance plans which can help cover up to 100% of the costs associated with treatment.
The Beauty of Colorado
What Makes the Colorado Setting an Advantage?
The property does work that a facility in a strip mall can’t. Healing Pines sits on 40 private acres near Elizabeth, in Elbert County, southeast of the Denver metro and within reach of Colorado Springs, Parker, and Castle Rock. It’s secluded enough to feel removed from the life you’re stepping away from, and close enough that family can visit.
The land itself is the program’s infrastructure. Trails for hiking and mountain biking, a disc golf course, pickleball and basketball courts, and space for horses all sit on the same property, which means outdoor therapy is scheduled into daily programming rather than arranged as an occasional field trip.
Colorado’s high, dry climate also makes year-round outdoor programming realistic. Winter changes the activities, not the schedule.
What To Expect
Which Outdoor and Experiential Activities Are Included?
Activities rotate by season and by what each man is working on. Programming is individualized, so no two schedules look identical.
- Hiking and trail work: Guided hikes on the property’s trails, solo and in small groups. Builds endurance, reflection, and the side-by-side conversation that men open up in.
- Equine and animal-assisted therapy: You’re paired with a horse and responsible for its daily care. Builds accountability, routine, confidence, and nonverbal trust.
- Mountain biking: Trail riding on the 40-acre property. Builds focus, healthy risk tolerance, and physical conditioning.
- Team sports: Disc golf, pickleball, basketball, and corn hole. Builds communication, sportsmanship, and problem-solving under pressure.
- Winter activities: Skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. Builds adaptability, goal setting, and the confidence that comes with a new skill.
- Adventure challenges: Structured tasks that push slightly past your comfort zone. Builds commitment, follow-through, and tolerance for discomfort.
- Mindfulness and meditation outdoors: Guided practice in open air. Builds craving awareness and emotional regulation.
- Physical fitness programming: Strength and conditioning alongside the outdoor work. Supports sleep, appetite, energy, and physical recovery.
Daily Schedule
What Should You Expect Day to Day?
Outdoor therapy is one thread in a full inpatient day, not the whole day. Expect at least one or two outdoor activities daily, scheduled around individual therapy, group work, and the 24-hour care that comes with our residential inpatient program.
A typical rhythm looks like this:
- Morning: Physical activity outdoors, often a hike or fitness block, before the day’s clinical schedule.
- Midday: Individual or group therapy indoors, where what came up outside gets processed.
- Afternoon: A second outdoor block, often equine work, a team sport, or an adventure challenge with your group.
- Evening: Reflection time, structured programming, and rest.
You won’t be dropped into anything without preparation. Activities are matched to your fitness level and clinical needs, and staff go with you. The point is to nudge you out of your comfort zone, not to overwhelm you.
Men who step down to our intensive outpatient program after residential treatment keep the habits built here, which is usually the part that carries into the first year of recovery.
Who It's For
Who Is This Program a Good Fit For?
Outdoor therapy at Healing Pines is built for adult men in Colorado who are entering inpatient treatment for substance use, and who are often managing a co-occurring mental health condition at the same time.
It tends to fit well if:
- You’ve been through a large, one-size-fits-all program before and it didn’t hold.
- You want treatment that addresses trauma and mental health alongside the substance use.
- You were active before addiction and want that part of yourself back.
- You’d rather be doing something than sitting in a circle all day.
- You want a small program where staff know your name.
Healing Pines is a men-only facility. We don’t admit women, and we say that plainly so no one spends time on a program that isn’t built for them. Fitness level isn’t a barrier. Activities are adjusted to meet you where you are.
Paying for Treatment
How Do You Pay for Outdoor Therapy?
We work with most major commercial PPO plans, and we offer private-pay options along with hardship rates for families who qualify. Coverage varies by plan and by individual benefits, so the fastest way to get a real answer is a benefits check.
Prepare for an Experience at Healing Pines Recovery in Colorado
If you’re a man in Colorado looking for treatment that gets you outside and gets to what’s underneath the addiction, we’d like to talk. Our team can answer questions, check your benefits, and tell you honestly whether Healing Pines is the right fit.
Verify your insurance and start admissions or contact our team to speak with someone today. You can also schedule a tour of the property.
Begin Your Transformation
Contact our caring team today to learn more about our program.
Frequently Asked Questions
They overlap, but they aren’t identical. Wilderness therapy usually means extended backcountry expeditions away from a facility. Our outdoor therapy happens on our own 40-acre property, with the full clinical program and 24-hour care right there. You get the outdoor component without leaving the structure of inpatient treatment.
No. Activities are matched to your fitness level, and most men arrive depleted rather than athletic. Hiking, equine care, and team sports all scale. The goal is participation, not performance.
Expect at least one or two outdoor activities a day. The rest of your schedule is individual therapy, group therapy, and structured programming indoors. Outdoor work supports the clinical program rather than replacing it.
Yes. The activities change with the season. Winter programming includes options like skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing, while spring and summer lean toward hiking, mountain biking, and outdoor sports.
Outdoor therapy is part of your overall treatment program rather than a separately billed service, so coverage depends on your plan’s benefits for inpatient or outpatient addiction treatment. We work with most major commercial PPO plans. A benefits check gives you a clear answer, and it takes a few minutes.
Yes. Family therapy is part of our program, and families are often the ones who make the first call. Reach out to our team to talk through how family involvement works during a stay.
Pack layers, sturdy closed-toe shoes or hiking boots, and clothing you don’t mind getting dirty. Our admissions team will walk you through a full packing list before you arrive, including what to leave at home.
Getting Help
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