Rewild, Reset, Evolve: My Journey into Outdoor & Adventure Therapy

A New Ascent Begins

The mountains have always been my teachers. Every climb, every breath of cold air, every step into wilderness brings perspective. But this year, my path has turned inward as well as outward.

I’ve recently begun the first-ever Level 4 Outdoor & Adventure Therapy course with The Adventure Therapy. This is more than just another qualification — it’s a natural evolution of everything I’ve learned about people, resilience, and the healing power of nature.

After decades of working in high-pressure environments, I’ve seen first hand the impact of trauma, stress, and disconnection. This new journey is about transforming that experience — using the outdoors as a catalyst for recovery, reconnection, and growth.

Time for reflection in Eryri

From Reacting to Healing: Why This Matters

My years as a first responder have taught me how the human spirit responds under pressure. I’ve worked closely with colleagues who’ve faced the darkest scenes imaginable — and who carry that weight long after the flames are out.

During my service, I helped to push for a more open, compassionate, and trauma-informed organisation. In public reports and media coverage, I’ve spoken about the urgent need for change in the emergency services — to move from a culture of silence and endurance to one of honesty, inclusion, and care.

I’ve also supported many suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), helping them navigate the emotional and bureaucratic aftermath of trauma — guiding colleagues toward specialist help, advocating for fair treatment, and sharing my own insights into recovery.

Those experiences shaped my belief that therapy doesn’t just happen in offices. It can happen on mountainsides, beside campfires, under open skies, on motorcycles, on adventures.

Building on My Therapeutic Foundation

Before starting this new Level 4 course, I had already gained formal therapeutic qualifications — completing my Counselling & Psychotherapy Diploma (Level 3) with Distinction, and a Child Counselling Qualification (Level 3). Those studies deepened my understanding of human development, emotional regulation, trauma, and communication. They gave me the language and structure to complement what I had long experienced intuitively through leadership and mentoring roles.

Now, combining that foundation with adventure-based practice, I’m building something holistic — a model that integrates body, mind, and environment.

In short:

• The body learns through challenge and movement.

• The mind heals through reflection and connection.

• The environment — nature itself — provides the stage where both can align.

Rewild, Reset, Evolve — A Guiding Ethos

Through my Instagram project, @rewild_reset_evolve, I’ve tried to express this philosophy: that the wild outdoors offers not just recreation, but re-creation.

• Rewild: Return to instinct, curiosity, authenticity.

• Reset: Step away from noise and stress, find stillness.

• Evolve: Move forward stronger, calmer, and more self-aware.

  
  

This same ethos underpins my approach to outdoor and adventure therapy — where personal growth is not forced, but found through experience.

Whether I’m guiding a group through stormy conditions or facilitating reflective work around a fire, I aim to create space for people to feel safe enough to challenge themselves — and supported enough to grow from it.

The United Kingdom offers us spectacular places to reconnect

Lessons from Culture Change

During my time working on a Cultural Review, I worked alongside leaders, politicians, and union representatives to rebuild trust and transparency across one of the UK’s largest emergency services. The review exposed deep-rooted cultural issues — but it also opened a path toward collective healing.

In statements covered by FSMatters and The Canary, I said there was “no place for such behaviour or attitudes within the fire and rescue service” and called for accountability and compassion to guide the next chapter.

That belief carries directly into my work with Raven Mountaineering:

“The outdoors can teach us what systems forget — humility, connection, and the strength of shared struggle.”

Culture doesn’t change through words alone; it changes through experience, shared endeavour, and courage to face discomfort. The same is true for personal transformation.

Looking Ahead

Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing updates from my Level 4 Outdoor & Adventure Therapy journey — including insights from the course, reflections on practice, and opportunities to join pilot programmes.

What’s next:

• Monthly blog reflections — lessons from the course and how they translate to real-world adventure therapy.

• Pilot retreats — small, supportive group experiences blending mountain adventure with guided reflection and mindfulness.

• Community stories — examples of resilience and reconnection from the people I meet along the way.

Harnessing the power of nature absorbtion high in the Indian Himalaya's

The power of purpose will be the core driver, to ensure the reintroduction of purpose, especially for people who have given and given. We will find the purpose that makes you complete without the need for affirmation, applause or grand gesture. To connect with who you really are and to learn that it is you alone that ultimately completes yourself.

Gareth