Summer Camp
for Orthodox Jewish kids with Anxiety & OCD
Who: Children entering 3rd-6th grades
When: August 26-30, 2024
Where: Northern New Jersey
What: A therapeutic camp for the treatment of pediatric anxiety and OCD
Cost: $3,000
We accept Aetna, and are reimbursable through many other insurances!
See below for more info.
Run by Central Therapy and Riding the Wave Center
Does your child struggle with anxiety and/or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms? Does your child’s anxiety impact their family, school, social, and/or religious activities? Does it seem like your child appears "stuck" in their thoughts? Does your child engage in avoidance when situations result in excessive fear? Does your child seek reassurance, asking you “is this okay, safe, or right” excessively? Does your child feel a need to do things to relieve their distress because they feel too uncomfortable?
It doesn’t always have to be this way.
Despite how overwhelming your child’s anxiety/OCD may seem, there are remarkably effective empirically-supported approaches that can give your child the skills to overcome their anxiety and OCD.
What can we do over the summer to help?
We care deeply about your child’s wellbeing. Our 1:1 camper-therapist ratio allows us to tailor your child’s camp experience to your individual goals.
Riding the Wave is run by Dr. Jeremy Lichtman and Dr. Devora Scher, two licensed psychologists specializing in OCD and anxiety-related disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety, social anxiety, selective mutism, perfectionism, specific phobias). Our intensive treatment model is rooted in Exposure and Response Prevention therapy (ERP). ERP is the gold standard treatment for helping clients overcome their anxieties and OCD and involves participating in opportunities which feel distressing to “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” With ample warmth and support, campers will be encouraged to courageously experience their anxieties and learn to eliminate avoidant and compulsive behavior. Our supportive and fun environment focuses on enhancing insight, motivation, and brave behavior.
How are parents involved?
Parents are an integral part of the work that we do. Riding the Wave provides multiple parent training sessions to provide you with a deep understanding of anxiety and OCD treatment. In addition, each family will leave with a clear action plan to allow you to reinforce your child’s gains long-term.
What is unique about our summer program?
Well, a lot of things.
Our program is run by psychologists with extensive training in the treatment of pediatric anxiety and OCD and years of experience running summer programs, and is additionally staffed by counselors with focused training in this treatment model. As opposed to traditional weekly therapy, our consecutive day camp schedule allows for quicker progress to set your child up for success. Our 1:1 ratio allows us to closely attend to your child so that we can recognize and address problem behaviors in natural, community-based settings. We design a fun-packed schedule of activities and skills-learning tailored to your child's unique treatment goals.
We cater to the Orthodox Jewish population. In addition to our religious sensitivities and thoughtfulness around religious-related practices, Kosher (Cholov Yisroel) lunch and snacks will be provided daily.
And we won't leave out the fun! Your child can look forward to traditional camp activities, including art, sports, games, and local trips.
How can we get the camp fee covered or reimbursed by insurance?
If you have Aetna and it covers mental health, you're in luck! We accept Aetna for our camp. You would be responsible for any applicable deductible and/or copay.
If you don't have Aetna, and your health insurance plan offers out-of-network (OON) benefits for mental health services, you may be able to submit a Superbill for all hours of the camp, including intake and family meetings, and receive some money back through your insurance plan. We will provide the Superbill to each camper's family with all the necessary information to submit.
We recommend that you call your insurance provider and ask about your OON benefits. You can provide them with the following CPT codes that our camp will be billing under:
90791- Psychiatric diagnostic evaluation (2 hours)
90849- Multiple-family group psychotherapy (2 hours)
90853- Group psychotherapy (25 hours)
90846- Family psychotherapy without patient present (1 hour)
For a total of 30 hours of therapy.