The following are a sample of the kinds of issues we talk about regularly at camp...

Friendships – deepening friendships; dealing with friendship drama and cliques and teasing; friendship changes; teamwork; creating community; setting healthy boundaries

Stress – healthy ways to deal with the normal ups and downs of life; preventing stress and creating more balance; learning self quieting skills; learn to deal with rising expectations from school, parents and activities.

Leadership – the best leaders are those who know themselves, are grounded and who are empathetic to other's needs as well as their own; finding your voice; standing up for yourself and others; opportunities to lead and take charge; opportunities to support and be there for peers; explore the attributes and attitudes of strong leadership.

Communication - express your needs, frustrations and feelings in effective ways; tools to resolve conflicts with friends and family; tools for being an empathetic listener.

Growing up - take ownership of your decisions and actions and happiness; reflect on past choices you've made and learn from them; become more self responsible, motivated and independent.

Teenage issues - Body image; changing relationship with parents; dating relationships; setting healthy boundaries; being true to yourself; find your passions and purpose; discussing your changing values and beliefs; sex, alcohol and drugs; learn how they are constantly teaching their friends and parents how to treat them.

Life experiences - reinterpret/reframe past negative experiences; release old hurts and anger; not allow past experiences to define who you are.

Integrity - Align your decisions and actions with your values; awareness of your internal alarm system and learn to trust and respond to your intuition; learn from past mistakes; become your highest self.

Loss – learning to deal with different kinds of losses, i.e. death of family members and friends; friends who have moved away, moving to new cities or schools; not seeing parents due to divorce or work schedules.

Transitions – entering middle school, high school and college; new schools; family moves; becoming a teenager.

• All kids receive tremendous value from the "learning time" at our camps because the issues we cover are universal.  Campers love the open sharing, the chance to speak their stories and be heard, and the chance to hear their peers' stories.  For most kids, this is the only place where they and their peers can get honest and real about their lives.
• Intense, high achieving kids and teens – learning about balance, chilling out, self quieting, being in charge of your self talk, being a good leader and follower; learning to let things go.
• Kids who are experiencing friendship dramas, "mean girl" stuff, cliques and teasing.
• Confident, social kids who want their friendships to be more close, trusting and real.
• Powerful kids who want to learn more about being an inclusive, strong, empathetic and effective leader.
• Kids who are good, empathetic listeners whom all their friends turn to when they are troubled.  They love being part of this nurturing, supportive community.
• Kids going through life stresses, i.e. divorce, moves, losses, transitions.
• Teenagers who want more freedom and trust from parents and want to learn how to create this in more effective ways.
• Sensitive, deep, mature "old soul" kids who love deep conversations and deep friendships and who may not be appreciated by their same aged peers.
• Teenagers struggling with teen issues such as body image; setting better boundaries with friends and with dating relationships; making good choices about their futures, i.e. college, etc.; creating better balance in their lives; and learning healthy ways to express all of their emotions.