Wild Bird

Wild Bird follows the story of Wren Clemmens, a troubled teenager whose parents send her to a wilderness therapy camp in the Utah desert in order to help her overcome her issues with substance abuse and reckless behavior. The context of this form of therapy plays an important role in Wren’s journey throughout the novel. Wilderness therapy represents an experiential model that combines experiences in the outdoors (from full immersion in the wild to adventure activities) with more traditional therapy sessions (Gupta, Sanjana. “What Is Wilderness Therapy?” Verywell Mind, 2022). Although it can be used to help families and adult couples as well, the main target audience for this form of therapy is the so-called “troubled adolescent” (Gupta). Wilderness therapy programs are used to address a host of issues, from poor grades and low self-esteem to more clinical mental health issues such as substance abuse and addiction, depression, and eating disorders (Schneider, Ari. “What Happened at Wilderness Therapy: A Look Inside the Outdoor Branch of the ‘Troubled Teen’ Industry.” Teen Vogue, 2022). This widespread application explains the diverse range of backgrounds amongst Wren’s fellow campers, for the group includes adjudicated teens to young girls who come from complicated family backgrounds. As with Wren’s experience, real-life wilderness therapy programs can run as long as a couple of months at a time, and the individual costs of participation are around a few hundred dollars a day, proving wilderness therapy programs to be an expensive option (Schneider).

The essence of wilderness therapy is to place adolescent participants in an unfamiliar environment that forces them to learn about consequences and accountability in a natural and organic way (Okoren, Nicolle. “The Wilderness ‘Therapy’ That Teens Say Feels like Abuse: ‘You Are on Guard at All Times.’” The Guardian, 2022). In keeping with this approach, the “campers” who are enrolled in the program often complete long hikes and camp in the wild for weeks at a time with minimal resources, learning to set up shelter independently and to forage for food and water. There is generally a total cut-off from technology, and letters are often the only way that the campers are allowed to communicate with their families. Regular visits from a therapist are designed to help them process their lessons and reflect on any issues that arise (Okoren). Wren’s experience at camp largely mirrors this format as she rises through the various levels to join the Grizzly Girls and learns a range of survival skills in the wild; regular visits from Tara, the therapist, punctuate the girls’ days and coincide with the arrival of mail from home.

However, not all wilderness therapy programs are created equal. Wilderness therapy was first implemented in the early 1940s and gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, but it was only in 1995 that public awareness surrounding the inner workings and questionable ethics of certain programs began to spread (Okoren). In that year, several minors from different programs lost their lives when they were left in the care of untrained staff; the problem was particularly acute in the state of Utah (Okoren). These incidents led to increased scrutiny on the conditions that such campers were compelled to endure, and additional oversight was implemented to ensure a higher standard of care for the participants in such programs. To this end, wilderness therapy industry leaders came together to create the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Research Center (OBHC), a third-party monitor specifically designed to oversee the wilderness therapy field. Its responsibilities include setting high standards for the accreditation of new wilderness therapy programs (Okoren).

Unfortunately, the existence of OBHC and the need for accreditation and licensed practitioners is not common knowledge in the American public. According to a Guardian article penned in 2022, out of the 5,000 programs present in the United States, only 22 of them were appropriately accredited (Okoren). This explains the varied quality of experiences still reported by those who attend wilderness therapy camps, with a number of participants claiming to have experienced abuse at the hands of the practitioners. The use of physical restraints (Schneider), in addition to extreme forced physical exertion, unhygienic conditions, and even molestation (Okoren) have been reported.

These unfortunate circumstances do not reflect Wren’s experience in the novel, for she attends a well-run program and is shown kindness and compassion by all the counselors, who diligently ensure the physical and mental well-being of the campers. Wren’s experience echoes those of campers who have attended accredited programs and report that they emerge with a more “resilient” approach to life. As one such participant stated, “Everything from a really challenging hike to being able to make fire out of sticks taught me that I could survive” (Okoren). This positive outcome is portrayed in Wren’s own experience, particularly in her assertion to her mother that her own turning point occurred when she learned to make a bow-drill fire.

Nevertheless, one aspect of Wren’s experience features a practice that even happy campers caution against utilizing: the act of kidnapping or tricking someone into attending the camp. One perspective suggests that the manner in which an individual arrives at the camp will determine the overall outcome of the experience, and an experience such as Wren’s—being snatched and forcibly taken from her home in the middle of the night—usually leads to a sense of deep betrayal (Okoren). Wren’s deep anger and sense of abandonment, especially as she travels to Utah, reflects the problematic nature of this particular practice. However, over the course of the book, the feelings of isolation and betrayal that Wren initially feels upon being sent to camp are conflated with those she felt when her family first moved to Los Angeles. The resolution of the latter automatically resolves the former, especially because Wren eventually comes to cherish and feel grateful for her time in the desert. In this sense, while Wren’s experiences largely echo those of other individuals who have attended accredited camps with licensed practitioners, there are several aspects of her journey, and of wilderness therapy programs in general, that warrant closer scrutiny.