Aspiro Family

Trevor Allen, LPC, Clinical Wilderness Therapist

By Trevor Allen, LPC

I recently had a grand opportunity to attend a “Plan of Action” meeting with Aspiro.  All of the teams were present including marketing, therapists, field leadership and team leads.  We engaged in various activities including four wheeling and rappelling off of Corona Arch.  I have to admit I had a fair amount of anxiety building up to rappelling the arch.

 The hike up to the arch is a steep slanting ramp. The exposure is guarded by safety rope and prussic system.  The arch has a reputation of being an intense rappell, but students talked about the “sketchy” nature of the approach being much more intense.  I was okay the first part of the approach.  Near the end I became very nervous.  I found myself making up excuses as to why I could not complete the activity.  I started to share my concerns with Sally, Kairos Team Lead, and she made sure the system was secure.  She talked about having platinum quality safety and that she would make sure that the approach was platinum quality safe.  I am a grown man and I had to rely heavily upon Sally to get to the top of the arch and to the rappel zone.  The rappel was awesome.  I enjoyed dropping the some 160 foot rappel with my supportive guide.  Sally and I debriefed the experience which lead to discussing overcoming some other challenges we have had in our lives.

 The plan for later that day was to go foue wheeling and Aspiro offered to have a spot for my seven-year old son.  We first went out to eat.  The therapists, guides, marketing, and owners of Aspiro all made it a point to visit with my son.  The highlight of the lunch was having Jessi, female group therapist, teach my son the language of “ong.”  This is a made up language that sounds hilarious when executed. Or should I say “e xong e cong u tong e dong.”    I enjoyed watching this clinically savvy therapist exhibit playful child like laughter.

 Therapists, guides and others were very involved with my son talking to him about life, school, and friends.  I greatly appreciated that my Aspiro family was speaking to my personal family with complete respect and not talking down to my son.  Another highlight of the evening occurred when “uncle Brad”, boys group therapist, took my son on his four wheeler so that I could let loose on the trail.  I appreciated Brad offering to help out and provide a safe ride for my son.  I can remember my son giggling on the back of the four wheeler and having a smile from ear to ear.

 That evening I ate dinner with my son, Christina, wife of Randy Oakley (Executive Director), two of their children and Liz (field leadership).  We ate pizza and enjoyed each other’s company.  After, we got a ride with Ava, female group team lead, to our camping site.

 I love the Aspiro family.  I greatly appreciated the care and attention that was paid to me in dealing with my anxiety on Corona Arch.  More so, I appreciate the love, playfulness, attention, and respect that was paid to my son. As I thought about the parents of students who entrust their children to the care of the Aspiro team, it reconfirmed to me that I would fully trust my own children with these amazing people.  www.aspiroprograms.com