The authors describe a model of psychological depth and present some general principles that will enable adventure practitioners to manage the psychological level in the groups for which they are responsible. These principles call for the leader to pay attention to their language and the language of group participants. In particular, attention should be paid to four main criteria.
The first of these criteria is an indication of the way in which the participant is involved in the topic under discussion. The second criterion is derived from paying attention to the nature of relationships that are embedded in the participant's conversation. The third criterion is the level of emotional arousal experienced by the participant; no involvement indicating shallow psychological levels and stronger emotional arousal indicating increasing depth. The fourth criterion for assessing psychological depth is a measure of the normal bounds of confidentiality and privacy with which the subject under discussion would normally be treated.
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