Psychokemp:
workshop for adolescents (15 - 20 years)

Psychokemp is five days focused on your self-discovery/self-development in an environment where you can say anything without being judged. In addition to the opportunity to look inside yourself, there will also be a group that you will become a part of. Together we will look at how we can put our life experiences to good use, be inspired by others and have a laugh too. We will talk, create, move, play "psychogames" while noticing what is running through our minds and how it makes us feel.

Psychokemp is for anyone between the ages of 15 and 20 who:

• are interested in self-development and psychological growth,
• want to stop for a moment and explore their inner self,
• want to be able to ease their minds for a while, to organise their thoughts and feelings,
• want to rediscover or support their mental balance, to dust off and strengthen their self-worth,
• to meet new people and have a good time with them.

What awaits us in more detail

Our first task will be to get to know each other well and together create a sufficiently intimate environment to share our life experience and what is happening inside us in the activities we will be going through together.

As a group and on our own, we will seek answers to these questions:

• What does my way of collaboration look like and what kind of relationships do I establish with people?
• What does respect mean to me, do I have enough of it for myself and others?
• What is true responsibility, what do I have and do not have to be responsible for (either now or not at all)?
• How do I deal with failure, disappointment in my life?
• What are my personal resources and what gives me courage?

As the time goes on, we will go deeper, get closer to our vulnerability and confront all that keeps us from trusting ourselves enough. At the end of this heroic journey, there is a reward waiting for each and every one of us. Perhaps a little different than we might first imagine, but certainly very valuable. By the end of the week, as has always been the case at least so far, we will be richer with a new perspective on ourselves. And we dare say it could be quite pleasant.

We also want to say that it will be entirely up to each of us how much we want to share with others. Going through the activity on my own and observing what I am experiencing can be just as helpful as sharing that experience with a partner or group. We trust that you know best what you need at any given moment of the camp.

A brief overview of the pillars of Adlerian psychology that underpin the Psychokemp programme

Adolescents, like adults, need to learn to function in three areas of life: love, friendship and work. They need to know how to create and fulfill healthy intimacy, they need to learn how to live and get along with other people, and they need to develop skills that enable self-sufficiency and responsibility. And they do not have it easy. In fact, adolescence is such a strange in-between space, it can feel almost "out of place."

Paul Rasmussen built on this theory and linked it to the four competencies we need to develop to function healthily within these life tasks. He referred to these competencies as the four mental muscles, and it is these that the teenagers will be strengthening at the Psychokemp.