Using Summer Camps as Opportunities to Provide Brief Interventions

Summer-camps are a common activity for youth during breaks for school that result in lasting social relationships and character building. In recent years, therapeutic summer camps have emerged as adjunctive treatment options for various anxiety disorders. This chapter summarizes the currently existing therapeutic summer camp programs, discusses the theoretical underpinnings and unique benefits of camp interventions, defines potential inclusion and exclusion criteria for campers, and identifies limitations and next steps for camp-based interventions and research. Camps are wonderful adjunctive treatment options for youth that would benefit from exposure-based therapy, peer social support, generalization of skills outside the clinic setting, and/or extended session length. Campers are recommended to have experience with exposure therapy prior to camp and have some subsequent care following the camp week. Therapeutic summer camps are designed to maximize peer support, social learning, behavioral activation, habituation, and inhibitory learning. The primary limitation of therapeutic summer camps is the substantial financial and labor costs. We encourage continued development of therapeutic summer camps paired with high quality research efforts to further the reach of these unique interventions.