Adult Therapeutic Rock Climbing

PHYSICAL ENGAGEMENT TO BUILD RESILIENCE AND CALM

If you’re here, then by now you know that not all therapy has to happen in an office or behind a desk. Just like how play therapy offers new and effective ways for children to process and communicate what they need and feel, adults can benefit from additional therapy methods to get in touch with their own needs and how to face them too.

Rock climbing can be an Adventure Therapy modality used to support adults toward personal empowerment, nervous system regulation and calm, and processing conflict, anxieties, and stress. At Ensemble Therapy, we offer therapeutic rock climbing sessions to support adults as well as children, because even if the challenges in your life feel a bit more adult-sized, that doesn’t mean they need any less support.

Stressors, anxiety, questioning — whatever you’re experiencing you can take it to the climbing wall and help yourself transform your feelings into new understanding. Just like how certain types of therapy aim to improve or reestablish a mind-body connection that’s specific to your needs, rock climbing can be a physical therapeutic outlet to further strengthen that connection in a dedicated way.

Ready to clip into your harness and climb your way into a new state of being, understanding, and self regulation?

How can rock climbing be therapeutic?  

Therapeutic rock climbing can offer a somatic experience that translates the physical activity of movement up the wall into lasting changes for the brain and self, including mood-boosting effects, self-esteem building, relational support, and more — things anyone from any age could benefit from!

Especially when used as a complementary activity along with other established psychotherapeutic methods, rock climbing has the possibility to:

  • Offer an outlet for work and home stressors and offer new tools for mental and emotional regulation

  • Create deeper and long-lasting moderation of the severity of the symptoms of depression and anxiety

  • Give new insights to interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts and help process trauma, while allowing for a greater ability to respond and adapt to environmental changes

  • Establish new ways of communicating, including positive supportive language for yourself and others, building self-esteem and a sense of personal empowerment

  • Counter fear-based reactions with new narratives and accept new challenges through a strengths-based lens

  • Learn mindfulness-based coping skills that can increase focus, motivation, and overcoming fears, including breathwork for relaxation, visualization, and nervous system regulation

  • Deepen a connection to your mind, body, and environment

Want to learn about these benefits in detail? Take a peek at our Therapeutic Rock Climbing page for children where we talk about some of the reasoning and scientific support for climbing on and off the climbing wall. Most studies on rock climbing have been done on adults and those social-emotional growth benefits can apply to you too!

Services

Expand your abilities and confidence to new heights in our individualized, adult-focused therapeutic rock climbing sessions at Ensemble Therapy. One-on-one sessions allow your therapist to give you their full focused attention and focus on your needs on the day of, allowing you to choose the level of challenge, risk, and physical exertion to support what you’re feeling inside and out.

Sessions take place at Mesa Rim Austin climbing gym with a safety and belay-certified professional therapist who will take the necessary care and precautions to respect the inherent physical risk of the activity and support your ability to challenge yourself while still remaining safe at the same time.

As part of your therapeutic growth, you will be invited to take one belay class through Mesa Rim in order to become belay certified. Belaying is an essential skill in top-rope climbing, where the belayer holds the safety of their partner in their hands and is an integral component in the trust-based relationship between two climbing partners. Belayers and climbers learn to understand and apply rules of safety and communication together, which apply not only on a wall and can transfer to all kinds of relationships in the rest of life too.

  • Rock Climbing Session, 90 minutes, $220

Additional costs for an adult day pass or membership to the gym, which includes climbing harness and shoe rental, are not included. See our frequently asked questions below for more information.

If you have experienced mild to serious health concerns, we recommend you consult with your physician and medical professionals to determine whether this is the right therapeutic activity for you at this time, and to let us know if any accommodations or modifications need to be made to best meet your needs.

How does the process work?

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How does the process work? ♡

Step 1: FREE 15-MINUTE PHONE CALL (OPTIONAL)

This optional first step is for you if you still feel like you need more information before you move forward with the process. We’ll have a free, 15-minute phone consultation with you to discuss your general questions and concerns. This is not a time where we will assess your specific needs, but rather to help you decide if this is the right therapeutic modality for you at this time.

Step 2: 45 OR 60 MINUTE INITIAL DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT

Prior to getting into the rock climbing gym, you will meet with your therapist for an initial diagnostic assessment. This session is when intake and evaluation takes place, and it lasts either 45 or 60 minutes. You will discuss your concerns and hopes, as well as any prior physical or diagnostic concerns around the therapeutic experience. Your therapist will build a profile of your specific therapeutic needs and assist in the beginning phases of goal setting for treatment planning purposes.

