Wediko Summer Program

Wediko's summer campus is located 100 miles north of Boston in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. A scenic 450 acre lakeside camp provides the flexible space necessary for intensive experiential programming and psychological intervention. Children and staff live in cabins clustered throughout the setting. Staff ensure that this group living arrangement becomes the emotionally / socially corrective focus of each child's summer experience. Meals are served in a large dining hall which also is used for Sunday Sing and Talent Shows. Our brand new gym has plenty equipment for active children and has a climbing wall, an arts center and a dance studio. Registered nurses dispense medications and are on standby to administer first aid. Finally, the setting includes a school, several activity buildings, multiple athletic fields, play areas and a gymnasium all accented by two well-equipped waterfronts.

In the nineteen twenties, the late Dr.Robert A.Young began to formulate ideas for a summer program which would relieve troubled children from the pressures of their daily lives as well as provide comprehensive growth-producing experiences. In 1934, his concepts were realized with the establishment of the country's first summer therapeutic treatment camp. World War II forced the temporary closing of the setting; however, in 1948 it was reformulated and renewed under the name Wediko. Dr. Young's vision of a therapeutic environment broadened as he constructed a program that directed children towards successful experiences with both peers and adults. He viewed a child's stay at Wediko as a time for learning new social skills as well as correcting existing distortions in feelings and thoughts.

As the scope of summer services has expanded, Wediko has steadfastly maintained Dr. Young's commitment to children. The concept of camping as a general therapeutic instrument has been supplanted by systematic treatment approaches utilizing a variety of psychological and educational models. Today's 2:1, child to staff ratio allows staff to design and implement detailed, objective oriented treatment / educational plans. The program has been enlarged with the addition of a school, groups for girls, specialized groups for adolescents and groups treating atypical children. Wediko's spectrum of psycho-educational approaches encourages the development of self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-control and a generally more age-appropriate level of functioning.