Dr. Gordon Day, Ph.D Creator and Director of the Vantage Point by Aspiro adventure program

Dr. Gordon Day, Ph.D Creator and Director of the Vantage Point by Aspiro adventure program "Quirky kids in an outdoor wilderness setting"

Monday June 8th 12noon - 1pm PST Vantage Point by Aspiro is a clinically advanced, short term, outdoor, adventure therapy and assessment program LA Talk Radio Monday 12noon - 1pm PST - Channel 1 - Listen Live! Troubled Teen Help on LA Talk Radio

Adventure Program for Troubled Teen Boys and Girls

Vantage Point by Aspiro is a clinically advanced, short term, outdoor, adventure therapy and assessment program. Aspiro is licensed by the state of Utah as an outdoor therapeutic program for adolescent boys and girls ages 13 through 17.

At Vantage Point, we specialize in helping students with a wide range of learning, neurodevelopmental, emotional, psychological and behavioral difficulties.

Our passion is providing a safe, supportive, therapeutic experience for your child.

Our students benefit from facing challenges and experiencing success in a high adventure therapy model.

We believe that accurate assessment and understanding of the whole child, combined with specific skill building and self efficacy, are essential to overcoming learning and neurodevelopmental issues. Our base camp provides safety, flexibility and accessibility. Program length is flexible according to the needs of each student and averages six to twelve weeks.

Vantage Point by Aspiro provides cutting edge assessment and customized treatment:

• Comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessment is available onsite and in the community
• Individualized, specific training in social, emotional, behavioral, communication and academic skills
• Confidence, motivation and self efficacy builds through safe and challenging adventure experiences
• Physical and emotional well being are constantly monitored
• Treatment goals are updated on a weekly basis
• Communication with parents and referral sources is of utmost importance
• Functional assessment of student strengths and needs results in integrated recommendations for further
treatment

Vantage Point by Aspiro is a dynamic program designed specifically for students with:

• ADD, ADHD, Attention problems
• Executive Function Deficits
• Language based learning difficulties such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, reading disorders and receptive or
expressive language problems
• Nonverbal Learning Disorders
• Pervasive Developmental Disorders such as Asperger Syndrome
• Mild traumatic brain injury • Social difficulties

1-888-266-5136

The larger question is ......

By: Brian Church, V.P. Business Development

A very good friend of mine passed this quote along a couple of weeks ago. I love it because it is so descriptive of what students and employees experience at all of the Aspiro programs. This quote is a perfect precursor to our next blog entry by Dan LeMaire which will be posted later today or tomorrow. I thought I would share it with all for your enjoyment:

"Everest is a pressure cooker that forces us into rigorous self-examination. Part of Everest's magic rests in the painful reality we find inside us. Everest exposes things about ourselves we often successfully hide at more reasonable altitudes."

"The larger question is ultimately, will we hide from our new self-knowledge, or will we change and grow from it? Most searingly difficult experiences are like this. They are characterized by pain and loss, achievement and gain. The only guarantee of failure comes from our refusal to grow from our new self knowledge."

--Alan Hobsen

Why We Still Work for Vantage Point by Aspiro...

By: Jodi Escalante, Assistant Program Director

I never would have guessed that my husband, Michael and I would still be working at the Aspiro group of programs (Vantage Point by Aspiro, Kairos & Aspiro). When we first heard about Aspiro, we had only been married about 6 months. We were both attending college and thought this would be a fun summer job, where we would get to work together. We had both worked in traditional wilderness programs before, but never together. And just to sound cliché, we started an adventure that we’ve yet to end.

That first summer was truly amazing: canoeing on beautiful Lake Powell, exploring the majestic slot canyons of Central and Southern Utah, exploring caves and rappelling, rock climbing all across the state, and hiking through the most beautiful areas that I never knew existed. In the fall, we returned to school to finish our undergraduate studies, but every weekend we traveled out to our groups and trained the newer guides.

When Michael and I graduated (April 2007), we returned to Vantage Point/Aspiro/Kairos full time because we were hooked. As noted earlier, we had both worked for primitive model wilderness programs.

However, after working at Aspiro neither of us could imagine working at a wilderness program without the ADVENTURE. We pushed our students harder, faster, and farther than either of us had previously experienced. Since that first summer at the Aspiro group of programs, I have embarked on so many beautiful and amazing adventures and have built some unforgettable relationships with students. I guess that’s my other favorite thing about Aspiro: we emphasize stronger relationships than the norm. Given the high impact adventures, we have an amazing opportunity to help someone through a physically or emotionally challenging experience, to push them beyond their comfort zone to higher ground. And when the dust settles and the high fives and hugs are done, and they’ve overcome their seemingly impassible struggles, we learn from the metaphors; teacher and student alike.

Most of you are aware of our Vantage Point program

Most of you are aware of our Vantage Point program, but we wanted to show the logo again and give a brief refresher. Vantage Point by Aspiro is a short-term, high adventure therapy and assessment program for students (13-17) with deeper learning, social, cognitive, psychological and developmental issues. We have recently re-launched the Vantage Point website to make it much more informative and easy to navigate.