This initial assessment is a guide for goal setting with your therapist during early climbing sessions, and you can return to it as a benchmark throughout your sessions together.

Step 3: THE ROCK CLIMBING!

Based on your treatment plan and goals, you will meet with your therapist on a regular basis at the rock climbing gym to learn the fundamentals of climbing and wall safety and get vertical on the wall! While we suggest taking a tour of the gym prior to the first session, there is always an opportunity to have a walkthrough tour on the first day of sessions to get oriented.

Step 4: GOAL SETTING AND TREATMENT PLAN

During the first few climbing sessions, your therapist will set goals with you, and after the first six sessions, they will establish a treatment plan with you based both on those goals and overall developmental objectives.

Our Approach to
Therapeutic Rock Climbing

Whether you have never strapped into a climbing harness or have scaled a wall or several, we know that existing fears, beliefs, and abilities can come up at all stages of experience. At Ensemble Therapy, our greatest priority is to provide dedicated support that speaks to the realities of your mind and body on the day we see you.

The relationship you build with your therapist during rock climbing sessions, along with any challenges you meet on the wall, can create a positive basis for the relationship you have with yourself and how you bring that relationship.

Our approach comes from a research-based foundation in psychology, education, kinesiology, and biology and research-based intervention strategies to help you climb higher, whatever you plan to scale next.

READY TO GET STARTED?

Meet Our Therapist for Rock Climbing

Shawna West, LPC, NCC, ASDI

Shawna West (she/her/hers) has been an active rock climber for 20+ years, and considers herself a lifetime beneficiary of the therapeutic properties of climbing. Through the sport of climbing, she has developed self-confidence, mindfulness, resilience, and an ability to conquer many fears on the wall and off — essential tools she uses daily to ensure positive growth, stability, and intrapersonal success both for herself and every person she works with.

Shawna is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a National Certified Counselor (NCC), a Certified Autism-Informed Professional (ASDI), and is working towards her Registered Play Therapist™ (RPT™) credential and her Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist (CCAT) credential. Shawna received her Master’s Degree in Professional Counseling from Texas State University (CACREP Accredited Program) and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Texas in Comparative Literature and Women and Gender Studies.

Ready to get climbing with Shawna?

Still have questions?

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Still have questions? ♡

We understand that you might want to know more before you commit to beginning the process of signing up for therapeutic rock climbing for you, and this is also just good information to have!

Here are some of our most frequently asked questions:

  • Each rock climbing session is $220 for 90 minutes. This fee is for the dedicated one-on-one support, supervision, and therapeutic expertise personalized to you and your needs.

    Additional costs that are not included in this fee are an Adult gym day pass to the climbing gym, Mesa Rim Austin ($30), which includes a gear rental package for harness and climbing shoes. All required gym fees will be paid separately to the climbing gym.

  • There are inherent risks in rock climbing just as there are with all sports activities. The rock climbing gym is fully staffed by expertly trained professionals and the facilities are designed for optimal safety. Our rock climbing therapist, Shawna, has taken and passed multiple belay certification tests to prove that she has met safety and efficiency standards for Mesa Rim Austin.

  • Yes, absolutely! Rock climbing is diverse, non-judgmental, identity-affirming, and accepting of any and all human beings who wish to climb. The sport of rock climbing has come a long way in efforts to build better practices of inclusivity. It is not uncommon to enter a climbing gym or an outdoor climbing area and find people of different races, cultures, religions, genders, and sexualities. Rock climbing is accessible to individuals who are neurodiverse or neurodivergent, disabled, blind/legally blind/low vision, Deaf and hard of hearing, and even those who use a wheelchair. The list goes on!

  • If you’d like to get a feel in person before your first session, then we recommend visiting the Mesa Rim Austin climbing gym for a personal tour, viewing images from their website, or using the internet to find inspirational videos of rock climbing. No matter how much “homework” you like to do in advance, your therapist will work with you at whatever level of experience and ability you arrive with that day, and go from there. The experience is entirely personalized to you and your needs.


    Our therapist Shawna encourages anyone interested in therapeutic rock climbing to read her blog post, “Rock Climbing is Therapeutic?” to learn more about the purpose and potential benefits, and if you want to learn more of the mechanics, websites and videos can help but are certainly not prerequisites for showing up your first time.

  • Reach out to us and we can have a free 15-minute consult call to answer any additional questions and concerns you might have before moving forward with the process. There’s no pressure or obligation to sign up on that call, just an opportunity to get more clarity to help whatever decision you make easier.