Index to Group Games

Experiential Learning

Adventure-based Counseling (ABC)

James Neill
Last updated:
10 Mar 2007

Adventure-based Counseling (ABC) has emerged as a group-based, adventure-based approach to personal development and therapeutic activity.  ABC has been developed by Project Adventure and become more widely used due to Project Adventure publications, programs, and trainings.

Important principles of ABC include (for fuller accounts see the books by Schoel, Prouty, & Radcliffe, 1988; Schoel & Maizell, 2002):

• Full Value Contract
• Adventure Wave
• Challenge by Choice

Together, the Full Value Contract and Challenge by Choice principles, have become the most used and most adaptable/transporting principles of adventure education for application in a wide variety of settings.  For example, the Browne Center programs use these two central principles:

• "Challenge by Choice" means that individuals can choose their level of participation (mental or physical) in any activity. We emphasize the importance of staying involved as a group member, since it is often too easy to remove oneself during unfamiliar and challenging situations.

• "Full Value Contract" is an agreement among group members to value one's own ideas and needs without ignoring or discounting others.

References

Schoel, J., & Maizell, R. (2002). Exploring islands of healing: New perspectives on adventure based counseling. Beverly, MA: Project Adventure.

Schoel, J., Prouty, D., & Radcliffe, P. (1988). Islands of healing: A guide to adventure based counseling. Hamilton, MA: Project Adventure.