Gaining Useful Skills in Supporting MESSH
From March 3-4, 2024, Ramah camper care professionals and other year-round employees attended Foundation for Jewish Camp and Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan’s Youth Development and Well-Being Conference.
During their two days together, professionals gained useful skills in supporting MESSH (mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health) for campers, counselors, and all community members at Ramah. Our representatives networked with over 150 Jewish, youth-serving professionals and were inspired to bring new ideas, resources, and programs to our camps.
Below are some reflections and take-aways from members of the National Ramah team who attended:
“The MESSH conference taught me tangible skills that I will be able to utilize both during the summer and in my year-round position. It was incredible to be surrounded by Jewish professionals dedicated to caring for the development of youth and to see the importance of social workers in the Jewish world. One key lesson I will be taking with me is on the significance of failure as an opportunity for growth, as a learning opportunity, and as a topic to teach to teens. Our brains fundamentally cannot grow without failures, and we are all going to experience failures, but teens often feel extremely alone when they fail. Pamela Schuller taught in her session that we need to give teens the freedom and empowerment to fail so they can build resilience and feel supported along the way. Another session that left a lasting impact was a session on burnout. In the session, we talked about the six different causes of burnout and how we might be able to put preventative measures in place to combat these causes.”
“Attending FJC and the JCC’s MESSH conference allowed me to connect with incredible professionals both in and out of the Ramah network. As someone interested in pursuing a Master of Social Work, it was a wonderful opportunity to see the variety of ways in which clinicians have used their degrees in the youth-serving world. Leaving the conference, I have been grappling with the science that ‘brains that have experienced trauma cannot think completely logically’ (which was discussed a lot throughout the two days). This expression has been sitting with me as I think about the immense global trauma that has affected everyone over the past five or so years, how this trauma has impacted all of our logical abilities, and how this lack of global logic influences the experience of camp.”
“It was inspiring to join a cohort of professionals who are similarly passionate about promoting youth mental health and well-being at camps and other Jewish institutions. In the aftermath of Covid-19, which caused children and teens to miss key social experiences, Camp Ramah has the opportunity to support campers’ formation of social, emotional, and coping skills. Not only did the conference provide strategies for providing mental health support at camp, but it gave me a sense of hope about the profound impact our programs can have on camper well-being. I appreciated that the organizers of this conference provided time to discuss the professional experience of mental health practitioners and advocates. In a session entitled “The Empathic Strain and Building Resiliency,” Drew Fidler, LCSW-C, Director of the BBYO Center for Adolescent Wellness, provided concrete suggestions for setting professional boundaries and taking care of oneself when engaging in emotionally-charged work at camp and during the year.”