https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/camp-antidote-stress
Camp: An Antidote to Stress?At a recent gathering, a group of camp professionals were talking about stress. They mentioned how it seemed fairly pervasive among campers and staff, sometimes at debilitating levels. Then they said...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/respectful-approaches-indigenous-culture-competency-camp
Respectful Approaches — Indigenous Culture Competency and CampJuly 2015. Camp was in full swing with little time to devote to the Internet, but the news feed picked up an item that caught my attention. It was an article published by the national news outlet of...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/mind-part-ii-what-staff-need-know-about-their-own-mental-health
With that In Mind, Part II: What Staff Need to Know about Their Own Mental HealthThink, for a minute, about the adults to whom you were most strongly attached as a child. Can you see their faces and remember how they treated you? Perhaps you see parents, teachers, coaches, clergy...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/childrens-mental-health-camp-what-our-role
Children's Mental Health and Camp: What Is Our Role?Few children's issues have drawn more attention, or been more controversial, than those involving their mental health. For example, in the past twenty years, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/expand-your-mesh-capacity-summer-begins
Expand your MESH Capacity Before Summer BeginsConsider these scenarios: A parent calls: “My child has ADD and takes medication for depression. Can she come to camp?” A counselor dashes into your office: “We need you at Cabin 5. A camper...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/mind-part-1-what-directors-need-know-about-staff-mental-health
With That In Mind, Part 1: What Directors Need to Know About Staff Mental HealthHiring young adults to care for other people’s children seems like folly, from a neurodevelopmental perspective. Nobody’s brain is fully developed, many activities are dangerous, the weather can be...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/what-now-understanding-supporting-campers-mental-health-issues
What Now? Understanding and Supporting Campers with Mental Health IssuesWhat's Going On? Are you finding youth more complicated and challenging to work with? Did you know that today one in five youth ages ten to twenty-four years is diagnosed with a defined mental...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/when-staff-mesh-impacts-camp
When Staff MESH Impacts CampEveryone has a mental, emotional, social health (MESH) profile. For most of us, our MESH profile is within a “normal” range. Some days are better than others. Some things push our buttons, others don...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/healthy-camp-study-update-ten-promising-practices-healthy-camp
Healthy Camp Study Update: Ten Promising Practices of a Healthy CampSince the outbreak of H1N1 during the summer of 2009, camps have been diligently updating their health and safety protocols and practices for the management of communicable diseases. By accessing and...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/biting%E2%80%85my%E2%80%85nails-revisiting-staff-anxiety
Biting My Nails: Revisiting Staff AnxietyIt was three years ago when I first wrote about the increasing levels of anxiety that camp directors were seeing in their staff (Ditter, 2016). At the time, the Centers for Disease Control and...