Helping Our Kids Process Trauma & Loss
When scary things happen, communities help each other. Some people in our community are helping by checking in on their friends, offering a place for evacuating families to stay, and helping at shelters. Many people outside of California are also thinking of us and hoping that we all stay safe.
Kira Bender, MS OTR/L
Center for Connection, Pasadena, California
We have many camp families, staff, and alumni who live in Pacific Palisades, Altadena/Pasadena, and the greater Los Angeles areas who have suffered the loss of their homes, schools, places of worship, and businesses. We join our entire GAC community from outside of the Southern California area in expressing our deepest condolences for the devastating losses so many of our cabin mates, co-workers, and friends have experienced.
This interview (watch the video here or listen to audio only here) with Dr. William Lacey is a resource for families and other adults who want strategies for helping kids process the trauma and losses many families in our community have experienced.
About Dr. Lacey
Dr. William Lacey is a Licensed Psychologist who specializes in neuropsychological assessment of children, adolescents, and young adults. His clinical expertise for neuropsychological assessment includes diagnosis, academic and treatment planning for individuals with neurodevelopmental concerns (e.g., learning disorders, AD/HD), traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, complex emotional difficulties, and other complex medical conditions. Domains of psychotherapy expertise include depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, behavior difficulties/ADHD, trauma and grief, transgender care, and peripartum depression. Dr. Lacey has training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Trauma & Grief Component Therapy for Adolescents, Parent Management Training, Parent Child Interaction Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.
Dr. Lacey was born and raised in Detroit, MI and lived in Houston, TX and Boston, MA for extended periods of time. He uses a whole child approach and focuses on the context and culture surrounding our children and how that effects the way they interact with the world.
In addition to this interview, here are some additional resources for families who have been impacted by the recent fires:
Here are ways for the families to contact and reach out to Dr. Lacey:
website: https://www.cfcsantabarbara.com/will-lacey
email: william@thecenterforconnection.org
Twitter: DrLaceySB
Instagram: CFC_SantaBarbara
Resources
Tips and scripting to help caregivers navigate conversations with children.
Talking to Children About the Fires, The Center for Connection
Need support? Want to offer support?
If your family has been impacted by the fires or you are interested in supporting others in our GAC community, please fill out this form.
We are grateful for the love and connection that define our community during both the happy times and the difficult ones, and we are committed to helping our campers, staff, and families stay connected and supported during these difficult months ahead.
Episode 74 – Gem
Today on the show we’re talking with Gem, who has put together a great list of 5 camp -inspired small changes you can make in your family life that will improve your mental and physical health. She’s written a blog about this same topic. As we talk about in the show, there is research supporting the process of making these changes from the Gottman Institute. If you want more information on picking a theme for the year, this post has more information from Sunshine Parenting. Finally, you don’t have to take our word for it, the Greater Good Institute at Cal has this research on the impact getting outside has on your happiness.
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Episode 73 – Sis
Today on the POG-Cast, we’re thrilled to welcome one of our favorite humans, the award winning Sis! Sis was a 4 year camper and just finished her 3rd year as a Group Counselor. She is also the winner of 2023’s Coach’s award. She and Soy chatted about homesickness, why she loves working with our youngest campers, and advice for new scared/excited campers (and counselors!)
You can read the comments her peers wrote about Sis along with background on Coach’s Award here.
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Episode 72 – Diana Bunney
We’re kicking off Season 6 of the Gold Arrow Camp POG-Cast with an interview with a person who we believe has been around camp longer than anyone else, Manny Vezie’s daughter, Diana Bunney. This interview is also available on our YouTube as a video if you would prefer to watch it! Soy also promised a link if you’d like to send someone a WOW, so you can do that here! (it’s bit.ly/writeawow)
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BONUS EPISODE: Sunshine & Soy Talk About How Counselors Bring GAC’s Philosophy To Life
We don’t have a patreon and so far Spotify hasn’t offered the POG-Cast an exclusive deal. We’ll never put our episodes behind a paywall, but we thought we should do what so many other podcasts do and share a bonus episode!
On this special episode of the Gold Arrow Camp POG-Cast, Soy and Sunshine got rid of our usual format and just talked about camp and what makes camp special, with a focus on how our amazing counselors deliver that experience and what we as a camp want them to get out of the experience. (spoiler alert, our goals for counselors are NOT to Have Fun, Make Friends, and Grow – even if that does happen!)
We hope you enjoy this look behind the curtain and are looking forward to our format shift for the summer, when the POG-Cast becomes Whadda Week (and recaps the week at camp). We’ll be right back here, in your feed as soon as camp is in full swing again!
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Hilly
Episode 70
In this episode, we’re joined from across the pond by Hilly, who is entering his third year on our staff. Hilly and Soy had a great chat about the benefits of camp (other than the weather) as well as a classic geometry-based Joke of the Cast. If you’d like to see Hilly, you can check out our Meet The Staff page and you can listen to his previous appearance on the POG here.
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Spotlight & Penguin
Episode 69
On this episode of the podcast, we reunite two camp friends live on the POG-Cast! Spotlight and Penguin are two great friends who didn’t know each other (even though they are both long-time campers and Junior Counselors) before training week of 2021 when they became fast friends. We chat about making friends, GACting, Arts & Crafts, and their favorite Big Campfire memories. There’s also a great Dad Joke of the Cast!
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Chai
Episode 68.
Chai is a long-time GAC staff member. She’s met innumerable campers in her time leading backpacking trips and working in the wellness center. Now she’s getting to see camp through the eyes of her nieces who came to camp for the first time this summer. In honor of the Grammys there’s a musically themed joke of the cast from a very pleased Soy.
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Mariachi
Episode 67.
Our guest this time on the POG-Cast is a fan favorite: Mariachi. He started as an international camper, then was a Junior Counselor, and spent 2021 as a counselor at Rocks & Ropes. He and Soy have a wide-ranging conversation, discussing what it’s like to come to camp for the first time in another country to which Bear Trap counselor makes the best popcorn. If you are curious about coming to GAC from outside the US, this is a great episode. There’s also a Joke of the Day that Soy enjoyed more than he should have.
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Taz
Episode 66.
This time on the POG-Cast we have one of our long-time staffers. A former camper, a lover of baseball and fishing, a leader of the OLC, and a boat driver extraordinaire, Taz was a really fun chat and a great way for Soy to slide back into the POG-Cast for Season 5! Joke of the Cast is here to help brighten any day too!
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