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Experiential Therapies

Therapeutic Approaches Supporting Your Growth

Experiential therapies are all about healing in action. At Cumberland Heights, we offer an array of therapeutic approaches for your unique journey.

Hiking or outdoor adventure therapy session with a guide, emphasizing experiential healing and personal growth in nature.

Adventure
Therapy

Adventure Therapy

Adventure Therapy is, in essence, the use of energizing experiences to improve mental and physical health. The practice is flexible; it can take place indoors or outdoors and in rural or urban settings. By using experiences that are active and engaging, adventure therapy mirrors real-life instances that occur outside of standard talk therapy sessions. Clients learn basic survival skills, coping strategies and interpersonal skills that they can then apply to their lives outside of treatment. The basic premise, according to the Association for Experiential Education, is that a person can learn more effectively when all senses are engaged in the learning process and when he/she is directly involved in the process.

Adventure therapy at Cumberland Heights may include our high and low ropes courses, our climbing wall, our big swing element, and more.

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Engaging experiential therapies at Cumberland Heights to support addiction recovery through art, music, and outdoor activities that promote healing and personal growth.

Art
Therapy

Art Therapy

Art therapy is useful to people undergoing addiction treatment because it provides them with ways to understand and cope with these feelings. It is not necessarily easy for everyone to discuss or even articulate what they are feeling. This is what makes art therapy so effective during addiction treatment. There is no need to verbalize painful thoughts or struggle to find the right words to describe feelings. Rather, art therapy eliminates these obstacles and allows recovering addicts to express their inner issues and emotions in a visual manner. In recent years, art therapy has been one of Cumberland Heights’ fastest growing forms of expressive therapy.

Our art therapist, Rebecca Sledge (LPC-MHSP, ATR) may facilitate a group or individual session in which you’re invited to explore your feelings or a particular topic through the use of different art media and the creative process. She states, “Art therapy can be a great way for a person to walk through their experiences, emotions, and issues which led to and worsened their addiction.”

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Relaxation and mindfulness are key components of experiential therapies at Cumberland Heights, helping clients manage stress and promote emotional healing.

Relapse Prevention Education

Relapse Prevention

Relapse Prevention Education

Addiction is a chronic disease that requires continuous recovery management. At Cumberland Heights, every patient is educated on relapse prevention, which includes exploring life events and patterns that contribute to relapse, recognizing personal triggers and warning signs, and creating a tailored relapse prevention plan.

Relapse prevention counselors provide a supportive environment and specialized guidance to help individuals address and resolve the underlying issues that hinder progress in recovery, empowering them to move forward with confidence.

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Healing through experiential therapies such as art, music, and outdoor activities at Cumberland Heights to support addiction recovery and mental health treatment.

Labyrinth
Experience

Labyrinth Experience

A central part of recovery is that of finding daily spiritual practices that help you feel connected to your concept of a Higher Power, yourself, and others. Several types of spiritual practices are introduced to patients while at Cumberland Heights.

The Labyrinth is not a maze. There is no getting lost or having to find your way out. It is simply an intentional walk in—leaving the worries and fears of daily life behind in an attempt to get closer to the Center—the Center of your Higher Power, yourself, or however you define it.

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Relaxing guitar therapy session as part of experiential therapies for addiction recovery at Cumberland Heights.

Music
Therapy

Music Therapy

Music therapy has been used for decades in the treatment of various physical, mental, and neurological diseases. Research shows that sessions with a trained music therapist have aided in the rehabilitation of patients with addiction, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and depression.

Our group-based music therapy may involve activities such as developing a compilation, writing lyrics for a song, or creating a playlist of relaxing music for personal stress reduction. Improvising on instruments may be used to tap into creativity or deep emotions.

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Meditation and mindfulness practice as part of experiential therapies for addiction recovery at Cumberland Heights.

Yoga
Therapy

Yoga

At Cumberland Heights, we teach Y12SR (Yoga and 12-Step Recovery), a method that puts together the wisdom of traditional yoga, the practical tools of 12-Step programs, and research on neurobiology and trauma healing. This holistic therapy supports the rest of the treatment experience—and it’s easy! You don’t have to be a human pretzel to benefit. With classes available in community settings across the U.S., this is a practice you can take with you on your recovery journey. Over time, this often becomes a deeper way to experience trust in yourself and your body as the source of wisdom it was always meant to be.

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Relaxing outdoor therapy session with nature, trees, and a winding path, emphasizing experiential therapies for healing and recovery.

