- Brandon Roman

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Q: What is your educational and vocational background that led you to Adirondack Leadership Expeditions?

A: I earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from SUNY Oswego and a Master's of Science in Mental Health Counseling from SUNY New Paltz. Prior to working as a wilderness therapist at ALE, I worked with adolescents and adults as a substance abuse counselor. In addition to providing group and individual therapy, I have worked as part of a contract agency for Dutchess County Department of Social Services, assessing families for service needs.

Q: How do you find wilderness to be so effective?

A: Wilderness programs remove adolescents from environments that are filled with the distractions and negative influences that perpetuate their self-defeating behaviors. Our staff, me included, provides immediate feedback to guide students towards making positive choices; we work with students in a calm manner, and will not debate or criticize and simply allow the environment to provide the natural and logical consequences for poor choices. Overcoming the challenges that the wilderness naturally provides allows for a great sense of accomplishment and improves self-esteem. Also, being a member of a group in this environment promotes accountability for how one's actions affect others.

Q: What type of adolescent works well in a wilderness program such as Adirondack Leadership Expeditions?

A: ALE works well with adolescents who are "stuck" in behaviors and thought patterns that are damaging to themselves and those around them. This includes defiance and disrespect to parents and authority, entitlement issues, depression, drug and alcohol use, and academic struggles. Wilderness programs are great for teenagers who have a low sense of self-efficacy, self-worth, and self-esteem. Our program provides opportunities for these teens to turn their "I can't" and "I won't" statements into "I did" and "I will."

Q: What type of student do you specifically work well with?

A: I work well with students who are “in conflict” with their parents and are having difficulties forming and maintaining relationships with their peers. For whatever reason, these students struggle to form healthy relationships with those around them. What I find is that these teens have difficulties identifying and appropriately expressing their emotions, which very often is where the work begins. I will work in a direct manner with your child to help them identify what they are thinking and or feeling and help them to reshape their misperceptions of other people rather than simply reacting. I have also had success working with teens who struggle with substance abuse, core self-esteem issues, and ADD/ADHD and other LD issues.

Q: What are healthy expectations for parents to have during and after their child's stay at Adirondack Leadership Expeditions?

A: ALE excels at moving our students from a place of denial about their problems toward a place where their struggles are acknowledged and life changes can begin to be made. Parents can expect their children to be challenged to grow while always being in the care and supervision of well-trained staff. Field supervisors (therapists) like me will provide parents with weekly updates on their son or daughter's progress. In those updates, we will offer our clinical impressions/insights that will illuminate for you what is driving your son or daughter to act out, how we are addressing these behaviors, and ultimately what you can do to help support and sustain the progress that your child has made in our program. Parents should expect and be prepared to examine how their family system as a whole operates. This calls for a willingness to acknowledge how their own actions may contribute to the behaviors or symptoms that their child exhibits. We will also provide you with education and recommendations that make aftercare transitions more manageable.

  - Christine Riley

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