Music & Expressive Arts Experiential Services

The Camp Recovery Center’s experiential services include writing songs, playing instruments, and listening to music, along with the powerful healing it can bring.  

The Camp Recovery Center accomplishes this by including “Rock to Recovery” groups and processes, which incorporate music and expressive arts as an added experiential modality. This is a powerful part of the overall treatment program components at The Camp Recovery Center. 

This music experiential modality provides those who are seeking recovery with an outlet to express and experience many feelings and emotions that help support the treatment and recovery process. For some, this musical experience is the avenue helping them begin, for the first time, to express feelings when the words to verbalize those feelings could not be found.  

Writing and recording music allows our clients to experience the feeling of accomplishment and creativity, all without the use of alcohol or other drugs. It is also a learning experience, bringing enjoyment and fun without the use of substances.  

Sometimes it also brings up fears and insecurities, which are productive processes to explore while in the treatment environment. After the sessions, these experiences are explored as a part of the recovery journey and woven into the overall treatment process. 

This powerful experiential modality helps people heal and transform their lives through the experience of writing, playing, and performing music as a group. 

In Rock to Recovery, adolescents work together to form a band, using their sessions to write and record an original song and discover the healing power of music. A professional staff of musicians leads the program, using their experience in the music industry and their personal recovery journeys. Adolescents do not need to have any musical experience to benefit from Rock to Recovery, and every song created in the program is anonymously uploaded to Rock to Recovery’s SoundCloud account. Adolescents can leave the program with a new musical outlet and a download of the song they created.  

How Rock to Recovery Started 

In 2012, Wesley Geer, a founding member of the band Hed PE, founded Rock to Recovery. Wes struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and after receiving treatment and staying sober for two years, he took a job as Korn’s touring guitarist. When he returned from touring the world with the band, Wes wanted to bring music into the treatment setting, creating Rock to Recovery. With the help of his musician friends who are also in recovery, Rock to Recovery grew to be a popular therapeutic program in many treatment settings.  

“Rock to Recovery lets me get the emotions out I’ve struggled with my whole life.” 

“I wanted to leave treatment, but told myself, ‘If I can just make it to Rock to Recovery, I’ll be ok.’” 

“I have been depressed and angry for weeks, Rock to Recovery changed that in an instant!”