Open Sky, Wilderness Therapy Students Reflect Back on Their Story

James* set up the tarp that was going to protect him during the night and started making a fire for his dinner.  He was alone, completely alone in the middle of the woods, and that solitude was to last three days.  He had nothing to do but read, write, wander around and think.  This was not punishment, in fact, when James talks about his experience at Open Sky, the wilderness therapy program for teens and young adults, he says ‘the solo’ was for him the best part of the 10 weeks he spent there.  “This was a time of self-discovery and reflection,” remembers the young man, “it was a life changing experience.”

James was a star athlete at Campolindo high school and a student with excellent grades.  He had also started to experience with alcohol and recreational drugs when he was about 14/15 years old.  The problem got worth when he went to college.  After classes were dropped and very difficult times with his family, James was hospitalized at John Muir in rehabilitation for 30 days, then his parents suggested he go to Open Sky, a 8 to 10 weeks wilderness therapy program.

The center admits students age 13 to 28 with everything from depression to substance abuse to eating disorders to ADD. It cuts them off from their normal life, without any electronics, immersed in nature, in group with peers and constant supervision.  “This is not a all a bootcamp,” says Dc Jade Wimberley, a local naturopathic physician who’s a friend of founder Aaron Fernandes and has been working at Open Sky since 2006, “this is a place for assessment, treatment planning, and to start healing.”  The food is organic, the staff is experienced and all of them are trained psychologists.  The camp has a psychiatrist on site at all times.

“The schedule was very rigorous, it was not easy,” remembers James “but I met absolutely amazing people that took us on the journey.”  James characterizes Open Sky as a soul searching experience, “I went in not knowing a lot about myself, shielding a lot of my feelings with drugs and alcohol,” he said “I got help finding out who I was, and how to improve my life.”

“Put into nature, they have to do everything for themselves,” says Victoria*, mother of Ashley* another Lamorinda raised kid who went to Open Sky a few years ago, “they are surrounded 24/7 by highly qualified therapists, including an on site psychiatrist, who deal with emotional issues on the spot.”  She adds that the difference is that as they are in nature, with no other resource than themselves, confronted with the natural consequences to their actions.

“They are unplugged from society, and stripped of everything including their clothes (everyone wears the same clothing),” adds James’s mother Linda*,  “after a few weeks, they become part of nature and let go, and start to understand about themselves.”

The experience at Open Sky was very dramatic for Ashley. In her early years, she was a very passionate ballerina, until severe hips injury ended her dreams.  Her parents reacted to signs of depression and she started seeing a long list of therapists and doctors.  “She was diagnosed with ADD, later with bipolar disorder and was heavily medicated,” said her mother, “but nothing really worked.”

After failing college, Ashley herself sought Open Sky because of a Miramonte friend who’s brother had been there and had greatly benefited.  “At Open Sky, people finally saw me for who I was,” says Ashley, “until then everyone thought that something went wrong with me.  What I needed was to process things that happened to me as a child and that were missed because I was resilient and had a lot of friends.”  Ashley thinks that the pursuit of perfection and the need to maintain a positive image drove her to question her self worth.

“At Open Sky the medical staff took the risk to start weaning her off medication, and they were very careful about it,” says Victoria.  “I learnt so much there,” adds Ashley,  “this is a very magical place, with such amazing energy, it is so affirming.   The staff has a level of authenticity that is rare, they really relate to the young people.”

When she left Open Sky, the young woman had started to cut down her medication.  “It didn’t happen overnight, it took 2 years,” says Victoria.  For many youth, Open Sky is just the beginning of the road to recovery.  Ashley went to facilities while partly back in school and is now finishing her bachelor degree.  “I am graduating this year, I’m dancing again.  I’ve started my life over as a different person,” says Ashley.

James also went to a different facility after Open Sky, where he started taking classes and then went back to college.  He graduated this year in Anthropology.  “Before I went to Open Sky, I wanted to do everything on my own,” he reflects, “there, I learnt about accepting help from other people, and reaching out.  My relationships with others in my age group increased tremendously, I learnt to communicate.  This has been the most important life changing experience in my life.”

Linda adds that the impact of the program has been huge on the whole family.   “As parents we had to go to therapy every week and talk to Jame's therapist every week,” she remembers, “it was very interactive.”  She also remembers the ‘impact letter’ that all in the family, siblings included, had to write.    “The impacts letters were huge,” she says.  She went to therapy with her husband for a year, and Open Sky gave them books to read. “I became more opened about my feelings, I’m letting myself feel,” she says.

Today James says that he has gained awareness about his addiction, “we don’t ever get rid of it, it will always be with me,” he says, “but I am able to pinpoint warning signs and pull myself out of the situation.”  Ashley has found a new sense to her life, “I feel a sense of duty, I’m driven by something bigger than myself and I want to go into medicine. I found my light and I want others to find it,” she says.

