Outdoor therapy solves both the problem of comparison and lack of time in nature—they won’t have their phones to cause them more stress, and they will have access to the soothing sounds of nature. And we aren’t just talking about how nature is nice to look at; we’re talking about physiological changes that improve mental health outcomes

Failing College? Here’s How Outdoor Therapy Can Help You Bounce Back

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So, college has been harder than you thought—maybe much harder—and now you’re failing college. And not just the academic parts, but managing your time, caring for your space, balancing fun with responsibilities—it’s a lot of changes at once. Maybe you are also dealing with other stressors- a health condition, a recent break-up, mental health struggles, or feeling untethered and alone. Regardless of what is causing you to fail college, failing can feel painful, shameful, and debilitating. 

It takes a lot of courage and integrity to admit that college is more than you can handle right now. That’s why programs like Pure Life Adventure, an outdoor adventure program, exist. We are here to help you find your path forward by discovering your values, goals, and dreams. Failing college isn’t the end of your journey, it’s a fork in the road where you can choose how you want to face challenges in your life. 

Programs like Pure Life Adventure, an outdoor adventure program, exist to help young adults who are experiencing obstacles in life like failing college.

Why Traditional Solutions May Often Fall Short

Traditional talk therapy can be very effective for many people and situations. In therapeutic settings, clients can tell their therapists about their problems, and then the therapist and client work together to discover the client’s values and goals. For some college-age students, traditional therapy is enough to help them through small bouts of anxiety or depression. However, talk therapy isn’t enough for others to help them launch into their next stage. 

This is because of the delicate nature of the teenage years and young adulthood—this is a tumultuous time of identity formation, meaning that all facets of the young person’s life might feel unstable or even anxiety-provoking. As young adults find their footing, they need support in many areas, including social skill learning, life skill education, emotional regulation, reasonable risk-taking, time management skills, executive functioning, goal setting, prediction making, and mental health support. 

While these areas can be addressed in traditional talk therapy, there are alternatives to therapy for students. These interventions teach all of these skills in a hands-on way, especially if talk therapy hasn’t been effective. 

At Pure Life Adventure, we include white water rafting, jungle hikes, cultural immersion, rock climbing, surfing, and more as part of our therapeutic outdoor adventure program.

How Outdoor Therapy Works for Struggling Students

Considering the complexity of young adults’ lives at this point in human history, the idea that they will thrive in an outdoor therapy setting is elegantly simple. Consider how many hours a day humans used to spend outside, then consider the last time you spent more than a few minutes in nature. 

It’s one of the challenges of modern life—how can we take care of our bodies and minds with less access to the soothing elements of nature and more stressors and pressure than any previous generation? College students feel that pressure and stress, too, and they do so with the highlight reels of their peers on full display and the seemingly dreary reality of their lives ever present. 

Outdoor therapy solves both the problem of comparison and lack of time in nature—they won’t have their phones to cause them more stress, and they will have access to the soothing sounds of nature. And we aren’t just talking about how nature is nice to look at; we’re talking about physiological changes that improve mental health outcomes.

Nature also helps us feel happier, naturally. Research has found that time in nature is associated with increases in happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive social interactions, and a sense of meaning and purpose in life.”

For example, according to the International Journal of Well Being, “Nature…restores the ability to concentrate and pay attention”.  Nature also helps us feel happier, naturally. Research has found that time in nature is associated with increases in happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive social interactions, and a sense of meaning and purpose in life.” By engaging in therapy in a natural, outdoor environment, the young adult and therapist are starting with a huge advantage— increased feelings of happiness, purpose, and concentration. 

Of course, considering the vitality of young adults, a good outdoor therapy program for young adults will provide tons of outdoor adventures, challenges, and experiences to help facilitate learning and growth. At Pure Life Adventure, we include white water rafting, jungle hikes, cultural immersion, rock climbing, surfing, and more as part of our therapeutic outdoor adventure program. 

We’ve found that young adults are more attuned and open to the therapeutic process when they’ve had time to have fun, take reasonable risks, spend time with peers in a healthy environment, and are a little worn out from the day’s activities. This is why outdoor adventure programs are so effective when paired with the right therapeutic approach—they meet young adults where they are in their development. Young adults are more oriented toward risk-taking and the opinions of their peers, so engaging in activities and environments that support those normal developmental characteristics is crucial for a successful therapeutic experience.

We’ve found that young adults are more attuned and open to the therapeutic process when they’ve had time to have fun, take reasonable risks, spend time with peers in a healthy environment, and are a little worn out from the day’s activities.

Steps to Recovering from Failing College with Therapy

First, we have wonderful news. You are not the first, nor the last, person to fail a semester of college. Not only that, but somebody somewhere has failed “worse” than you have in some way. Don’t believe us? Ask a trusted adult about a time they’ve failed: lost a job, didn’t win an award, didn’t get a scholarship, missed an important deadline, or didn’t meet a personal goal. 

Every single adult you know will have a story that pops into their head immediately about a major failure of their own (whether or not they tell you about it is another matter). More great news—failing at something, especially something “big,” is a universal experience for all adults. So welcome! Welcome to failure as an adult. It was inevitable. Now that we’re here, even more great news: you get to choose how to handle this failure. Yep, you. Now that you are an adult (because you failed at something, which is a very adult thing to do), you get to decide what comes next. 

Will you let your failure define your future? Will you take the lessons you learned from your mistakes and alchemize them into knowledge about yourself? Will you find the grit, determination, and stubborn hope required to make the next right choice? Our hope is that you will—and if you need help doing so, you’ll take some of our ideas on how to do it:

  • Reach out for help. You’ve never been an adult before. Let trusted adults around you help teach you how to do it. 
  • Trust the process. Learning new skills takes time, whether you are learning how to structure your day so you complete all your tasks or how to manage your emotions. 
  • Take the pressure off. Young adulthood is full of older adults asking you, “What are you up to?” if you don’t have a ten-step plan complete with spreadsheets, a slideshow presentation, and a brochure, you feel like you are behind or failing. You don’t have to have it all figured out. 
  • Celebrate your wins! Our brains are wired for what professionals call a “negativity bias”- meaning our brains seek proof that things are bad. By finding and deliberately recognizing small wins, your brain will be trained for a “positivity bias,” which will help you keep going when times get tough.
  • Find a program that meets your needs and supports you while you discover your next steps. This can be a group setting through your school, talk therapy with a professional, or a program focused on young adults needing time to sort out what comes next. 
For some college-age students, traditional therapy is enough to help them through small bouts of anxiety or depression. However, talk therapy isn’t enough for others to help them launch into their next stage.

Find Your Path Forward With Pure Life Adventure

We get it. Failure, mistakes, roadblocks—they all feel insurmountable. Sometimes, it’s easy to list all the mistakes we have made and then assume we are a failure on a fundamental level. In reality, mistakes are a brutal and critical feature of growing up. It’s just part of the deal, and there’s no getting around it. Everyone fails. 

However, not everyone learns from their mistakes, maintains their sense of identity, and becomes stronger after failure. You get to choose what comes next. Now, some people might look at that prospect and feel excited, joyful, or enthusiastic. Some people hear, “You get to choose what comes next,” and they freeze, feel inadequate, or don’t know where to start when it comes to “what comes next.” 

If you feel overwhelmed and need help finding your path, Pure Life Adventure’s outdoor therapy program can help. We are here to help you discover your values so you can make goals and turn those goals into your dream life. While we will engage in traditional talk therapy and traditional therapy groups, we also engage with the local community, go for adventures, spend time in nature, enjoy group games and events, learn life skills, and make lifelong changes. Let’s find your path. Contact us today to learn how!

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