QUEST CAMPS OF SOCAL: September 2015

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

The Annual Newsletter Review

Dear Friends of Quest,

I hope that this monthly installment of our newsletter finds you happy and healthy! Even though the weather is still hot, fall has officially begun and we are having a great school year group! Unfortunately, the rock climbing gym, ClimbX, that we have partnered with for 9.5 years officially closed its' doors tonight due to their current building being sold. I am happy that some of our Quest families were able to join us last week for one last climb at the current facility and we even got to celebrate as one last camper made it to the top of the wall for the first time, which was a wonderful achievement! Bryan (of ClimbX) and I are already exploring exciting options related to the rock climbing components of our Quest program and I will keep you posted as this develops.

This issue of our newsletter is our annual review of what has been written for the newsletter this past year. At Quest, we are proud to provide an innovative treatment program through our therapeutic summer camp and school year therapy groups that have been proven to reduce problem behaviors not only at camp, but in school, at home, and in everyday life. We hope that our newsletter will be a source of support and applicable information to improve the lives of the amazing children and families in our community.

Sincerely,

Jodie Knott, Ph.D.

Director and Licensed Psychologist

Quest Therapeutic Camps of Southern California

The Annual Review of the Newsletter

August always seems like a good time to provide a summary of all the Quest newsletters that have been written since it first began in May of 2011. I thought this would make sense to do since it would be a way to cover some of the topics that I tend to find the most relevant for families and include things I discuss frequently with both the children and adults I see in my office and at camp. I continue to strive to have the newsletter be a solid resource with information and tips to help children and families live happier, healthier lives. Hopefully this review will lead you to some of our archived newsletters that you may have missed or would like to further explore at this time. Below I have listed the article by name and have labeled the topics covered. A link is also provided at the bottom with all of these newsletters together.

Quest Newsletter Article Review (Sept 2014 to Present)

ARTICLE NAME	TOPICS COVERED
Connection of Diet and Attention/Behavior	Alternative Health Options
Limiting Children's Electronic Exposure	Parenting
Letting Go	General Health
Making Changes that Last in the New Year	Treatment Goal Setting
Sleep and Children with ADHD	Parenting
Executive Functioning and ADHD	Treatment Parenting
Quest's Scholarship Fund	Quest Information
The Benefits of Mindfulness	Treatment
Strategies to Help the Socially Awkward	Social Skills Treatment
Partnering with Teachers: Assisting Children with Attention, Social, and Learning Difficulties	Academic

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For Newsletter Articles Please Click Here

ABOUT QUEST

Quest Therapeutic Camps of Southern California offer 7 weeks of summer day camps and rock climbing therapeutic social skills groups throughout the school year in Huntington Beach for children with mild to moderate social, emotional, and/or behavioral difficulties. Children who participate in Quest programming often have diagnoses of ADHD, anxiety, high functioning autism (previously called Asperger's Disorder), depression, learning disabilities and/or social problems.

Quest Summer Camps provide individualized behavior plans, group therapy, occupational therapy services, a 6 to 1 camper to staff ratio, parent meetings with home therapeutic goal development, and consistent positive interventions, while engaging in fun activities such as rock climbing, soccer, arts and crafts, and field trips such as high-ropes courses, trips to Knott's Berry Farm, the bowling, Boomers, and beach days.

School Year Therapy Groups

Ten-week afternoon therapeutic groups are designed to provide therapy by specifically targeting individualized goals for our campers. A minimum of one hour includes therapeutic activities that heavily target the development of social skills, emotion regulation, and positive behaviors, while the next hour focuses on further skill development by providing a variety of experiential activities as part of a group to create opportunities to observe the child in a natural setting and intervene to facilitate change.

Option 1:Evening

Therapy Group

Some quarters provide a special emphasis to improve skills, while other quarters have a more general offering based on the campers' interests and often include programming in areas such as video game making, drama, art, movie making, etc.

Option 2: Rock Climbing Therapy Group

Canceled for the time being due to ClimbX closing

Quest has been found to significantly reduce hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggression, and inattention, while improving peer relations, family relations, athletic competency, behavioral control and self-esteem. Quest has also been found to improve social awareness, social cognition, social communication, and social problems.