Getting away to get it together: Temporary community empowering families to change

Camping as an effective tool for change in the lives of individuals and families is well established. However, models which provide a theoretical base for camping with families are rare. This paper provides one such model. Drawing upon many years of experience of camping with disadvantaged groups, the author develops three broad principles which underlie this family camping model. First is the importance of diversity in defining community, enhancing mutuality and encouraging volunteerism. Second is the unique opportunity which temporary community affords for empowerment – releasing the insidious grip of relational power, structural authority and learned helplessness which can stifle personal change, especially for disadvantaged families. The final key element is the natural world and its therapeutic potential to spawn images and experiences which provide the basis for individual and family change.