Transform yourself. Transform the planet.
The Master of Arts degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, Wilderness Therapy Concentration, at Naropa University is one of the rare programs to give you the tools to use nature as a healing medium in a deeply conscious way.
Integrating the necessary theoretical and clinical course work for licensure, contemplative practice, wilderness skills training, and ways to use that training therapeutically, the MA in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology empowers you to practice psychotherapy in the wild places of the mind and nature.
This intensely experiential degree program gives you ten weeks direct experience in the wilderness, acquiring outdoor survival skills and interventions that make use of the natural world. You will also develop discipline and self-knowledge through therapy and contemplative practice, preparing yourself to help others transform through the beauty and personal challenges encountered in nature.
What is Transpersonal Counseling Psychology?
Transpersonal Counseling Psychology is a holistic school of psychology that not only looks to individual's mental and emotional health but also acknowledges their spiritual well-being and experiences.
Get outside your comfort zone!
Naropa's Wilderness Therapy program is an interdisciplinary, multicultural program that prepares you to practice as a psychotherapist in myriad settings, including wilderness therapy organizations.
As a Wilderness Therapy student, you will:
- Complete a 30-hour Counseling Experiential with your own psychotherapist to acquire knowledge of yourself and the therapeutic relationship.
- Learn mindfulness and meditation techniques to build self-awareness and the capacity to be in the moment with your clients.
- Hone your counseling skills during your second-year counseling practicum in a community-based agency.
- Complete a four-day, three-night vision/fasting quest, soloing in the backcountry.
- Develop a strong sense of community with your cohort as well as increase your awareness of how you function in a group setting.
- Participate in a 700-hour supervised internship in an organization such as Adirondack Leadership Expeditions, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center, Catherine Freer Wilderness Therapy Expeditions, the Eagle Rock School and more.
Meet a Wilderness Therapy graduate
S.E. Rafferty, MA, 2008
Therapist at an agency doing substance abuse counseling
with men and boys from the criminal justice system
Equine-facilitated psychotherapist, wilderness Family Quest facilitator, and outdoor field instructor
Meet Wilderness Therapy alumni