Derek Craig
Field Guide
Joined Open Sky: May 2009
In Wilderness Therapy since: 2007
Interview with Derek Craig
June 2009
Q. Why do you work in wilderness therapy?
I work in wilderness therapy because of how the outdoors have benefited my life experience. Outdoor life is my therapy and I believe in the power of wilderness for others as well. I continue to work in wilderness therapy (WT) because of the change I've seen in many of the students that I've worked with.
Q. Why do you think wilderness therapy works?
Wilderness therapy works because it removes a person from the environment that caused them to have problems. Students in WT are able to gain confidence through master-based skills such as hiking, shelter building, bowdrill fires, and cooking. I've witnessed very insecure students become confident through their experiences with learning to accomplish difficult skills.
Q. What do you think Open Sky students need?
Our students need love and compassion. Many people coming to our program need positive reinforcement to combat their self-loathing. Focusing on positive actions and downplaying negative interactions helps people to start to love themselves. To love oneself, and thus, to take care of oneself sets a foundation for a healthy life.
Q. If you were able to meet anyone (living or dead) who would it be and why?
I would meet a professional photographer so that they could mentor me in my photography.
Q. What are a few of the defining moments in your life and why?
The moments that stick out most in my head for defining the person I am today are: graduating college, fighting hypothermia for 8 hours, and recovering from addiction. I had to buckle down and actually finish a difficult time to get my degree--it was the first time I saw an arduous task to the end. Getting lost on a ski hill at night when I was first learning wilderness skills pushed my mental toughness to its limits. I had to persevere a drowsy hypothermia to stay alive and make it to safety.
Q. Who has been your greatest inspiration and why?
My fiance because she has overcome many difficult health problems to become the healthy and happy person she is today.
Q. What are your unique gifts/or experiences that help our students?
My gifts for this work are rooted in my personality. I like to have fun and I can make light of difficult and stressful situations. My experience with addiction allows me to connect with and better understand the students that I work with.
Q. What do you like to do for fun when you are not working in the field?
When I get out of the field I like to climb, climb, climb and then do some more climbing. In reality, I can't climb as much as I like to so other things that keep me passionate are photography, cooking, and building a life with my partner. We both love the southern Utah desert and we hope to spend much time and find much passion in that desert.
Professional Experience
Aspen Achievement Academy
Senior Field Instructor
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
Plant Specimen Collector
The Park Cafe
Line Cook
Education
BS, Conservation Biology
University of Idaho
Clinical First Responder I
Wilderness First Responder (WFR)
