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Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors


Aug 27, 2019

Dr. Justine O'Donnell is a psychologist who specializes in performing neuropsychological evaluations for young people while they are enrolled in wilderness therapy programs.  Justine started her journey into the wilderness therapy field as a field guide at SUWS of Idaho.  When she started at SUWS field guides would go out into the field for three weeks at a time.  She shares her story of being a field guide, then becoming a licensed psychologist and returning to the field.  She was a clinician at SUWS of Idaho and True North Wilderness Therapy.  She is now a psychologist who does neuropsychological testing with students at wilderness therapy programs all over the country.  She shares how she felt that "being a woman working in the wilderness therapy field was very empowering"  and how her closest relationships are still from her days as a field guide.