Summer camp options for struggling teens   

It makes sense that you are thinking about summer camp for your child, given that they have not had the best year in school. 

While they may eke by with passing grades, they are not thriving, and you are looking for an opportunity to put them in a better spot to be successful next September.  This is likely why many parents think about summer camp. 

It can be an opportunity to unplug from technology, be immersed in nature, and have fun while building lifelong friendships.  Many people have transformative life experiences that occur at many of the wonderful summer camps that exist out there.  However, sometimes our kids need more. 

So how do we know if summer camp is not enough?  

When is summer camp not enough?

Sometimes a child’s struggles throughout the school year may warrant a summer intervention that goes beyond what summer camp can offer.  Summer camps are wonderful organizations usually staffed by college-age counselors who have little to no training in mental health, and most camps do not have a resident therapist or mental health practitioner. 

Summer camps offer wonderful experiences but do not have the intentionality, scaffolding, structure, and individualized attention of a therapeutic program.  Tt might be time to consider a therapeutic placement over the summer if your child has struggled throughout the school year with any of the following:

• significant anxiety or depression
• school refusal
• Social struggles
• oppositional behavior
• Substance use
• Suicidal ideation
• Self-harm
• technology addiction

How is Summit Achievement different than summer camp?  

When I first came to Summit Achievement as a direct-care staff 20 years ago, I had almost a decade of experience at summer camps.  I quickly learned that the largest difference was in the intentionality and intensity of the experience.  I experienced many transformative moments as a summer camp counselor. I’m sure my campers did, too:  Beautiful sunsets, reflections by the campfire, the satisfaction of reaching a summit or completing a long portage, etc.   However, we awkwardly had no idea how to talk about any of them meaningfully.  We certainly weren’t connecting back to a camper’s specific treatment issues or extrapolating our successes on the trail to our challenges back home.  

At Summit, I learned how to frontload these intense, transformative experiences.  I learned how to help students connect these experiences back to their home life, whether in the classroom, with their friends, on the sports field, or in their family system.  

If you’re considering a summer camp option for your struggling teen, consider the following:

• Summit Achievement has highly experienced direct care staff, all college graduates with intensive training in mental health issues.  
• Our direct care staff-to-student ratio is one staff to every 3 clients.  In addition, every child has a Master’s level licensed clinician overseeing their care and meeting with them multiple times weekly. 
• Every student has an individualized treatment plan to address their specific challenges.  
• Every child is engaged in family therapy weekly via telehealth or in person. 
• Every family has a parent coach to help them work on strategies to be even better parents.

We spend 4 days per week in the mountains and lakes of Maine and New Hampshire and 3 days each week attending school.  Even if your child does not need academic credit, we have found that most triggers and challenges for adolescents tend to manifest in the classroom. Thus the school is an integral part of their treatment and preparation for the next school year.   

While summer camps are wonderful places, sometimes time away is not enough.  Summit Achievement incorporates the best aspects of summer camp with intense individual, group, and family therapy to help your child maximize their personal growth this summer.  

How is Summit Achievement like summer camp?

We live in cabins on a beautiful 55-acre campus in Stow, ME.  We have a central dining hall that promotes healthy eating and a strong sense of community.  We engage in outdoor games and transformative hiking and canoeing trips each week in the mountains and lakes of Maine and New Hampshire.  We have lots of fun!  Kids get to play games, be outside, go on camping trips, and develop life-long friendships with other students and amazing staff.  In addition, the average length of stay at Summit Achievement is 8 weeks, which is very similar to summer camps.  

---

The Author: