Strategic Advising & Speaking
From state mental health systems, universities, and conferences globally to local nonprofits, we deliver keynotes and training nationwide.
Keynote Speaker
Nature for the Good Life
Forest School, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 2023
Born from the gaps in youth mental health care, this talk outlines a field-tested framework that moves therapy out of stigmatizing buildings and into nature. A small team of clinicians and trained mentors meets high-need teens weekly outdoors, building authentic relationships, using embodied challenges, and guiding service to others—the “Four Roots” of change. Results: exceptional engagement (months to a year+), measurable drops in distress, better regulation and family relationships, and a path off crisis cycles. In short: community-based, nature-powered care that actually keeps kids coming back—and getting better.
Medical Backyard: Healing Trauma in California’s Outdoors
ACEs Aware Learning Network, 2022
At the February 2022 ACEs Aware Learning Network teleconference, Founder and Executive Director Peter Mayfield speaks of Gateway Mountain Center’s innovative Whole Hearts, Minds & Bodies program, in which highly trained paraprofessionals under the supervision of licensed clinicians treat youth suffering from serious emotional disturbance and complex trauma.
Learn about the neuroscience that supports the Whole Hearts, Minds & Bodies 4Roots approach, and the proven therapeutic and economic advantages of moving “out of the clinic and into the woods” to address the mental crisis among our youth.
Thought Leadership
Out of the Clinic and Into the Woods
Moving out of the clinic and into the woods removes the stigma associated with mental health care. It also alleviates pressure on the conventional system of therapeutic care, which is struggling to meet the tremendous need among today's youth. After years of successfully treating young people suffering from serious emotional disturbance and complex trauma, we at Gateway Mountain Center are of the conviction that skillfully supported and shared experiences in nature can address the developmental needs young people have and forge the connections in brain and body that neuroscience shows to be crucial for wholeness and wellbeing.
The Rewards of Rough Ground
Immersed in nature, on the path of adventure in rough terrain, kids at Gateway Mountain Center’s camps grow by leaps and bounds. They develop social and emotional awareness as they support one another in facing challenges. They experience the spark of awe and curiosity and the flow of play — all key for generating health, self-efficacy and resilience in their lives.
Peter Mayfield - NBC Headstrong
From teenage rock-climbing guide in Yosemite to founder of Gateway Mountain Center, this story traces a lifelong belief in the power of mountain adventures to transform lives. Climbing, snowshoeing, kayaking, even crossing a creek on a log—all tap into the body’s balance and sensory systems, strengthening self-awareness and resilience. For young people carrying trauma, these “embodied peak experiences” offer more than thrills: they build grit, expand self-efficacy, and nurture healing. At the edge of fear and courage, step by step, nature helps strengthen the sense of self that makes lasting change possible.