“We’re fortunate that we could afford it,” concludes Victoria, “the insurance does not cover it, but it is your child and you would do everything.”  The cost is about $485 per day, which translates into $27.000 to $34.000 for the 8 to 10 weeks program.  Some scholarships are available.  For more information about Open Sky, contact Dr. Jade Wimberley at jade@openskywilderness.com

*the names of the youth and their parents have been changed to protect their privacy.  The parents currently live in Lamorinda.  They shared their stories to help other struggling teens

Years of Yearning – A Book About the Making of Modern Saint Mary’s College

Br. Mel Anderson at Saint Mary's College

When he walks about the college where he still lives and teaches The Great Books, the tall silhouette of Brother Mel Anderson cannot be mistaken or ignored.  But many of the students who roam the grounds today ignore that this man led Saint Marys for nearly 30 years (1969 to 1997) and slowly and steadily stirred the heavy boat over the troubled waters of the 70s, 80s and 90s, introducing such novelties as co-ed, bigger and better business schools and school of education, resisting the attraction of extreme change where he thought the College would lose its soul, turning it into a profitable institution, and shepherding the emergence of the mission statement of the college, words that he would hope to see turning into reality in the 21st century.

The book he wrote about his presidency, Years of Yearning, is a personal depiction of the challenges and the politics that exist in an higher education institution.  It tells a large part of the history of the local College.

 “I was asked to take the Head of the College starting in 69, at a time of great societal changes,” said the Brother during an interview.  During the 60’s the college moved away from the Catholic tradition that had been his since its establishment.  It was the time of the in the civil right movement, the nearby campus of Berkeley was a center for students and faculty activism against the Vietnam war and Saint Mary’s was pulled in the same direction.

“My view was more traditional,” said the Brother, “changes were becoming too drastic, the teachings too secularized.  It was a time of chaos in Higher education, and I was told that I was chosen as President because of my understanding of the philosophy of the college.”

Maintaining the core ethos of Saint Mary’s is the string that follows Brother Mel’s action all along his life; how Christian values can shed their light in Liberal education; invite discussions and debates, while staying true to the Gospel of Christ.  “There are some important questions that are raised today in the world,” he says, “a Catholic Liberal Art University has the mission of making sense of our world from our religious perspective.”

This does not mean that Brother Mel didn't want change, in fact he invited it.  “I knew that this College had to become Co-ed,” he says.  The transition from a male only institution to one that welcomed women was not too hard.  Brother Mel remembers a few acerb remarks the first year, such as “here come the skirts”, but they were soon forgotten and today Saint Mary’s, like most colleges, has more female than male students.

Accepting women allowed the Brother to revitalize a program that was limping along: the school of education.  “There was no high quality school for future teachers in Contra Costa,” he remembers, “but I had to change the leader of the education program and that could not happen before the end of his contract.”

After the School of Education, Brother Mel wanted to start an MBA program. “The idea was opposed by some members of the faculty assembly who said that business did not have anything to do in a liberal arts college,” remembers Brother Mel.  But the MBA project prevailed and was started with teachers from the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley).

Brother Mel was the initiator of other innovations on campus such as the School of Nursing, the internationalization of campus, and a vocational program for older adults that was partially transferred to the University of Phoenix.  “As we added students and schools, we had to build new structures.”  The President tried to keep the campus as a work of art and hired a Japanese architect that had a sense of John J. Donovan’s original design.

In his book, Brother Mel shows how each inflection of direction required balancing of the dynamic of the different powers on campus.  Even a Brother President is not God, the extent of his power is hiring and appointment.  Brother Mel explains that the major changes are decided by the Board of trustees, and that when faculty votes, the President simply has a veto power.

All the while, as the college developed, Brother Mel said that he strived to maintain the spiritual focus of the college.  “We needed to clarify our vision as the college grew,” he said.  He refers to Pope John Paul II text Ex Corde Ecclesiae that says that from the heart of the Church comes the University.  “We need controversy and adversary position, that makes the Church stronger,” says Brother Mel, “but we need to have a strong core of Catholic thinkers in the college who represent our Lasallian values.”  Brother Mel explains that the Lasallian values teach that the students are images of gods, “we look at them that way, they have a soul,” he says.  Brother Mel believes that salvation through Christ is the ultimate goal, but the College does not practice proselytism, “There is no chapel talk, we let it happen, or not, naturally.  We teach through our Christian attitude and eventually some students come around, we just plant a seed.”.

As part of the preservation of the spiritual persona of the College one of the most important task of Brother Mel’s tenure was the definition of the mission statement: “To probe deeply the mystery of existence by cultivating the ways of knowing and the arts of thinking.  To affirm and foster the Christian understanding of the human person which animates the educational mission of the Catholic Church. To create a student-centered educational community whose members support one another with mutual understanding and respect.”

Brother Mel says he would have liked to preside the implementation across the board of the mission, “those who sow the seeds are not those who reap the harvest,” he said. And this is where the title of his book comes from, the yearning that is still his to see his dream finally take shape.

Today Brother Mel continues to live on campus and participates in the Great Books program that’s opened to students, alumni and the community.  His book can be purchased at the campus’ bookstore.