Methodology...

[Antny]

Ok, campers have to do a 24 hour preplacement to see if they are interested in staying at camp.  They have to decide to come, or they can't.  They live in a group of 12 peers in shelters in the woods, year round.  It is important to note that one of the key philosophies is that the adults live and work in the same place and way as the kids.  The counselor's shelter is the same.  It sits in the middle, and the kids shelters are around it.

The program is really twofold.  On one hand, all the relationship work that goes on in the peer group is powerful.  To have 12 boys work together to keep up their camp, and figure out how to get along is in itself powerful.  Consequences are assigned for innappropriate behavior, physical/verbal aggression, stealing, cursing, atc...  The work is restorative work that the campsite needs to get by.  Cutting firewood, making shavings for firestarter, clearing land, etc.  No useless work is assigned.  It is all productive, and restorative.  Problems are solved through group discussion, with the counselor's job as the facilitator.

The other piece of the puzzle is the work done with the therapist, in Life Work group.  Beginning with an essay on thinking errors, and progressing through Victim Histories on their victims, the campers learn to identify their mistakes and thought processes.  They become responsible for their actions, and share their work with their peer group.  This is often painful, intense work, and very effective.  

In many facilities, things are not internalized, but at Woodside, and in fact in most camp settings, the work that is done is done on a very profound level of human interaction.  I'll write more later, now I gotta go give meds to clients.  It's tough to be at work and also do all this.

[ehm]

Just like Salesmanship Club camps...

Isn?t the idea of living out in the woods year round and being supervised by people who are supposed to counsel you, but don't really have degrees in what they are doing, a bit odd to you?      

Did you mention how old you were?

[Antny]

On 2004-11-04 18:37:00, cult survivor wrote:

"Just like Salesmanship Club camps...



Isn?t the idea of living out in the woods year round and being supervised by people who are supposed to counsel you, but don't really have degrees in what they are doing, a bit odd to you?      



Did you mention how old you were?

"

Good question.  I was 20 years old when I started at Woodside, and I had already spent 9 months working at the Brown Schools facility.  I had 2 years of college in the Psychology Dept. under my belt.  The training program at WTTC was a month long, 2 48 hour shifts and 2 60 hour shifts.  Yes, it did seem a bit odd to me at first.  Here's what I realized:

It was never about a treatment model.  It was about being human beings, living together, and helping each other out.  Staying relentlessly comitted to each other, all the time,  About human relationships.  I don't know of any degree plan that could teach you that:  Just the experience and wisdom of those who had been living it for years, and had the experience.

[Anonymous]

On 2004-11-04 18:37:00, cult survivor wrote:

"Just like Salesmanship Club camps...



Isn?t the idea of living out in the woods year round and being supervised by people who are supposed to counsel you, but don't really have degrees in what they are doing, a bit odd to you?      



Did you mention how old you were?

"

I will give them credit for one thing.  Living out in the woods in Texas, Georgia, or Alabama is *very* different from living out in the woods in Minnesota or Massachusets.

The inclement weather is very limited, and the worst environmental hazard, the heat, is drastically reduced by being in the woods under all the shade.  This is particularly true when the trees are primarily deciduous---the leafy trees cool you off, pine trees pretty much don't.

My husband was in the boyscouts Explorer Post troop in Huntsville, and they went camping in all weather year round.  As long as you have something to keep the rain off and have reasonable insulation and fire in the winter, you're okay.

They mentioned covering all the openings on the cabins with plastic sheeting in the winter.  In Texas, with multiple guys in the cabin generating body heat, and good sleeping bags, that was probably adequate.  At night, you're still and ensconced in the sleeping bags.  In the daytime, the plastic sheeting does a great job of turning what light you get into heat.

Camping *in* the woods would be vastly more comfortable than camping *out* of the woods.

I'm not praising or making excuses for the clear neglect in the pictures, I'm just saying the *concept*---provided it's carried out without neglect---is not inherently flawed.  

The climate in the South makes a huge difference.

Other than the fact that it would totally disrupt my happy life, I'd do it.  And provided I had a plug-in for my laptop so I could work (I'm a writer), and my family was going to be okay without me here to take care of my share of the work (I'm a mom), and other than missing my family terribly, I'd probably be happy doing it.

Then again, I've actually lived in the South without air conditioning.  You can't do it and look glamorous at the same time, but if you don't have to look glamorous, camping down here (I live in Georgia, grew up in South Carolina, and spent a lot of time in all times of the year in Alabama.) is really not a problem any time of the year.

Camping on a manicured lawn in the summer in the South would be absolutely miserable.  Camping in the woods is actually rather pleasant.

I think I've suggested in another thread some of the capital improvements that I think would be essential to rectify some of the very upsetting child neglect issues.

Timoclea