By Jewish Link Staff
The idea is both simple and brilliant, leaving a lot of people wondering why it’s taken until now to be created: a one-week camp that’s actually intensive therapy wrapped in typical summer camp fun. In the case of Riding the Wave, which will be run by Central Therapy this summer for the first time, the goal is to help treat frum kids with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders.
Central Therapy is a mental health private practice in central New Jersey, owned and run by married couple Simi Lichtman, LCSW, and Jeremy Lichtman, PsyD. The camp, however, is the brainchild and passion project of one of their associates, Devora Scher, PsyD. Dr. Scher, who specializes in the treatment of OCD and the range of anxiety disorders, wanted to create a fun, therapeutic space for children with these diagnoses to connect with others who share similar struggles.
“Riding the Wave is all about working hard and playing hard,” Dr. Scher said. “The winning combination of summer camp and effective therapy has great potential to help our campers grow tremendously in a short period of time.”
Dr. Lichtman, who first supervised Dr. Scher as a graduate student, has championed the camp since hiring her in April and will be running the camp with her this summer. Dr. Lichtman is a psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) who has worked with children, adolescents and adults for the past 10 years.
“I have always believed that the best way to learn and to grow is through play and fun,” said Dr. Lichtman, who spent many years working at and running camps and year-round programming for Yachad. “That’s what this camp is all about: learning and growing through play and fun!”
Both Dr. Lichtman and Dr. Scher are specialists in CBT and in exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), a form of CBT designed to treat OCD. It is considered the gold standard treatment for OCD, and Drs. Lichtman and Scher have created a weeklong therapy model formulated around ERP.
And they won’t be working alone: each camper at Riding the Wave will be paired with a therapist or graduate student with direct training in ERP.
Dr. Scher emphasized the importance of the one-on-one attention. “With a 1:1 therapist camper ratio, and loads of warmth and support, our campers will be encouraged to courageously get comfortable with the uncomfortable, learning to ride waves of discomfort.” This is a core tenet of ERP, and at the core of Riding the Wave’s therapeutic curriculum.
To educators, this camp is exactly what’s been missing for so long; a way for students to get the treatment and support that they need without detracting from school time.
“It’s an idea whose time has come,” said Esther Eisenman, a head of school who has served as an educational leader for over two decades. “A program for frum kids where they can make social and emotional progress in a natural and wholesome setting, without disruption to school.”
“Part of the genius of the camp is that it’s being run when most kids don’t have much else going on anyway,” said Lichtman, a therapist and the business manager at Central Therapy. The camp is being offered during the Nine Days (July 17-21) and the week between camp and school, Aug. 21-25.
Parents began reaching out as soon as Central Therapy posted their first flier online.
“I’m obviously excited about the intensive therapy aspect,” said Chana, whose son struggles with anxiety and phobias. “But the thing I’m really looking forward to is my son seeing that he’s not the only one who deals with the types of issues that impact him every day. We tell him all the time that he’s not alone, but this will be the first time that he’ll truly know that.”
According to the psychologists running it, the goal of Riding the Wave is not to cure anxiety or OCD, but to help supplement, accelerate, or jump-start treatment for kids with these diagnoses and their families. According to the camp website, “Parents are an integral part of the work that we do. Riding the Wave provides multiple parent training sessions to provide you with a deep understanding of anxiety and OCD treatment. In addition, each family will leave with a clear action plan to allow you to reinforce your child’s gains long-term.”
Dr. Lichtman explained that in addition to the 25 hours of therapy during camp hours, each camper and their family receives individualized treatment through intake, family and parent sessions.
She added that depending on each family’s health insurance plan, all of those hours could be reimbursable through insurance. In other words, 30 hours of therapy — what in the course of typical weekly sessions might take seven and a half months to cover — will take place over the course of one week, the cost of which may be subsidized by insurance.
As this camp flourishes, Central Therapy can imagine that more like it will spring up to help treat a range of other mental health diagnoses, providing children with something essential that typical therapy can’t address: alleviating the isolation that so often comes with mental health diagnoses. For kids and their families who struggle, that’s priceless.
Riding the Wave is still accepting campers for both weeks this summer. For more information, call (732) 355-3307, email [email protected], or visit centraltherapynj.com/camp.
