- Drugs
- Faith
What happens when you send a gang of addicts out in the wilderness? As part of treatment a group was sent out in the wilderness in Norway for over three months. The participants had no access to mobile phones, public transportation or medications. They had all used drugs from early youth, and most of them had overdosed previously. They had been in and out of detoxification, treatment and prison. Their children had been taken away from them, and they had lost their relationships with family members.
During their journey they all stayed clean from drugs, and eight months after treatment they have still not used drugs. The idea around wilderness treatment is to have a concrete goal in parallel with substance abuse treatment. This goal takes away their heavy-minded thoughts and shields them from their everyday life by placing them out in the wilderness or hundreds of nautical miles out to sea. The most important part is that the participants will feel a strong sense of empowerment. They have to complete daily tasks, learn how to sail and navigate through difficult weather conditions, walk seven hours per day in Norwegian mountains and live together in tight places.
This story was published in 2015 by Aftenposten National Newspaper in Norway. We are four people running a wilderness treatment program. In one week we’re off on our next expedition of 90 days in the arctic wilderness with ten new contestants/newcomers. Wish us luck and God’s speed.