Online Gaming Help for Teens From Utah

Residential Treatment Centers Versus Doing Nothing

We know that teens who play online excessively have lower self-esteem, read less, and score lower on tests.  Sitting for long periods of time can result in weight and health issues. Missing out on face-to-face interactions can set your child behind socially. 

Teens face many challenges today.  Some believe they will be the next Youtube star or the next champion video game player.  Parents often have difficulty arguing this logic with their teens. At Camp Pocono Trails we can introduce your child to more real-life pursuits in a supportive atmosphere.

At Camp Pocono Trails, we focus on teaching coping skills and developing insight, something no pill has the ability to do.  We also take a positive approach. We don’t see your child as broken, they simply need to learn new skills and develop new habits.  Punitive programs that seek to tear a child down and rebuild them can result in a child simply pushing back harder than before.

Video Game Addiction Treatment: What Can Utah Parents Do Now?

In general, if a child is unwilling to participate in outpatient therapy, or if outpatient therapy in Utah is just not making the changes you want, we can help at our Pennsylvania-based summer camp. A summer camp for video game addiction 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 video game rehab.  Residential help provides a reset 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 our summer camp for video game addiction is what it’s all about.  At Camp Pocono Trails, we engage our campers as part of an interdependent team that works on puzzles, games, or team-building projects.  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.

Online Gaming Help for Utah Teens

Utah families seek our summer camp for video game addiction because of our unique ability to adapt to the academic curriculum for Utah campers.  Our residential video game addiction help center helps campers develop the internal drive and motivation to focus on academics- not the latest video game. 

At the core of our summer camp is the belief that help should not be punitive.  We take a natural approach, reconnecting teens with nature, friends, and themselves over time. Video game addiction help is not a simple as taking away the student’s video game system.  Screens are everywhere, and teens have become very sophisticated at bypassing

One thing we hear a lot at Camp Pocono Trails is a child’s belief that, “All my friends are online, so if you take this away from me, I would be all alone.”  Video game addiction help is not an all-or-nothing issue. At Camp Pocono Trails, we take a harm reduction approach. This means educating the student on the harmful effects of certain online activities including:

  • Online pornography
  • Video game violence
  • How violence is portrayed in certain games
  • How gender roles are portrayed in certain games
  • How playing games without set boundaries can interfere with academics, social practice, or achieving your life goals

Using a harm reduction approach, Camp Pocono Trails campers become enlightened as to the habit-forming qualities of video games and social media, in addition to how exposure to different types of online media can change your perceptions of violence or gender roles.

Components of Online Gaming Help

Teens at Camp Pocono Trails receive individual and group therapy for video game addiction and internet overuse habits. We have licensed therapists helping teens develop insight and commit to new routines in life.

We also have family therapy sessions where we help parents best support their teen upon their transition home from Camp Pocono Trails.  We discuss in family sessions how parents can reinforce positive feelings when a child sticks to their behavioral contract and we also encourage parents to reinforce negative feelings when the child fails to live up to behavioral expectations.

At Camp Pocono Trails, we focus on meeting each student’s individual needs. We use Maslow™s Hierarchy of Needs as a phase progression model. According to Maslow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance among social groups, regardless of whether these groups are large or small. For example, some large social groups may include clubs, co-workers, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, and online communities. Some examples of small social connections include family members, intimate partners, mentors, colleagues, and confidants.

Humans need to love and be loved by others.  Many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression in the absence of this love or belonging element. This need for belonging may overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure.

By creating a positive peer environment, your teen to connect with others in a face-to-face setting- without the use of screens.

 

Who does Camp Pocono Trails help?

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

Resources

Online Gaming Help: Know Your ESBR Ratings

http://www.esrb.org/

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is the non-profit, self-regulatory body that assigns ratings for video games and apps so parents can make informed choices. The ESRB rating system encompasses guidance about age-appropriateness, content, and interactive elements.

As part of its self-regulatory role for the video game industry, the ESRB also enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines and helps ensure responsible web and mobile privacy practices under its Privacy Certified program. ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

Online Gaming Help: First Steps with the Xbox

As parents, our job is to prepare our children for the independence of adulthood.  Below is a valuable resource for parents you may want to try as a first step:

Xbox LIVE Healthy Gaming Guide

This guide is designed to help you be safe and comfortable while using your Xbox 360™ and Xbox® to play video games.

Things to consider:

  • Position: Make sure your position is not encouraging discomfort.
  • Forces: Even low forces can cause injury, especially when repeated over time.
  • Breaks: Stepping away at regular intervals is important.
  • Health: Keep a balanced and healthy lifestyle.
  • Tools for Families: Find out how to use ratings, parental controls, and more.

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/Live/HealthyGamingGuide

 

Camp Pocono Trails helps families from Utah

Camp Pocono Trails helps Utah families from cities and towns like Park City Granite Alpine Little Cottonwood Creek Valley Mount Olympus Highland Bluffdale Midway Draper Holladay