Episode 10: Understanding Self-Harm and Treating It in Wilderness with Kirsten Bolt, M.Ed., Lmft
PREVIEW: Clinical therapist Kirsten Bolt explores the reasons people self-harm and the steps involved in treating self-harm. With assessment and reassessment, westart to understand the history, severity, circumstances, and intentions surrounding thebehavior, allowing us to help students to develop the skills to regulate emotions andcommunicate their needs to others.GUEST PROFILES:KIRSTEN BOLT, M.ED., LMFTKirsten is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She graduated from Syracuse Universityin 1999, Summa Cum Laude, with a BS in Health and Exercise Science. Instead of following herprojected course to study Biomechanics, she turned west, seeking something that felt missing.That trip landed her in Utah amid stunning red-rock canyons, wide sandy rivers, and abundantsunshine. Kirsten finds wilderness to be a uniquely powerful setting for young people toconnect to themselves, to others, and to their means of contributing to the world.Kirsten finds inspiration observing the landscape, running whitewater rivers, climbingsandstone cracks, mountain biking, trail running, skiing, playing guitar and piano, and spendingquality time with her husband, children, dogs, and cats. Kirsten is humbled daily by herpersonal experiences as a mother, stepmother, and partner, and she believes her clinical workis significantly deeper as a result.TOPICS COVERED:Wilderness Therapy, coping skills, emotional and spiritual growth, self-confidence, emotionalsupport, healing, young adults, recovery support, empowerment, destructive relationships,substance use, personal trauma, family dynamics, oppositional defiance, adoption/attachmentissues, treatment resistance, navigating non-traditional and complex family systems,substance abuse, substance addiction, depression, anxiety, meditation, mindfulness,motivation, self-harm