We provide healthy ways for our clients to seek adventure and explore their personal risk-taking boundaries. In the process, we teach them alternative tools for leading lives that are free from substance abuse but are not without thrills.
San Cristobal is not a wilderness program — our clients sleep on the ranch in lodges or cabins — but we have developed a strong wilderness component to our clients’ treatment program that we have found to be extremely successful in re-shaping client attitudes about themselves. We also encourage our young men to explore areas of personal interest as a means to uncover career options along with ways of having fun without the use of addictive substances.
All of our activities require our clients to be active. It has been our experience that young adult men, especially those in addiction treatment, need to be active. They do not benefit from sitting around, attending lectures, and going to 12 Step meetings alone. They tend to get restless, irritable, discontent and bored when they are not engaged — and that can be a huge trigger for relapse. That’s why we require the young men who come to San Cristobal to seek adventure and explore their personal risk-taking boundaries.
In addition, we believe that daily adventure experiences can stimulate and enhance the treatment process. Our trained counselors encourage each of our clients to pursue healthy adventure, to push their capabilities and boundaries, and to feel a sense of accomplishment through these activities that can serve as a rite of passage into manhood. Some of the ways we do this include wilderness immersion, back country backpacking trips, higher low ropes training, horsemanship, medicine wheel and other special Native American-based activities and work projects keyed to a client’s interests. All of these activities directly relate to attaining feelings of accomplishment and self-worth.
Here are some of the specific activities San Cristobal residents enjoy on a regular basis:
- Hiking
- 14-21 day wilderness expeditions
- Horseback riding
- Skiing
- Snowboarding
- White water rafting
- Mountain biking
- Fly fishing
- Rock climbing
- High and low ropes training
- Special work projects
- Basketball
- Tennis
- Weightlifting
- Basic survival skills
Our ultimate goal is re-instill in each young man the sense of adventure he likely had before he began abusing drugs and alcohol. Most male addicts lose this fascination with being active due to their addiction, and miss out on the opportunity to have a “rite of passage experience.” By focusing on creating an experience that motivates a young man into adulthood, our staff can begin to teach him how to be successful going forward as an independent and self-supporting young man.