Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Adventure-Based Counselling: Promoting Positive Interpersonal Behaviour In Mentally Ill Offenders, Taylor Salisbury

Undergraduate Honors Posters

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an adventure-based counselling (ABC) program on the interpersonal behaviour of forensic psychiatric inpatients. To our knowledge, no research had examined the use of an adventure-therapy approach with this population despite the promising literature on ABC with other samples. Participants were mentally ill offenders at the Southwest Center for Forensic Mental Health Care in St. Thomas, Ontario. Seventeen participants took part in a 12-session ABC program which addressed interpersonal skills through group challenge activities. Measures of interpersonal behaviour were assessed using both self-report questionnaires and file review. Results showed hypothesized …