Axis Mundi Center for Mental Health — Thresholds Program

About

The Thresholds Wilderness Rites of Passage Program operates under the Axis Mundi Center for Mental Health in Oakland, California, offering nine-day backpacking journeys designed as contemporary rites of passage with clinical psychological oversight. The program is distinguished by its integration of licensed psychotherapy with wilderness immersion, employing guides who hold credentials as licensed marriage and family therapists alongside wilderness first responder certifications and over fifteen years of backcountry leadership experience. Drawing on archetypal psychology, the hero's journey, and ecotherapeutic modalities, Thresholds asks participants to move beyond conventional therapeutic settings into direct encounter with the natural world as a mirror for psychic transformation. The program incorporates solo ceremonial work, shadow exploration, and somatic practices within the container of extended wilderness exposure. Participants engage in daily reflection, group process, and individual inquiry while traversing wild landscapes that serve as both setting and co-therapist. The program is designed for adults age twenty and older of all genders who are seeking clarity around developmental transitions, identity questions, and the desire for a more authentic relationship with self and world.

Depth Orientation

The Thresholds program integrates archetypal psychology with wilderness immersion, drawing on hero's journey frameworks, shadow work, and psyche-nature connection. Guides are licensed marriage and family therapists with wilderness first responder certifications, providing clinical oversight to a rites-of-passage structure that asks participants to engage with what the program calls 'archetypal and deviant beings' encountered through solo ceremonial work in wild terrain.

Treatment Modalities

Program Details

Best for

• Life transitions
• Identity exploration
• Shadow work
• Young adult development
• Existential questioning

Notable Clinicians

• Lauren Hoernig, LMFT, WFR — Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Wilderness First Responder, program guide

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