In the last year, Pure Life has expanded our family support programs for our students and their families. Incorporating parents into the program has always been a foundational element of the outdoor adventure therapy curriculum at Pure Life, and new parent sessions are enhancing the therapeutic experience for both the student in Costa Rica and their families back at home.
Pure Life offers two weekly sessions for parents—a weekly phone call with the student’s primary therapist. This allows parents to stay up to date on what is happening with their child in Costa Rica, from a therapeutic perspective and to share information and feedback with the team at Pure Life. Parents are also working in parallel with their child by reading books and looking at individual and family patterns that need to change.
Kjrstin Walters also leads a weekly parent support call via Zoom where the parents and families of Pure Life students can connect with other parents in the program. Walters was formerly a primary therapist on the ground with Pure Life in Costa Rica and can provide parents with details about what their child is doing each week and the purpose and goals of the activities. This call also offers critical peer-to-peer support that parents find helpful as it can ease the loneliness that can accompany parenting a child in crisis. Kjrstin is also available to work with families who need extra support during and after their stay at Pure Life.
Parents are invited to visit Costa Rica at the Pure Life campus near the end of their child’s stay. This two-day visit to the program starts with an adventure day at the beach—with students teaching their parents how to surf. Parents then join the group, meet the staff, and eat alongside their student to experience Pure Life activities and responsibilities. The visit wraps up with an in-person family therapy session where students and families discuss the next steps and post-Pure Life plans.
Pure Life Adventure uses researched-based techniques with integrated therapeutic models throughout its adventure therapy program. Pure Life’s adventure therapy program, based in Costa Rica, works with struggling adolescents and young adults to build self-efficacy, and teach healthy coping strategies, behavioral and emotional regulation, leadership skills, and life skills that will allow participants to become independent, productive, and successful adults. For more information about Pure Life’s adventure therapy model and admission process, please visit https://www.purelifeadventure.com
