Outback Therapeutic Expeditions

[Anonymous]

Isn't Outback Therapeutic Expeditions the wilderness program that changed its name because a kid died in their program, and then got a 90 day license suspension earlier this year for something happening in their program?

[Anonymous]

No it was another program in Utah

[Froderik]

Go figure.

[glaceau]

Yes, it was Outback Therapeutic Expeditions of Lehi, Utah. I know the name it used to go by but I can't remember it at the moment. Its all run by the same people.

[Anonymous]

Walkabout - from:

http://fornits.com/wiki/index.php/Outba ... xpeditions

[Oz girl]

Aspen Education Group's Walkabout Therapeutic Expeditions Changes Name to Outback Therapeutic Expeditions

Aspen Education Group's Walkabout Therapeutic Expeditions Changes Name to Outback Therapeutic Expeditions

CERRITOS, Calif., Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Walkabout Therapeutic Expeditions of Lehi, Utah, a program of Aspen Education Group, has officially changed its name to Outback Therapeutic Expeditions.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020709/ASPENLOGO)

The program name is being changed to avoid any possibility of confusion or perceived trademark infringement with another Utah-based competitive program that incorporates the "walkabout" name and intervention in its wilderness programs. All other aspects of the wilderness therapy program for struggling teens will remain the same.

"The original Walkabout program was conceived to mirror the Australian Aboriginal "walkabout," an ancient, cultural rite of passage for aborigine youth, which was used to build strength and character through a unique and challenging wilderness journey," said Rick Meeves, Ph.D., executive director of the program. "The new name, Outback Therapeutic Expeditions, retains the same flavor of the original name and continues to reflect the ancient traditions of the 'walkabout' rite of passage that inspired the original program. Although the name will change, the successful program structure, philosophy, staff and curriculum will be the same as they have always been."

The Outback program utilizes outdoor experiences and peer interaction in combination with individual student therapy to help positively change the lives of young people who are experiencing difficulties at home or in school.

"As a nationally recognized leader in the therapeutic education field, Aspen must be sensitive to the potential for confusion to our referrers and customers and the potential for perceived trademark infringement issues should our program names bear too much similarity to competitors' programs," said Aspen Chief Executive Officer Elliot Sainer. "Where there is any possibility for confusion, we prefer to have our programs take steps that will avoid the problem. The Walkabout name was being used by another competitive company in their program material, so the name change was an appropriate decision."

Since its founding in April 2001, Outback Therapeutic Expeditions has helped hundreds of young people confront self-defeating thoughts and behaviors and embark on journeys of self-exploration and success. For more information visit their Web site at http://www.outbacktreatment.com/.

Aspen Education Group is the nation's leader in providing educational opportunities that improve the quality of life for under-achieving children, teenagers and young adults and their families. Recognizing that every individual is different and challenged by different needs, Aspen offers a wide diversity of educational programs, settings and solutions that match youths' needs with the right learning environment. Through Aspen's 28 residential and outdoor programs in 11 states, parents can choose from a variety of therapeutic and academic environments, including boarding schools, outdoor experiential education program, and weight-loss residential academies and summer camps. In addition, Aspen operates several day schools for students with identified special education needs. Students in any of Aspen's schools and programs benefit from the experience and depth of understanding that comes from helping tens of thousands of youths over the past two decades.

In both 2002 and 2003, Aspen Education Group was named among the top 100 education companies by Eduventures, a leading independent research firm dedicated to learning markets. For more information on Aspen Education visit http://www.aspeneducation.com/, or call (888) 972-7736.

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020709/ASPENLOGO

http://photoarchive.ap.org/

is the founder Australian or is he just marketing to those with a Crocodile Hunter fixation?
it should be added that he just made this up. The term Walkabout was one that white colonists came up with to describe the practices of nomadic indigenous communities.
In some quarters it is in fact a racist way to describe an indigenous employee who is underperforming. As in Where is John. i dont fucking know... Went walkabout.
it is the eq of an australian swimming school calling themselves Wetback swim lessons and claiming they got the name from a special ancient technique that Mexicans use to teach their kids to swim. Idiots! :roll:

[Ursus]

Well, there is a book by James Vance Marshall called Walkabout, and a film by Nicholas Roeg (1971), based roughly on the book, also called Walkabout.  These are probably the sources Aspen was more familiar with when naming said program originally.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkabout_(film)

In the film, the consequences of this interchange between aboriginal and "civilized" personages proves tragic for the aboriginal.  And the so-called civilized beings are oblivious to the destruction they have wrought, not to mention relatively unchanged for the better by the experience.  A good metaphor for what usually happens in real life.

