SOPHIE GEORGIN
3 WAYS TO HELP YOU DEAL WITH HOMESICK CAMPERS
Finally, time for bed at camp after a long energetic day and half a voice after singing BOOM CHIKA BOOM the loudest you've ever sung it. As counsellors this time is precious. After resting your head on the pillow you hear a muffling noise in the room.NOT AGAIN you tell yourself, its the sound of Joe Shmo crying himself to sleep as he's missing home. Without waking up the whole you head over to Joe Shmo to try and comfort him. Wiping the snot off his face, he tells you how he 'just wants to go home and misses his mom'. Sound familiar? Every homesick camper is different, and you will have to handle each situation differently. Here are 3 tips I run by and have helped me in these situations.
1. Remove the 'sick'
STOP RIGHT THERE... before doing anything else make sure you're using the correct terminology. Instead of referring it to 'homesick' use 'missing home'. Using the word 'sick' can imply that campers should not be feeling that way, and can lead to some campers convincing themselves that they are physically sick and can work themselves up about it.
2. Empathy vs sympathy
Empathy and sympathy and 2 very different things. Empathy is the ability to experience the feelings of another person which fuels connections which goes beyond sympathy which is understanding the suffering of others and can often drive disconnection.Being empathetic towards your camper in a homesick situation allows them to make a connection with you and can validated their feelings of missing home and for them to know thats its okay to feel that way. As an international counselor I have days where I want to be in the comfort of my own home in Scotland and mid summer I always begin to miss my family and friends back home.This is something that i like to communicate with homesick campers to remind them they are not alone.
3. The 3 step technique
As said before each camper is different and deals with homesickness differently. I like to use a 3 step process that I can apply to any situation. I call it LRD. Not all three worl for each camper, for example the more camper speaks about missing home the worst they may feel. Its up to counselor to judge the situation at hand and act accordingly.
1.Listen
Allow campers to open up about how they are feeling and allow them to acknowledge their own feelings. Often letting them vent about their feelings can help clear their mind.
2.Relate
This is where empathy comes into play, let them know they are not alone.
3.Distract
Now you know who the homesick camper is, make sure you're keeping them involved with camp activities, distract them with all the fun activities that are going on at camp and soon they will forget about the fact they are missing their mom. With homesickness mostly being prevalent at night when they are in their bunks with more time to think, before bed, read your campers a story, sing them a soft song or let them talk about how the day has gone, speaking with them about how proud you are of them all for everything they have achieved that day.
1.Listen
Allow campers to open up about how they are feeling and allow them to acknowledge their own feelings. Often letting them vent about their feelings can help clear their mind.
2.Relate
This is where empathy comes into play, let them know they are not alone.
3.Distract
Now you know who the homesick camper is, make sure you're keeping them involved with camp activities, distract them with all the fun activities that are going on at camp and soon they will forget about the fact they are missing their mom. With homesickness mostly being prevalent at night when they are in their bunks with more time to think, before bed, read your campers a story, sing them a soft song or let them talk about how the day has gone, speaking with them about how proud you are of them all for everything they have achieved that day.