Online Gaming Help for Teens From Washington

Online Gaming Help: Therapy for Washington Teens

Based in Pennsylvania, Camp Pocono Trails is a summer camp for video game addiction that offers individual and group therapy.  We can work in tandem with therapists back home in Washington to ensure smooth continuity of care. We also recommend our families engage in family therapy sessions while your child is in attendance.  This is done during workshop weekends. 

Our summer camp for video game addiction is based on a harm reduction model of help.  We don™t believe it’s realistic to just write off screens totally, nor is that a practical solution for anyone in today™s environment. Military boarding schools or short-term options like camps for video game addiction help should be avoided.  Change takes time, and a punitive approach can result in a child pushing back against authority.

Using Maslow™s hierarchy of needs, we first focus on esteem needs.  This has to do with developing concern about getting recognition, status, importance, and respect from others. All humans have a need to feel respected; this includes the need to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others.

People often engage in a profession or hobby to gain recognition. But with the online world, recognition for being the best at a video game can interfere with other areas of life like schoolwork or socialization.  Our summer camp for video game addiction introduces activities that give the student a sense of contribution or value. Low self-esteem or an inferiority complex may result from imbalances during this level in the hierarchy.

People with low self-esteem often need respect from others; they may feel the need to seek fame or glory. However, fame or glory will not help the person to build their self-esteem until they accept who they are internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can hinder the person from obtaining a higher level of self-esteem or self-respect.

 

Online Gaming Help for Washington Teens

Washington families seek our summer camp for video game addiction because of our unique ability to adapt to the academic curriculum for Washington 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:
– Social Anxiety Disorder
– Technology Addiction
– ADHD
– Social Issues
– Social isolation
– Low Self Esteem
– Family Conflict
– Trauma
– Autism Spectrum
– Poor Communication Skills
– Anxiety
– Video game addiction
– Impulse Control
– School Refusal
– Depression
– Addictive Behaviors

Resources

Smartphone and Tablet Resources for Video Game Addiction

Kids are becoming increasingly tech savvy these days.  It™s hard for us as parents to keep up. At Camp Pocono Trails we’ve hear 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

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).

Camp Pocono Trails Helps Washington Families From Cities Such As:

Some examples of cities from Washington which may have families who could use Camp Pocono Trails: Seattle Spokane Tacoma Vancouver Bellevue Kent Everett Renton Federal Way Yakima Spokane Valley Kirkland Bellingham Kennewick Auburn Pasco Marysville Lakewood Redmond Shoreline Richland Sammamish Burien