Three of Brandon Moffitt's former wilderness therapy students still reach out to him, fifteen years later. He remembers all of their faces, and the same question each of them asked near the end of their time in his program: do I have to leave?
Brandon is a clinical mental health counselor at Black Mountain Academy and Intrepid Young Adults in North Carolina, and the founder of the Autism Symposium, an annual gathering for professionals who work with autistic youth. He grew up with undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia himself, and has spent over twenty years building teams around neurodivergent young people.
In this conversation, Brandon talks candidly about real criticism of the wilderness therapy field, what it actually takes to build a support team around one young person, and why he still believes hope and joy belong in even the hardest parts of this work.
In this episode:
The formative question — “do I have to leave?” — behind his approach to care
An honest look at criticism of wilderness therapy, then and now
Growing up with undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia
The false dichotomy of parental credit and blame
What a weekly “core team” meeting looks like in practice
Why he founded the Autism Symposium to train other professionals
One small, concrete way to reconnect with nature today
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