While the film is easily categorized as critical of "civilization", it casts an equally depressing eye towards primitive life. Roeg himself has said that the ending scene is about how the sister has gone from being lost in the outback, yet remains lost even when returned to civilization, and that her time with the aborigine didn't help her.

[Oz girl]

yeah. That book and film were both done by an Englishman apparently  intrigiued by the idea of the noble savage. Sad irony is this concept which was invented by a white guy in the first place has now been used to make  white kids miserable.

A further irony is the name change to Outback. No White middle class Australian (the eq of the people who can afford Wilderness in the US) would be encouraged to send their kid randomly wandering around the Australian outback because it is a very hot, lonely and dangerous place. Young German and British backpackers with little conception of just how isolated the outback is often take ill equipped cars and tragically end up dying because they break down and have inadequate supplies and no way of calling for help because they are too far away to get a mobile phone signal.

I note while the gimick in this case is a lie about Australian Aboriginal culture, it is more common for places like Vision quest and most other Aspen programs to claim it is also a native American thing. To anyone who knows any Native American people, is this concept done by some communities or is based on as much false info as the concept of Walkabout?

[Ursus]

Similar theme running through The Mankind Project/Pathways.  Non-natives acquire a sprinkling of info re. some native culture, and try to pass themselves off as experts.  The product/program acquires a certain exoticness, mystique, as well as an implication of authenticity to the average consumer.  Notice that I brought up the term "product," since what we're talking about here is Marketing 101, Marketing 201, and Marketing 301.

[Anonymous]

Can anybody give me some more info about Outback Therapeutic Expedition? Have any of you been to the treatment facility? What was it like when they took you there? I heard they kidnap you in the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

Can anybody give me some more info about Outback Therapeutic Expedition? Have any of you been to the treatment facility? What was it like when they took you there? I heard they kidnap you in the middle of the night.

This happens, although whether it happens with this particular program is a toss-up.

Do you think you are at risk for this? If you are I recommend sending your parents to Fornits and/or isaccorp.org immediately.

[Anonymous]

It is quite easy for anyone to get out of going to these programs. Listen Carefully. Refuse the blood test! The Doctor cant force you and neither can the program. It is a loophole that no-one knows about, but is 100% effective. They can't take a student into the program without a blood test and physical and are not allowed to force a person to do so. When it comes time for the blood, just say 'no', kids.

[Redditorsubmod]

The 'outback' stuff is marketing crap to sell the program to unsuspecting parents.  I went through their orientation program for parents. They were 'orienting' new counselors at the same time. Only a few minutes discussion with the various counsellors in the breaks revealed that they all consider it marketing crap.

The 'outback' concept was originated by a non-degreed/non-licensed guy whose name escapes me at the moment. He claimed he came up with the concept as he was driving along a canyon in Southern Utah.  My take on the way the various staffers interacted is that this non-degreed guy is the money and brains behind the operation. But, he is not licensed or credentialed to actually be able to operate it. So he hires degreed people as fronts for the organization. It was obvious by the way people jumped around him that he was the one telling the PhDs what to do.

Gordon Day was the psychologist I interacted with. He was pretty pragmatic. He readily admits that for most of the kids it is the parent who is messed up and not the kid. He said that the person who most needed the wilderness experience was not there. The psychologists like Day do not actually work for Outback. They are independent contractors that are assigned specific kids in order for the program to meet state requirements.  They spend about 5 minutes a week with each kid asking them whether they have suicidal thoughts.  Other than that, there is no therapy.

The whole concept of wilderness is to confine kids as cheaply as possible in a way that makes an effective future threat of punishment.  Use government land that is free, far enough away from civilization that you do not need prison walls. Feed the kids LDS survival food like powdered butter and beans. And save costs even further by giving them a $5 walmart tarp that they have to use as a tent and a backpack. Charge the parents $30,000 for something that costs almost nothing to provide.  If the kids have diarrhea for three weeks from lack of sanitary conditions, no problem. Just give them more rice.

As a money maker, it is genius.

The psychologists and staff make little effort to hide the purpose of wilderness therapy being a negative experience that can be used to threaten the kid to obtain future compliance. If you can't get the kid to mind, you ship him back to wilderness. Its the next best thing to being able to beat them.