Mental health professionals at camp

Campers and staff do not necessarily leave these issues at home when they arrive at camp. Since most camp staff are not trained mental health professionals and those with a social work, education, or counseling background are often consumed by the daily operations of camp, addressing these issues can be difficult.

Several years ago, the directors of Camp CHI, in Lake Delton, Wisconsin, recognized that this gap in staffing made adequately addressing the mental health needs of campers and staff difficult. By collaborating with the Jewish Children's Bureau, a child welfare agency, Camp CHI, which is sponsored by the Jewish Community Center of Chicago, was able to arrange for at least one full-time social worker to join the summer staff of the overnight camp.

This summer, Camp CHI and the seven day camps affiliated with the Jewish Community Center of Chicago each had a clinical camp consultant on staff.

The Program's Beginnings

To implement the program, the Jewish Children's Bureau designated their coordinator of psychological services, a psychologist with many years of camp experience as a camper, counselor, unit leader, and previous clinical consultant, to serve as the coordinator of the clinical camp consultant program. The coordinator attended monthly camp director meetings and met individually with different camp administrators to assess the camps' needs. By allowing information to be gathered, ensuring good communication between the two agencies, and addressing concerns or questions each camp director had regarding how this type of service would be implemented, the clinical consultant staff position was integrated into the camp team.

During this precamp phase, camps assessed how many hours each week they would need a clinical consultant. Services ranged from one hour to fifteen hours per week depending on the size of the day camp. The overnight camp, which hosts approximately 450 campers each session, required at least one full-time social worker for the entire summer.

Selecting staff

The coordinator selected various types of professionals to serve as clinical camp consultants - a term selected to capture the range of professionals providing services and to sound less threatening than, for instance, camp psychologist. The majority of these individuals were community-based workers currently employed by Jewish Children's Bureau. The consultants were supervised and trained by the coordinator. Qualifications of a clinical camp consultant included:

* previous work experience with children

* camp experience (preferred but not required)

* a minimum of a graduate social service degree

Prior to camp, the consultants went through a training process. Training included two group meetings to review necessary documentation, to distribute information on each camp and its director, and to discuss case study material on various camp topics (i.e., scapegoating, ADHD, and staff conflicts). Each consultant was given a manual that contained necessary documentation forms, resource materials, and information on identifying physical or sexual abuse at various developmental stages. Consultants were instructed to contact the camp to set up a meeting with the director, to establish a schedule for the summer, and to prepare a plan to effectively integrate the consultant into the program.

The Consultant's Role at Camp

During the precamp season, the consultant was responsible for establishing a working relationship with the camp's administration and reviewing the camp's needs for the summer, including developing a schedule and determining the consultant's role during staff training. During staff training, each camp had typically set aside time to introduce the camp consultant and explain her role. In addition, many consultants did training sessions on behavior management, listening skills, and ADHD.

Helping with camp issues

Throughout the summer, camp consultants dealt with a variety of issues. Mental health professionals at both the day camps and the resident camp encountered similar concerns, but consultants at the resident camp also handled problems with homesickness and campers having difficulty adjusting to group living. Consultants provided assistance on:

* campers having difficulty adjusting to camp or separating from parents

* behavior problems, including hitting, biting, pinching, straying from the group, or bullying

* family issues such as divorce or a recent death in the family

* socialization problems frequently related to a pre-existing emotional problem or developmental delay

* ADD and ADHD

* abuse or neglect

The consultant often assisted counselors by observing a group for an extended period of time and giving feedback on group dynamics. After the observation period, the consultant, counselor, and, at times, unit leader would meet to review the feedback and brainstorm possible interventions for the group. Typically these interventions were creative projects for the group to do together or suggestions to the counselor for motivating or managing the group more effectively.