This past week, the Catholic Charities Counseling Program hosted their inaugural summer camp: “Thriving Youth: A Therapeutic Summer Camp.” The weeklong program aimed to teach mindfulness and emotional regulation in a fun, stimulating environment!
Clinical Director Ruth DeVito wanted to start the camp after realizing that many middle school aged children would benefit from a different kind of summer camp. She stated, “I want to give the kids a chance to continue learning over the summer. The overall goal is to do some teamwork, make some friends, and have fun, but we also want them to learn about their emotions and how they can stay regulated when school is out.” In addition, Ruth noted that the continual development of these skills is important for children who may only have access to counseling services during the school year.
With activities like “Back-to-Back Communication,” and “Decompress Dance,” the camp offered a balanced mix of active and sedentary learning opportunities. Ruth continued, “We did mindfulness activities and discussed how mindful movement helps us throughout the day. We also learned communication, conflict resolution skills, and about our zones of regulation and how to get back into a calm zone.”
Additionally, the campers created a positive-negative wall. One half of the wall is filled with negative words and phrases, contrasted by positive phrases and bright colors on the other. Ruth explained, “Early in the week we talked about how sometimes we have negative self-talk that stops us from doing things. Fears that make us feel stuck in place. So, we worked through some of the language we use on ourselves and came up with positive words to replace them, and then we made our positive-negative wall as a visual representation of that process.”
Aside from learning activities, campers played creative games and took a field trip to the Museum of Natural Sciences. Looking back on the week, Ruth stated, “It went well. Overall, the kids enjoyed it, and I am happy to say that they got something out of it, and we’re all really looking forward to next year!”
