wilderness experience
a group program in which demanding outdoor expeditions are undertaken for extended periods to foster enhanced self-efficacy, motivation, and social skills in the participants. The approach has been used, for example, in wilderness camps for children and adolescents with various behavioral problems, including alcohol and drug use. It has become controversial, however, amid reports of participant abuse, some of it fatal, that occurred at unregulated camps with largely untrained and unsupervised staff.