Research: Efficacy of nature-based therapeutic mentoring for Latinx and under-resourced youth suffering complex trauma

BACKGROUND

• Many youth are in crisis suffering from complex trauma, adverse childhood experiences, poor mental health, and substance use disorders.

• Youth of color and youth from rural communities are disproportionately impacted by these stressors.

• Access to mental health services is sporadic, turnover of personnel is high, and families often wait weeks or months for service.

• Too often county behavioral health services are co-located with law enforcement offices (probation, court, child protective services, etc.). These settings can be stigmatizing and retraumatizing.

• Without effective supports, these high-need youth disproportionately require the resources of:

  • School district psychologists and counselors

  • Hospital Emergency Department

  • Law Enforcement

WHOLE HEARTS, MINDS & BODIES

• A system of clinically supervised, highly trained, and well-paid paraprofessional therapeutic mentors from the community who engage with eligible youth experiencing severe to moderate symptoms of distress.

  • Many client youth are heavily medicated at the time of referral.

• Weekly one-on-one sessions of 3 to 4 hours begin at the end of the school day. They typically include outdoor adventure, mindfulness, SEL reflective activities, and conclude with family interaction as the youth is delivered to their home.

• Behavioral health contracts with two California counties and the local hospital district.

  • Partner in Wrap-Around services

• The first Medi-Cal Provider certification to be awarded to a nature-based treatment program.

• Average annual cost per youth is $10k compared to $303K in the juvenile justice system or the mean $15.5K cost of a single psychiatric hospitalization event.

Theoretical Framework

The key principles of our program, backed by science, affirm what is needed for youth to develop neurologically, emotionally, and socially.

Program Outcomes

Clinical Observations

Most of our client youth are not athletic, exhibiting symptoms of being “disconnected from their bodies”.

We observe them showing a steady increase in:

• Embodied confidence

• Energy

• Better posture

• Balance skills

• Presence/sense of self

This correlates with improved behavioral outcomes, increased ability to:

• Regulate emotionally

• Face challenges and setback

• Engage in healthy relationships

Mental illness treatment is recontextualized for families who appreciate that their child is now on a hero’s journey of outdoor challenges faced and met.

Youth Outcome Questionnaire

The YOQ-SR (Youth Outcome Questionnaire – Self Report) is a validated clinical tool designed to measure treatment progress and psychological distress in youth, based on self-reporting by the young person. In the context of your research and nature-based therapeutic work, the YOQ-SR serves as a field-tested and science-backed instrument to capture the mental health outcomes of participants in programs like Whole Hearts, Minds & Bodies.

The impact of this work doesn’t end with the child. It ripples outward—into families, schools, clinics, hospitals, and the justice system.

When young people receive field-tested, nature-based care that supports their whole hearts, minds, and bodies, we don’t just see individual transformation. We see systemic relief.

Youth who once cycled through emergency departments, suspensions, or juvenile detention begin to regulate emotions, build healthy relationships, and reconnect with their sense of purpose. As a result, we see:

• Lower school dropout rates

• Fewer crisis interventions and psychiatric hospitalizations

• Reductions in suicide, violence, and incarceration

This is not a theoretical promise. It’s what happens when real-world solutions meet real-world needs—with nature as both the setting and the catalyst.

Investing in programs like this isn’t just a moral imperative—it’s a practical one. It alleviates pressure on overburdened systems, interrupts cycles of trauma, and restores the possibility of a thriving adulthood for our most vulnerable youth.

Because when healing happens in the woods, everyone feels it.