Providence St. Peter Chemical Dependency Center offers an exciting, dynamic solution to help improve team performance and cohesiveness. The Challenge Course is privately located on our 18-acre facility in Lacey, Washington, and provides an unlimited number of experiential challenges using thirteen course elements which require group communication, cooperation and problem solving for success.
Skills learned through participation in experiential challenge programs are widely applicable, and can be easily adapted to fit the specifics of the group. Groups of all ages from corporations, small businesses, schools, government agencies, churches or social service programs can benefit from common themes covered through structured activities at The Challenge Course:
- Adapting to change
- Trust building
- Exploring diversity
- Resource management
- Support
- Teambuilding
- Motivation
- Leadership styles
- Managing conflict
- Planning & Preparation
- "Out-of-the-box" thinking
- Giving & receiving feedback
- Goal setting & goal achieving
- Creative problem solving
A certified facilitator structures each training to meet the unique goals of the group. A “Challenge of Choice” philosophy allows participants to safely and comfortably participate at different levels during activities:
Level 1: Activities to loosen up a group and provide new information about each other; games and stretching exercises which prepare the group for physical activities.
Level 2: Fun activities that get participants involved as a group, and get the group to let go, and do something out of the ordinary.
Level 3: Spotting instruction and practice to provide a human safety net for the person(s) doing the activity. Technique is taught through basic games and activities, and then modified or added to as the demands of specific elements require.
Level 4: Initiatives that offer clearly defined challenges using course elements. Each task is designed so a group must employ cooperation and teamwork for success. Challenges are both cognitive and physical, and require group member participation at different levels for success.
Debriefing Activities
Participants address each Course initiative together, to take advantage of the combined physical and mental strengths of the team. All of the challenges have measurable results, and therefore provide direct, dependable, realistic, and useful feedback to your team. Team members know when they have succeeded, and, more importantly, how they succeeded.
Following each initiative, group members participate in a debrief of the activity. The facilitator and participants will inventory skills learned, successes experienced, and barriers identified, and discuss the relevance of this knowledge away from the course, in the teams normal environment.
Course Safety & Certification
To ensure the highest level of participant experience, all facilitators of The Challenge Course complete rigorous certification and renewal courses through the 4-H Challenge program. Additionally, Providence St. Peter Chemical Dependency Center maintains membership with organizations involved in Challenge Course technology:
Association of Challenge Course Technology: Implementing design and safety standards for safe challenge course operation.
Project Adventure: Since 1971, Project Adventure has supported the challenge course industry through design, construction, safety, and training advances.
Northwest Challenge Course Network: A local association of challenge course operators and facilitators, focused on safety and knowledge sharing.
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