Internet Gaming Disorder Treatment For Teens From Massachusetts

Looking for Internet Gaming Disorder Treatment Centers in Massachusetts?

Our program is located in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and serves teens from Massachusetts, in addition to teens from across the US.  While the length of help varies, we do not believe that substantial change can be achieved in a few short weeks.  Campers typically attend our Internet Gaming Disorder Treatment Center for a school semester or longer. 

Our focus is to help young people learn how to live in tandem with video games, cell phones (smartphones), and other digital devices so that they can be successful with life beyond high school.  Internet gaming œaddiction and excessive use of screen time technologies is a behavioral problem that has been classified and explained in numerous ways.

According to one researcher (Griffiths, 2005) biopsychosocial processes lead to the development of addiction which includes several components.  Here are the common issues we see at Camp Pocono Trails:

  • The behavior is salient (the individual is preoccupied with gaming, TV, social media, or related screen activities).
  • The individual uses the behavior in order to modify their mood (ie, gaming is used to escape reality or create the feeling of euphoria).
  • Tolerance develops (the individual needs increasingly more time to feel the same effect).
    Withdrawal symptoms occur upon discontinuation of the behavior (the individual feels anxious, depressed, and irritable if they are prevented from playing).
  • Interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict develops as a consequence of the behavior (the individual has problems with their relationship, job, and hobbies, and lack of success in abstinence).

Gaming Disorder help from Camp Pocono Trails will address all of these issues and more.  Our licensed clinical staff attend regular team meetings with our academic staff, milieu staff, and recreation staff.  We are a summer camp fully focused on video game and screen overuse issues. If your teen from Massachusetts has any of the above symptoms, please reach out to us today.

We Help Massachusetts Families Learn How To Provide Structure for Internet Addiction

It™s much easier to develop new habits if the environment is conducive to change.  At our Gaming Disorder Treatment Center, we start out by providing a technology-free environment and slowly reintroduce campers to smartphones and the internet.  We work on social skills, anger management, and developing structure before the technology is reintroduced.

We also provide a family component to set the child up for success.  Parents participate in family therapy sessions with your child’s assigned counselor while at Camp Pocono Trails.  We also teach parents how to best support their child at home.

While not the primary focus of the program, we can teach parents how to set controls to limit game time.  Parents need to be careful to avoid a limiting-only approach. Limiting game time needs to be done in conjunction with developing the motivation to pursue other activities as well.

We help Massachusetts families prepare the home for the student’s transition back.  Ensuring your child’s success back at home and for life after their teen years is our top priority.

Gaming Rehab: What Can Massachusetts Parents Do Now?

In general, if a child is unwilling to participate in outpatient therapy, or if outpatient therapy in Massachusetts is just not making the changes you want, we can help. A Gaming Disorder Treatment Center that is specifically designed for your child’s unique needs is your best path forward.  

The next step up from outpatient therapy is residential help or a video game rehab.  A Gaming Disorder Treatment Center provides a œreset on family relationships, but also with the relationship the child has with video games and the internet.  Simply put, the surest way to change a child’s video game habits is to create a total reset with online activity. That™s where our gaming rehab comes into play.

The group component of video game rehab is what it’s all about.  At Camp Pocono Trails, we engage our campers as part of an interdependent team that works on engineering, science, and problem-solving tasks.  It takes the entire group to overcome the challenge. Interactions become grist for the mill in therapy, and therapists can intervene in real time to develop insight and practice coping skills.

Best of all, campers get socialization practice and learn how to interact with each other in socially appropriate ways.  If your child is socially behind, being bullied, or needs social practice, our gaming rehab is where they should be.

Massachusetts Teens Can Find Success at Our Gaming Disorder Treatment Center

Internet gaming disorder is a serious issue in Massachusetts.  Fortunately, at Camp Pocono Trails we help our campers build motivation by finding replacement activities that are healthy and more productive than mindlessly browsing the internet, watching Youtube, or playing endless hours of video games.

It™s been our experience that after the initial detox period, campers find replacement activities quickly and can transfer their feelings of success online to an offline world.  Young minds are able to quickly adapt as routines and interests changes- especially if there is peer support helping the teen along.

We™ve found some unique ways to transfer online skills to the real world.  For example- campers engage in drone races using controllers much like an XBox controller.  The difference is that they are outside, and racing through obstacles as part of a team.

Who does Camp Pocono Trails help?

Camp Pocono Trails helps teens struggling with issues similar to those below:
– Addictive Behaviors
– Social Issues
– Social isolation
– Low Self Esteem
– Poor Communication Skills
– Autism Spectrum
– Video game addiction
– Depression
– ADHD
– Impulse Control
– School Refusal
– Family Conflict
– Trauma
– Social Anxiety Disorder
– Anxiety
– Technology Addiction

Resources

Internet Gaming Disorder Resource: Playstation Controls

If we simply take the strategy of putting external controls on gaming or internet-connected devices, we have done nothing to develop the child’s ability to self-regulate their gaming or browsing behavior independently.  

However, if you need to put up some structure now, here is a guide for setting up Playstation spending limits and gaming times:

How to set parental controls and spending limits on PS4: https://www.playstation.com/en-au/get-help/help-library/my-account/parental-controls/ps4-parental-controls/

By creating a sub account for your child you can prevent them from accessing PlayStation Store content that is unsuitable for their age, user generated content and online gameplay. You can also stop your associated sub account from making purchases without your consent.  At our Gaming Disorder Treatment Center, parents learn how to monitor their student’s online activities.

In this article you can learn about the parental controls available on PlayStation products: https://www.playstation.com/en-au/get-help/help-library/my-account/parental-controls/age-ratings-and-parental-controls/

Internet Gaming Disorder Resource: Smartphone and Tablet Resources

Kids are becoming increasingly tech-savvy these days.  It™s hard for us as parents to keep up. At our Gaming Disorder Treatment Center, we’ve heard it all – campers bypassing routers, logging on to friend™s routers next door, creating proxies, you name it and we’ve heard it!

Here are some resources specifically for smartphones and tablets.  These devices are especially problematic for parents because they are portable and you can™t just block them through your router if your child is connecting at school or a friend™s house:


Android Devices: https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/google-android/android-parental-controls-3461359/


Apple Products: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304


Google Play Store: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/1075738?hl=en

 

Camp Pocono Trails Helps Massachusetts Families From Cities Such As:

Some examples of cities from Massachusetts which may have families who could use Camp Pocono Trails: Boston Worcester Springfield Lowell Cambridge New Bedford Brockton Quincy Lynn Fall River Newton Somerville Lawrence Waltham Haverhill Malden Medford Taunton Chicopee Weymouth Town Revere Peabody