Dr. Bettmann’s Research Shows Open Sky to be Effective Treatment for Adolescents and Young Adults
Open Sky’s Research Director, Joanna Bettmann, PhD, LCSW presented an educational session on Open Sky’s research results at the 2009 Fall conference of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) on Nov. 13th in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The session was entitled “What is the Evidence for Effectiveness of Wilderness Therapy Programs?” and included Open Sky’s three year research results. Dr. Bettmann’s presentation explored the evidence for wilderness therapy programs’ effectiveness and intended to provide participants with a solid understanding of the research base that underlies wilderness therapy programs and also which programs and for which types of children and young adults such programs are most effective. Participants in this session also learned how we effectively evaluate Open Sky’s outcomes and what the industry still needs to learn about wilderness treatment’s effectiveness.
Open Sky is the only wilderness therapy program that conducts research outcomes on each and every student. Several programs claim to be “research-supported” but the truth is that Open Sky is the only program that is currently conducting research and has been doing so since the inception of the program in 2006. Research at Open Sky is intended to guide the treatment approach so as to have the most effective treatment possible in the industry.
The research is a longitudinal one-group design, following every student and family for two years after graduation. We ask adolescents to complete four questionnaires six times: at arrival, graduation, three months after graduation, six months after graduation, 12 months after graduation, and 24 months after graduation. We ask our adult students to complete four questionnaires six times: at arrival, graduation, three months after graduation, six months after graduation, 12 months after graduation, and 24 months after graduation.
Research results prove that Open Sky works. Our research shows that our adolescent and young adult students are getting better across multiple dimensions and maintain these improvements well after departing Open Sky. Most of our adolescent and adult students make behavior, interpersonal, and mental health gains while overcoming substance abuse and addiction issues.
Most importantly, these gains made while at Open Sky are maintained well beyond graduation. We will continue to research the effectiveness of Open Sky to measure the impact of what we do, so as to continue to refine our program in order to best serve our students and their families.
Download a copy of Dr. Bettmann’s presentation here.
To learn more about empirical research being conducted at Open Sky with teens and young adults, check out this section of our website: www.openskywilderness.com/why-open-sky/research
