Once upon a time, in Houston Texas, a motivated group of 15 people gathered in Cindi Walker's living room to create their vision for the future. Out of that gathering on November 3, 1989... TERA was born. Tim Kempfe, Joe McMann, Pat George, Audie Hicks, Donnie Rice, Dave Hill, Charles LaTorre, Laura McNew, Kelli Soileau, Jorge Gonzales, Steve Turner, Holly Clark, Mary LaTorre, Brook Bickford and of course Cindi Walker were the founding members who helped establish TERA into the great organization that it is today. Monthly meetings continued throughout the year and the first TERA officers were elected, a mission statement was developed and four goals were set for this new organization.

Texas Experiential Ropes Association was established to provide leadership as a professional organization in developing and maintaining standards and ethics for Experiential ROPES Therapy in the state of Texas,land, through networking, to share information that will continue to benefit us all as professionals in this field.  In 2008, the name of the association was changed to better reflect the membership and the goals of the association.  The name was changed to Texas Experiential Resources Association, inc.

The four initial goals that were set for this organization were as follows:

1. To establish a reputable and active statewide professional organization, with regional and/or local chapters.
   
2. To participate in the development of a set of standards of practice, technical skills and course construction, in an effort to further legitimize the area of Experiential ROPES.
   
3. To contribute, as an organization, to establishing credentialing or licensing process for all those practicing in our profession.
   
4. To create an environment, via meetings, workshops, and retreats that offers opportunity for learning, sharing and growth.