UBA Staff
Clifton Hicks, PhD, LCSW
UBA Executive Director
SOMEWHERE AROUND 50,000 YEARS AGO…
… a group of San People took their first steps and walked out of Africa, venturing into unknown places across the globe and giving birth to adventure. Since then, we have relied on this spirit of adventure in our genetic inheritance to advance and improve virtually every aspect of our lives.
Unaware of the potential dangers, I took my first steps across a very busy Washington Street in Boston at the tender age of four. It was my first real adventure and all I can remember was feeling very happy and content in the world. My mother however, did not share my ebullience.
Despite her disquietude, my mother somehow understood that it was better to nurture my spirit of adventure than to dampen it. She enrolled me in summer camp in New Hampshire. Camp Hale is designed for inner-city youth and run by Boston's United South End Settlements. Camp Hale encouraged my spirit of adventure in the outdoors, lifting my mother of this tremendous burden much to her relief. The greatest benefit was the relationships and bonds that were forged both with people and nature during those formative years, which are as real and fresh to me today as they were when they first began.
When Dennis Moran asked me to co-lead a rock climbing group with him years later, it was an easy sell. As Outreach Counselors in Weymouth, Massachusetts, we took youths climbing at the Quincy Quarries and in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There I saw how rock climbing was more than just a unique outdoor activity — it fostered healthy relationships and individual development as well. That was in 1988.
Since then, I’ve merged my passion of being in nature with the joy of outdoor rock climbing and my training as a clinical social worker to create Urban-based Adventures (UBA). I have since extended and expanded the UBA experience to children, youth, and families living in the San Francisco Bay Area to treat trauma and ACEs.
I am proud to say I have had the privilege of working directly with over 400 children, youth, and their families from coast to coast in urban-based programs with many positive results.
The great news is that the results of my direct service and scholarly work not only support the research findings of the past 70 years but also indicate that children, youth and families feel and function better after participating in UBA — and programs like it — even today.
We are very pleased and highly encouraged by these results and continue to access and rely on nature to enhance the treatment experience, improve mental health outcomes and increase the overall well being of children, youth and their families living in urban communities.
- Dr. Clifton Hicks
Sekayi Edwards, LMFT
UBA Clinical Director
AS A CHILD, I ALWAYS HAD A STRONG SENSE OF ADVENTURE AND A DESIRE TO EXPLORE THE OUTDOORS.
Access to the kinds of wilderness experiences I imagined were not immediate to me, therefore books, movies, and video games served as my imaginary outlet for adventure. Although the desire to be in the wild had grown with me through adulthood, my concern for safety had grown with it, too.
My biggest challenge then became managing my hypervigilance, which led me to prefer the safety of my inner and imaginary world, though it wasn't just uncertainty of being in nature that concerned me. As a black male, I fought against the threat of stereotype, almost believing that never seeing those who looked like me on the mountains and trails meant that I did not belong. How could I fare in nature if I couldn't trust those around me to help if it was needed?
With conscious effort, I broke through my justifiable fear and asked for support from friends, locals, and outdoor enthusiasts. To my surprise I was met with welcome and enthusiasm that matched the spirit of my childhood dreams. It didn't erase my fear, but it helped me recognize the importance of working through it by connecting with others. My connection to nature has thus been as important as my connection to people. This is the power of UBA — a bridge to others and the outside world — that which connects us all.
My introduction to UBA was through shadowing Dr. Hicks as a new hire at a Community Mental Health Clinic in San Francisco. The goal of my participation was to get to know members of the team, our clients, and various services offered. These goals far exceeded my expectations as I left with an even greater spirit of hope and understanding of the healing power of adventure, community, and the outdoors.
As more opportunities to support Dr. Hicks presented themselves, I gladly heeded the call. That summer, I joined as a co-facilitator for a group of older teens — black males who, much like I did, had not seen themselves reflected in the design or use of the city's outdoor spaces. It was a reminder that before even reaching the rock climbing walls, the environment was rife with threats to our being. Healing and corrective experiences, such as those provided by UBA, are necessary to repair our sense of displacement, alienation, and harm to restore the sense of self, belonging, and connection to something bigger.
UBA focuses on supporting agency and mastery to mitigate risks inherent in hiking and rock climbing by bring together those who are oriented towards our individual and collective growth. The renewed sense of knowledge, safety, and trust that UBA affords allows participants to access a new part of themselves, their relationships, and environments as they reach for new personal heights.
- Sekayi Edwards
Gabrielle Duhl, MSW
UBA Program Director
IT ALL STARTED WHEN…
I was first introduced to UBA in graduate school at California Institute of Integral Studies. In Dr. Hicks' class, I expressed my love for climbing and it’s healing potential when recovering from a traumatic brain injury. I had the opportunity to witness and assist Dr. Hicks' work with youth through volunteering with UBA. Within the first session, I was committed to integrating rock climbing into therapeutic experiences. It became the focus of my academic papers and the highlight of my weeks.
I knew climbing outdoors was transformative through my own experiences and sharing stories and adventures with others. I felt my relationship to my mind, body and spirit grow and develop in ways I did not know was possible. I began to understand the ways in which climbing inherently offered opportunities to build relationships with the self and peers, as well as develop new levels of trust, control, and mastery. My passion is to bring climbing to youth as a tool to foster growth and connection. In the Bay Area, there are various outdoor climbing places that are free to access and can provide endless adventures and fun.
- Gabrielle Duhl
Education:
Bachelors of Arts, Psychology, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
Masters in Counseling, Expressive Arts Therapy, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
Kai Scott
UBA Coach
I’VE ALWAYS HAD A LOVE OF THE OUTDOORS.
I practically grew up on Angel Island, and spend my time now running in Golden Gate Park, and riding my bike through the hills of Marin. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to spend lots of time exploring the Bay Area, and it’s been exciting for me to find pieces of nature in our urban landscape. Learning that outdoor climbing was possible in Glen Park was astounding to me. My experience with climbing to that point had just been indoor walls with very controlled environments. There was something intriguing about going outside, having to build an anchor, and then putting trust in your belayer to keep you safe, and UBA has shown me what good outdoor climbing can be. I’ve also really enjoyed getting to know some of the people who participate in the program. I think I’m extroverted at heart, and it’s been wonderful for me to connect with students, both my age and younger, who are out trying climbing, facing challenges, and taking a risk. My first time on an outdoor wall (where pebbles fell when I stepped and plants stuck out at me) was nerve-wracking, and some of the people I’ve talked to have told me that they felt similarly. Yet, on every climbing trip I’ve been on, almost everyone was willing to give it a go. Seeing people who have never climbed try, on an outdoor wall, and the fact I get to be a part of their process has been deeply fulfilling for me. I’m grateful to be a part of this program.
- Kai