Internet Gaming Disorder Treatment For Teens From Missouri

Looking for Internet Gaming Disorder Treatment Centers in Missouri?

Our program is located in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and serves teens from Missouri, 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 addiction and excessive use of œscreen 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 Missouri has any of the above symptoms, please reach out to us today.

We Help Missouri 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 Missouri 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 Missouri Parents Do Now?

In general, if a child is unwilling to participate in outpatient therapy, or if outpatient therapy in Missouri 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.

Missouri Teens Can Find Success at Our Gaming Disorder Treatment Center

Internet gaming disorder is a serious issue in Missouri.  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:
– Technology Addiction
– Trauma
– Family Conflict
– Anxiety
– Social isolation
– School Refusal
– Social Anxiety Disorder
– Addictive Behaviors
– Depression
– Autism Spectrum
– ADHD
– Low Self Esteem
– Social Issues
– Video game addiction
– Impulse Control
– Poor Communication Skills

Resources

Internet Gaming Disorder Resource: Follow Online Safety Tips

 

One important tip for video games or online digital media is to watch it or play together with your child.  Do not let your child keep their game system in their bedroom. Instead, keep your video game system in shared family spaces to stay familiar with how your children are using it. You can assist your student to make smart entertainment choices by discussing the game or media together.  One good way to start is to watch a Youtube œplaythrough video before you purchase a game.

Communicate. Make online activity a daily topic of conversation.  Ask your children questions about playing new games, meeting new people online, favorite websites and other interests. Encourage your child to ask questions, too.

Set guidelines. Determine what video gaming and online rules work best for your family, and work with your children to establish technology rules.  Examine if violence is part of the game your child wants to play. How often does violence appear? Is it rewarded in some way? It™s up to individual families to make the right choices for their child in regards to what they want their student exposed to.  At our Gaming Disorder Treatment Center, we can help parents learn how to make the best decisions in regards to digital media for their child.

Internet Gaming Disorder Resource: Online Controls

Ultimately, developing a child’s ability to self-manage their use of technology for entertainment should be the primary focus.  We can help with this at our Gaming Disorder Treatment Center. However, if you are ready to try some lower level interventions, here are some resources to help guide you:

Focus Me: https://focusme.com/

FocusMe is the most powerful App and Website Blocker for Windows, Mac & Android.

StayFocused: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stayfocusd/laankejkbhbdhmipfmgcngdelahlfoji?hl=en

StayFocusd increases your productivity by limiting the amount of time that you can spend on time-wasting websites.

Camp Pocono Trails Helps Missouri Families From Cities Such As:

Some examples of cities from Missouri which may have families who could use Camp Pocono Trails: Kansas City St. Louis Springfield Independence Columbia Lee’s Summit O’Fallon St. Joseph St. Charles St. Peters Blue Springs Florissant Joplin