Therapeutic
Recreation

Therapeutic Recreation

Everything from warm-up exercises in our workout room to basketball or volleyball in the gym, to tai chi or walks on our beautiful campus trails is on the agenda. The idea is to find what you like and do it. We don’t miss special events either. We love to celebrate recovery and life in general with water balloon fights, field days, and holiday celebrations. The point is that eating well, exercising, and sleeping well can be fun, as well as good for you.

At Cumberland Heights, we provide a variety of therapeutic recreation activities, including a full-size gym, basketball, pool tables, ping-pong tables, free weights, and more. We believe incorporating fun and hobbies is an essential part of your recovery journey.

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Relaxation and mindfulness activities at Cumberland Heights, supporting experiential therapies for addiction recovery and mental health treatment.

Mindfulness
Meditation

Mindfulness Meditation

At Cumberland Heights, we see mindfulness meditation as a spiritual tool that can be used by anyone of any faith or none. In our weekly sessions, as well as an additional session on Sunday, you’ll be introduced to some simple exercises that you can take with you to practice alone as well as with others. We find that the more this simple practice is developed, the more results you’ll see.

There’s a long history of research that documents the benefits of mindfulness on overall health, stress reduction, as well as reducing anxiety and depression. There is also a developing body of knowledge that shows that regular mindfulness practice decreases relapse by helping us better manage people or places that trigger us, as well as reducing and managing cravings. Mindfulness also gives us tools to slow down so we don’t take impulsive action we may regret later.

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Image of a drum used in experiential therapies for addiction recovery and emotional healing at Cumberland Heights.

Therapeutic Drumming Circles

Therapeutic Drumming

Therapeutic Drumming Circles

Providing patients with a hands-on and auditory experience that fosters a sense of connection and belonging.

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Engaging experiential therapy session with a participant using ropes and physical activities to promote emotional healing and personal growth.

Somatic Movement

Somatic
Movement

Somatic Movement

Substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders can cause us to feel out of touch with our bodies, depriving us of important information needed for recovery. Somatic movement reintroduces us to our bodies in a safe and fun manner. A type of mindfulness that is applied to physical activity, somatic movement focuses on how the body feels rather than on form or competition.  It can range from simple stretching to moving your body to express feelings and freeform movement to music or Filipino fight stick dancing. You may even notice elements of yoga and tai chi mixed in too! The end result of these groups is an increased feeling of ease in your body and the beginnings of trust in the instincts and intuition with which you were born.

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Healing hands holding a heart, symbolizing compassion and emotional support in experiential therapies at Cumberland Heights.

Sound
Healing

Sound Healing

Using Tibetan singing bowls and other tools, this practice demonstrates the profound impact of sound on our well-being, teaching participants how it can be used to soothe the mind and body.

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Engaging experiential therapies session with a person writing in a journal to promote healing and recovery.

Writing for
Healing

Writing for Healing

From The Porch Writing Collective’s Writers for Good, this practice encourages self-reflection and personal expression through writing while fostering healing through the shared experience of storytelling in a supportive community.

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Healing circle activity with three people holding hands, symbolizing connection and support in experiential therapies at Cumberland Heights.

Relapse
Group

Relapse Group

For individuals who have experienced a period of recovery but have returned to active addiction, we offer dedicated relapse-specific group therapy. We create a supportive space for participants to explore relapse triggers, build effective coping strategies, and reinforce their commitment to long-term recovery.

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A calming illustration of a tangled ball of yarn connected to a smiling, organized ball representing emotional clarity and therapeutic progress in experiential therapies.

Specialty
Groups

Specialty Groups

Alongside our Relapse Group, we provide a range of Specialty Groups tailored to specific populations, including the Vocational Specialty Services Group (for professionals like nurses, pilots, counselors, teachers, and attorneys), Healthcare Providers Group (for physicians, dentists, pharmacists, etc.), Veterans Group, and Pride Group (for LGBTQ+ individuals). We are also excited to launch a BIPOC Group (Black and Indigenous People of Color)—coming soon!

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The Admissions Process

At Cumberland Heights we understand every patient has unique needs. Our experienced staff will develop a personalized treatment plan based on past traumas and/or other co-occurring illnesses.
Call Today: 800-646-9998
Call: 800-646-9998
Call Us

You're taking the first step on your path to recovery. Reach out to us by phone or by submitting the form below to initiate the admission process. Our team is available to answer your questions and provide the support you need to get started.

Confidential Assessment

Speak with our admissions team and complete a confidential assessment to discuss your needs and challenges. This step helps us determine the most appropriate level of care and treatment options.

Schedule Your Admission

We ensure transparency and support from the start. After setting a treatment plan, we will schedule your admission, clarify any financial responsibilities, and help you find the right care - no matter who it's with.









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