At SUWS, 'Search and Rescue' Becomes Model for Student Success

By Hugh C. McBride

Throughout the United States, the concept of "search and rescue" is most commonly applied to emergency personnel who are charged with extracting individuals who have become lost or injured in dangerous wilderness terrain. But at SUWS Adolescent and Youth Programs in Shoshone, Idaho, these time-tested techniques and strategies are incorporated into one of the toughest rescue missions of all: bringing troubled teens back from the brink of failure and despair.

A wilderness therapy program for youth between the ages of 11 and 17, SUWS is designed to meet the needs of students who are struggling to overcome the internal conflicts and external obstacles that have hampered their ability achieve their greatest potential.

To meet this mission SUWS employs a program that is based upon the fundamental principles of search and rescue - guiding philosophies that put both the individual and the team in the best position for success. "The [search and rescue] metaphor gives structure to the experience, and provides a framework for us to respond to 'teachable moments' as they occur," said program director Cliff Stockton.

SUWS Executive Director Kathy Rex described the search-and-rescue model as "the backbone of what we do. It's an essential part of our effort to give kids and families the opportunity to reach their full potential."

A Three-Phase Approach

Following an initial orientation period during which the students are introduced to the skills and techniques that they will develop throughout the program, SUWS applies the search-and-rescue model in the following three phases:

Phase 1: Individual - A time for addressing students' individual needs and emphasizing accountability and personal responsibility.

"During the individual phase, the kids are hiking and camping with the group, but they're primarily alone with their thoughts and their own processes," Rex said. "[This phase] gives kids the opportunity to reflect on the important questions that we all have," she said. "Who am I? What is my purpose? What is my value?"

Phase 2: Family - The part of the program during which students are integrated into a group and given tasks and responsibilities that affect others as well as themselves.

While continuing their individual development, students who are in this phase will also take on a leadership role within the family, and will participate in group therapy sessions. "What they do affects the entire group," Stockton said. "They have the opportunity to help [individual] family members and be a positive influence on the group."

Phase 3: Community - The final portion of the SUWS experience, during which the lessons learned during the first two phases are turned outward, and the student demonstrates the ability to contribute to the greater community.

"The question that they're asking themselves now is 'How are we going to act in a way that helps and serves others?'" Rex said. Community service responsibilities completing cleanup projects, developing habitat areas, and serving "on call" as a functioning search-and-rescue group

'Strong, Healthier, More Capable'

When students first arrive at SUWS, many are unsure of their abilities to succeed, and are apprehensive about the adventure that awaits them. To offset these internal pressures, the SUWS counselors emphasize their potential for progress and work with the students to establish a mindset that is focused on safety, security, and success. "We work to provide a low-stress environment and let them know that they're going to be OK," Stockton said.

In addition to helping them acclimate to living outdoors and adapt to a wilderness diet, the orientation period also offers the new students a glimpse into their futures, courtesy of brief encounters with students who are on the verge of completing the program.

"The older kids tell the new ones that they can succeed," Stockton said. "The new kids may not hear the words, but that's OK - it's what they see that's important: They see a kid who looks a lot like them, but who's stronger, healthier, and more capable."

A Family Process

Once they're out in the field, the SUWS students work to develop both the survival skills that are needed for an extended stay in the wilderness and the social/emotional abilities necessary to successfully contribute to - and benefit from - healthy familial interactions and responsible membership in a functioning society.

"They have everything they need, but nothing extra," Rex said. The absence of distractions - and the emphasis on personal growth and accountability - result in an experience through which SUWS students are able to both learn new lessons and also discover their innate strengths and abilities, she added.

And while the students are progressing through the three phases of the SUWS experience, their parents are also working with program personnel. This family involvement is key component of SUWS's comprehensive strategy, Rex said - and is an essential step in helping the students take the lessons they learned in the wilderness and apply them to the experiences they have after they have transitioned out of the program.

"SUWS is a family process," she said. "The children just happen to be in the wilderness for part of it."

Lessons For Life

Though they have shared significantly similar experiences in the wilderness, the future holds a wide range of experiences for SUWS students. For example, some will transition from the wilderness program directly into a therapeutic boarding school, while others will be returning home.

Regardless of where they're headed, though, Stockton is confident that skills they developed in the desert will be both applicable and beneficial.

"They've developed a level of self-confidence that let's them know they're going to be OK," he said. "When they're in a new situation, they are less likely to panic and revert back to their old [negative] behaviors."

Just as important, Stockton said, the SUWS students take a more mature mindset with them when they move into the next phases of their lives.

"They're less concerned with finding fault and more oriented toward developing solutions," he said. "They have a tendency to look at the world in a more adult manner. And if or when they do slip, they are acutely aware of their actions and are confident of how to pick themselves back up, brush themselves off, and keep on going. They do not have the sense that they failed, only that the learning process will continue on for the rest of their lives."