Outward Bound’s Intercept Program is the 2009 recipient of the Society for Adolescent Medicine's 2009 Hillary E.C. Millar Award for Innovative Approaches to Adolescent Health Care.
In a recent study (Norton, 2010), Intercept students have shown:
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52% increase in the prevalence of positive psychosocial development
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33.5% decrease in the prevalence of depression
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47.5% decrease in family conflic
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28.6% decrease in substance abuse
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61.9% decrease in school problems
The Outward Bound Intercept Program offers wilderness expeditions year round for teens and young adults struggling with destructive behaviors. Intercept expeditions in unfamiliar territory instills confidence and strength and helps your teen develop new perspectives and skills for dealing with the transition into adulthood.
Who Is It For?
Intercept Courses run through North Carolina Outward Bound are designed to help struggling teens ages 12 to 13 and young adults 18 to 22 years old from all over the United States wanting to transition their lives in more meaningful and positive directions. It is designed to help with:
- Chronically poor school performance
- Anger management issues
- Defiance
- Low motivation
- Risky behaviors such as experimenting with drugs or alcohol, sneaking out, or truancy.
Intercept is NOT for teens/young adults with a history of violent behavior, recent suicide attempts, serious eating disorders, chemical dependencies or chronic juvenile offenses.
Click here to view Intercept courses offered through other schools in other parts of the country.
Voluntary Commitment
Outward Bound does not expect students to be highly motivated to embark on an Intercept program. We are not, however, an incarceration program. We require that all students agree to participate and require that they follow our rules. Outward Bound works hard to encourage full participation from all individuals, so while we make every attempt to keep motivation high, if students are not willing to complete the program or are determined to leave course, we will not keep them against their will.
Course Components
The Intercept Program is broken down into three components: A wilderness expedition, debrief and parent/student seminar. Together these components focus on: teamwork, communication, leadership skills and helping teens practice making positive decisions, finding new strength/self-esteem and working to find new directions and to create a path to a brighter future.
Wilderness Expedition: The expedition is designed to be a challenging 20 to 50-day expedition focused on:
- Achievable goals - with a 1:4 average student/instructor ratio, instructors work individually with students to make solid self-assessments and set achievable goals,
- Purposeful challenges - tackling personal and mental challenges, such as rock climbing or ropes courses that allow students to discover they are stronger than they know,
- Reflection – students take a 48-hour solo, where they camp alone near instructors, allowing for them to rest and reflect on transitions back to their home and everyday lives,
- Service – as students develop skills to help themselves, they are also involved in learning to care for others and the environment around them.
Debrief: After the wilderness expedition ends, instructors meet with parents and provide a detailed account of what the course was like—including the struggles and successes—and how students handled challenges.
Parent/Student Seminar:
For teens 12-13: Together, parents and students will participate in a 2-3 day intensive seminar that focuses on transitioning newly acquired skills from the Intercept program back into everyday life. With an instructor, families will each create a new agreement to guide life once they are back at home. Parents ARE required to be present at this seminar.
For young adults 18-22: Students will participate in a 2-3 day life skill/coaching seminar. With the assistance of instructors, they will create a positive plan for transitioning back to their everyday life and the direction they want their life to take.