RECOVERY IS NOT
A SOLO TREK -
YOU DON'T HAVE TO
GO IT ALONE
The founder and executive director of AdventureForward is Barney Straus. He is a psychotherapist and addictions specialist based out of Chicago. He has worked for many years helping people recover from chemical addictions and compulsive behaviors through individual and group therapy as well as through adventure-based counseling, workshops, and retreats.
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LIFE BEGINS AT THE END
OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE.
-Neale Donald Walsch
Why Adventure Therapy?
Barney began practicing adventure therapy because he noticed that for many of his patients, traditional “talk” therapy alone was not creating the progress they had hoped for.
To jumpstart their recovery, he introduced more kinesthetic experiences — known as “adventure therapy” — getting people out of their chairs and moving their bodies, even just a little —​ really helped. The results were quick, powerful, and lasting. People's recovery went farther, faster. You can learn more about Barney's approach to therapy in his latest book, Healing in Action: Adventure-Based Counseling with Therapy Groups. Click here for more info and to order the book.
Powerful and Transformative
This wasn’t a total surprise to Barney.
He’d actually become a believer in the power of this type of therapy when he was only 17 and went on a 3-week-long Outward Bound trip.
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“It was life-changing for me. In some ways, it was more therapeutic than the many hours I’ve spent since in more conventional forms of psychotherapy. I experienced a sense of inner strength during that trip that I’ve never forgotten.”
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This kind of transformative experience is something Barney decided he wanted to help his patients have...without needing to go on a 3-week-long wilderness excursion. So, Barney developed a number of ways to bring the power of adventure therapy to his patients here in Chicago.
YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK
BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS MOVE FORWARD
Many Ways to Experience the Adventure.
Now, along with adventure-infused individual and group therapy, Barney offers Recovery Adventure Retreats at various destinations, as well as an adventure-based program he takes to other treatment centers. He shares his expertise through day-long and multi-day team-building programs for various groups and organizations, including The Professionals Program at Presence Healthcare,
Certifications
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MSW from Loyola University Chicago, School of Social Work.
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Master’s degree in theater and social psychology from Rhode Island College.
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Certified Problem and Compulsive Gambling Counselor in the state of Illinois.
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Past board member of the Illinois Council on Problem Gambling and the Illinois Group Psychotherapy Association.
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Certified Group Psychotherapist by the International Registry of Group Psychotherapists.
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Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association.
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Special Recognition by the Illinois Psychotherapy Society.
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Preferred provider with Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Illinois, Cigna, Magellan, and Medicare.
Publications
Healing in Action: Adventure-Based Counseling in Therapy Groups.
Seattle: Rowman and Littlefield.
Now available for purchase here.
Straus, B., Nickow, M., Korshak, S. (2014) Introduction to Process Addictions for Group Therapists. Manual published by the American Group Psychotherapy Association.