The web address is www.vantagept.org.

Experiential Therapy - Director of Aspiro Clinical Services - Justin Robinson, LCSW

Of all the Memorable things we do at Vantage Point, one of my favorites is taking families rappelling.

While I have had great experiences on a ropes course and doing initiative games, there is something about the realism of doing a rappel. It feels less contrived and more authentic. At our last family workshop, the rappel that we took the families on was not set up for therapy but by climbers for the sport of rappelling. With the experience of the rappel, am always surprised by the participation we are able to elicit. Looking back on all of our workshops we seem to have about 95% of participants do the actual rappel and 100% of participants who are involved in the experience by providing the belay for those rappelling as well as in the processing of the experience. Regardless of age, weight, or ability of the participants we are able to provide an interactive and positive experience.

We just finished our December family relationship workshop and I am feeling positive about the experiences we had as a group. I want to express appreciation to all the staff for their hard work and effort in putting on the event but I especially want to acknowledge the students and parents for being open to looking at things in a new way, having the courage to face the variety of challenges and obstacles they are facing, and for making course corrections and being willing to learn from their mistakes. I felt good about the weekend and appreciate the positive feedback that many of the families provided. By far my favorite part of the weekend was the rappel. For years, as I have taken students rappelling it has been something I enjoy but watching the students do the rappel with their parents is way cooler, especially when it is completely out of character for them. Often during the phone calls in the weeks preceding the event, parents begin to express their anxieties. While we always assure them that they do not have to participate in the rappel most of them do despite their fears and hesitations.

I am always wowed by those who face this and also am aware that for some people it is healthier both physically and emotionally to participate by supporting others on belay. So what makes us so successful in eliciting this participation?

Our staff who facilitate the rappel do a great job to not only ensure we are doing it as safely as possible, managing any hazard that can be managed in nature, to educate the participates about the risks, but also in teaching the participates how to engage in the activity safely.

It is important that those doing the rappel not only be safe but feel safe.

Taking healthy risks is encouraged; we know that growth only occurs when we challenge ourselves.

We recognize that many of the participants have some anxiety about the activity yet as we, staff and participants, create an environment where people are supportive and nonjudgmental of those who have fears or resistance it opens up many to the challenge of the rappel. The group this month did a great job ensuring that everyone felt emotionally safe. While much of the rappel is done individually as they face their fears and lower themselves down the rock, others also play a role in providing backup safety and support.

One of the things that made this month’s rappel successful was that provided a great example that while individual efforts are necessary for success, another major factor in individual success was the sense of community as no one felt they were doing it alone. The adventure activity concluded with a processing circle that provided an opportunity for everyone to share what they learned through participation and observation.

The participants were invited to discuss what they learned or an attribute they were able to apply which if now applied to the real life challenges they were facing could be a significant part of the solution.

At our workshops staff repeatedly observe that families more instinctively apply a supportive, productive problem-solving approach to adventure challenges and we recognize that if the family would approach other challenges in the same manner as they are facing the rappelling challenge, it would make a dramatic difference in the result they are getting.

With staff front-loading a variety of metaphors and principles that can be applied throughout the rappel and due in large part to the power of the experience for many, we were able to get past the superficial ‘let-me-make-a quick-answer-so-we-can-move-things-along’ responses.

Instead there was some incredible sharing of insight that incorporated and applied a variety of principles we had been discussing at the workshop to both the rappel and to real life challenges. The rappel experience really helped give us momentum through the rest of the very successful workshop. It was an honor and privilege to be part of this experience with everyone.

Justin Robinson, LCSW, Clinical Director

Philosophy of Bouldering - The Project - Dan LeMaire

One of the experiences that Vantage Point provides year-round for its participants is the sport of bouldering. Bouldering is a form of rock climbing where the athlete climbs only as high as it is safe to fall, but does not use a rope. Instead, guides and peers use gymnastic ‘spotting’ techniques and specially-designed ‘crash pads’ to keep the athletes safe.

Boulderers typically climb on boulders instead of cliffs, eliminating the risk of rock fall from above, and adding the reward of being able to stand on top of the ‘conquered’ climb and rest. Routes that boulderers climb are called ‘problems’ and usually consist of only a few (usually 6-12) moves that are much more challenging than typical rock climbing, and often much more gymnastic. Bouldering can be at once frustrating and engaging, overwhelming and peaceful, painful and comforting, social and individual.

The glory of bouldering is that the greatest experiences are intimately related to the worst experiences.

The highs depend on the lows. In bouldering, a successful climb is simply not rewarding unless it is a successful climb that was fought for. The more difficult a problem is for a boulderer, the more she must fight for the climb, and the more she fights for the climb, the greater the thrill when she stands on top of the boulder, basking in the overwhelming sensations of victory. Of course to achieve this reward, she must outlast a wilderness of despair, as she second-guesses and doubts her strength at every fall, fall after fall.

