Conversations with Dr Jen - EP4 Kate O’Brien

The Adventure Syndicate Podcasts

Conversations with Dr Jen is a podcast exploring how spending time outdoors and having adventures has help people overcome different challenges in their lives. It’s about promoting the health benefits of the outdoors, drawing on theory and personal experience and inspiring people to find adventures of their own. No matter how big or small.

In this episode, Dr Jen interviews Kate O'Brien, Project Manager for Outward Bound and Expedition Coordinator for The Adventure Syndicate. Kate is currently working on the Generation Green Project which seeks to improve nature connection for young people, primarily through looking at the 5 pathways to nature connection discussed in the Podcast.

Kate also tells us about the Overnight on a School Night programme which she runs for The Adventure Syndicate as well as the wilderness therapy programmes she works on. We talk about the tendency for young females to drop out of sport in their teenage years and the value of engaging them with the outdoors and sport through an overnight bikepacking expedition. We also talk about the value of wilderness therapy for young people with mental health difficulties and the transformative effects of nature and the wilderness. Kate shares some stories of the transformations she has witnessed as well as some of the tribulations and gives you some tips for planning your own adventure.

Hosted and edited by Jenni Myers, founder of The Nature Mind, an online ecotherapy resource.