Therapist
Dan Rafferty is a Master’s level clinical mental health counselor. He earned his Master of Arts degree from Antioch University in Seattle. Dan first joined a wilderness therapy program in 2003 when he worked as a field instructor for youth and adolescents in Idaho. He witnessed firsthand the impact and ability of therapeutic wilderness programs to affect meaningful change experientially, emotionally, and mentally. He was known for a caring attitude with his students and a commitment to the work. Dan logged nearly 450 nights in the field within his first 2 ½ years. After Dan was promoted to field supervisor, which was the therapeutic leader for the students and contact point for parents of students in the program, Dan turned his focus to enhanced group management, individualized treatment and family systems work. Dan also provided clinical training to the field staff facilitating ways to implement treatment outcomes with respect and high standards of expectations. In graduate school, Dan received training in cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, existential and trauma-focused therapies. He completed an internship at the Tulalip reservation in Marysville, WA. Dan has had a love for narrative from the time he was an English major at Haverford College (PA) and loves to work with stories, myths, and metaphors. His hope is that students at True North arrive at a greater understanding of themselves, the stories they tell, and the stories they may still want to unfold about their own lives.
In his personal time, Dan is working on his cooking skills, is trying to get past Wednesday on the NY Times crossword, cross country skis in the winter, and is in semi-retirement from rock climbing.