The blessing and the curse of such a sport, is that no problem is impossible, but nearly every problem is improbable. At Vantage Point, we seek to engage every staff and student in the ‘Project Experience’.

Boulderers of all levels, when they arrive at a new area, use guidebooks, ratings, and word of mouth to find the problems that seem most appropriate for their skill level. Much of their time is spent familiarizing themselves with the style of climbing in the area, and the relative scale of difficulty ratings. In every case, however, what the climber is really seeking is “The Project”. The Project is the one climb that he cannot climb the first day, the first week, or even the first month. When he feels the first holds, he believes it is impossible. Yet there is a beauty to this problem- it calls out to him and invites him in. At first he tries it and it confirms to him that he will need to return another time, 3 years maybe, 5 years maybe, to climb it.

It confirms to him that he is simply not strong enough, determined enough, or resilient enough to attempt it yet. Maybe later.

As he climbs other problems around it, he successfully completes the easier problems in 1, 2 or even 5 tries.

It feels good, and he is proud of himself, but still the Project calls to him. Eventually he cannot ignore it and he gives it his first real attempt. Rejection!!

Further confirmation that this climb is not possible for him, he is not good enough, not ready.

He is conflicted inside, he does not want to experience rejection again, but he wants to climb the project.

He throws himself at the project again, despite his conflicting feelings. A cycle of enthusiastic attempts and disheartening rejections follows until finally, the climber tries the first move, and it feels different… he understands it differently.

“If I only squeeze this muscle this way, balance on my toe this way, and throw my body skyward exactly this way… perhaps it is possible,” he thinks to himself. And then success comes. He can do the first move.

Thrilled over such an accomplishment, the climber invites her friends to come watch, throws herself at the project and the project dismisses her once again.

She is finally beginning to understand the curse of a sport that seemed so fun and so relaxing just an hour ago.

No matter how much effort she puts into the first move of a problem, and even when she finally figures it out and understands it, she must still climb that first move and put all the same energy into it every time she gets on the problem, if she ever wants a chance to climb the second move. It does not become suddenly easy because you succeeded once. Likewise, it does not become suddenly harder because you have failed once.

The rock is constant, we are the ones who change. To overcome the problem, we must not change the problem without- that is never enough. We must change the problem within. The cycles of overwhelming success and victory, and crushing defeat are very normal in the sport of bouldering. As professional boulderers exist in all sizes and shapes, one can guess that external strength, height, weight, age, or natural abilities do not determine a successful climber, or how much one falls in love with the sport. It seems obvious with even a little experience, that success is determined by strength of heart, not strength of arm. It is what is inside that counts. It is the climber’s ability to accept any failure as temporary, to accept failure as little more than a stepping stone to her goals that determines whether or not she will succeed.

As guides at Vantage Point, we strive to make this process happen at least once for every student, staff, and visitor in the field. It is more than a hope, it is an expectation. One can watch professional climbers work projects for years before success. This resolve is a quality that we admire at Vantage Point. We hope to build a community and an environment that supports opens doors- a place where we can test our resolve and even grow it. As staff and students at Vantage Point, we share a unique season of therapy. It is a season of challenge, frustration, overwhelming accomplishment, and deep respect for each other’s struggles. It is a therapy we share. Staff refuse to be ‘teachers’ who have all the answers that the students must absorb.

Staff instead become teachers who inspire passion, craft experiences, and share burdens. We grow to love and hate bouldering as it begins to represent both our victories, and our unfinished projects. We return with excitement and trepidation. We learn to guide each other through the experience, provide the community of support, and be the invisible force that helps each other to succeed. And of course, we all have the opportunity to see ourselves overcome, to engage in a contest that is both against ourselves and greater than ourselves, and to experience the ultimate rush, the goal of all boulderers, The Project.

Dan LeMaire - Assistant Field Director

Meet Dr. Gordon Day of Vantage Point

Gordon L. Day, Ph.D. is formerly of Psychological Testing and Summit Preparatory School as well as Outback Therapeutic Expeditions. He is now the director of a specialty program for neurologically diverse students called “Vantage Point, by Aspiro.”

The program specializes in assessing and treating students with a wide range of learning and psychological difficulties, including those in the pervasive developmental disorder spectrum. Dr. Day has had a dream to create a specialty program that makes the rich assessment and treatment opportunities in adventure therapy available to students with more significant learning disorders.

Dr. Day is convinced that Aspiro provides the ideal foundation for helping these students.

“Aspiro has a strong adventure therapy model and a track record of helping students in a safe, respectful manner. It’s the perfect place to help these students learn and grow.”

As Director of this program, Dr. Day leads all program development with the support and guidance of the Aspiro parent company. Josh Watson with Aspiro handles all admissions for the program.

You may each Josh by calling 1-888-266-5136.

Dr. Day can be reached via e-mail at gday@aspiroadventure.com.

Vantage Point by Aspiro