Using participatory culture-specific consultation to support the mental health needs of summer camp staff

Nearly 30% of all U.S. youth attend summer camp each year, making it one of the broadest reaching out-of-school-time interventions in the country. Camp provides a space for seasonal employees, who are often emerging adults, to explore work values and identity, engage in mentoring and support opportunities, and stay connected to a community larger than themselves. However, research on camp experiences also suggests camp settings and expectations around emotional and physical care can cause counselors to experience burnout, compassion fatigue, and reduced job satisfaction. Using participatory culture-specific consultation, the current study addressed a gap in the literature about systemic interventions to manage camp counselor mental health by designing, implementing, and evaluating a mental health consultation model at one of the largest YMCA summer camps in the country. Results suggest the intervention effectively addressed certain administrator and staff needs; results also suggest the model could be refined to more effectively respond to the particular contextual challenges of summer camps. Implications and recommendations for other summer camps are discussed.