#bob ditter

[counselinginsideandoutside]

Link: Nurturing Campers’ Psychological Needs - An Interview with Bob Ditter

The American Camp Association in the latest edition of their Camp Magazine posted an article that discussed the Psychological Needs of Campers in an interview with Bob Ditter. To see the full article follow this link: http://www.acacamps.org/campmag/1501/nurturing-campers%E2%80%99-psychological-needs?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=SocialMetrics

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[campgeurtsen-blog]

If you don't already, I would highly suggest reading Bob Ditter's publishings beyond just Summer Camp Rules! He is so spectacular at what he does.

[campgeurtsen-blog]

Bob Ditter's Short List of Essentials for Counslers

The Short List of Essentials After twenty-six years of working with camps and training staff and evaluating staff performance, I offer my own "short list" of abilities that, for me, are essential for any camp counselor to be successful. These four areas are:

The ability to put the needs of others ahead of your own. Good camp counselors are constantly caring for the youths in their charge. This means identifying the needs of others and attending to them without being distracted by one's own needs.

The ability to do the right thing and take a stand for what is true. Working with children is a privilege, and camp is a special place where campers get to play and grow in exceptional ways. Protecting camp by maintaining certain important rules requires a sense of leadership, and one element of leadership is taking a stand for what you believe, even if it is unpopular with your peers.

Another crucial ability for counselors is conflict resolution. Whether with campers or co-counselors, knowing how to resolve the many inevitable conflicts that arise on a daily basis at camp is crucial to strong performance.

And the last, but certainly not the least, important ability or "competence" is the capacity to work hard for long periods of time. Most camp counselors new to the position don't realize how taxing the work is until they go through a summer season!