Research confirms campers' benefit from Quest program!
We are very proud at Quest to now have evidence-based research that supports what parents and professionals have seen for over twenty years! During the summer of 2008, 155 families participated in an independent research study by Lisa Greenberg to measure the effectiveness of Quest’s therapeutic program. The results demonstrated treatment benefits rarely seen in psychological programs. Quest was found to provide effective individualized treatment for children 6-18 years old with mild to moderate behavioral, emotional and/or social problems. Significant reductions in hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggression and inattention were found, along with improvements in peer relations, family relations, athletic competency, behavioral control and self-esteem. Behavioral problems were found to decrease not only at camp, but also at home, school and everyday life. Children who come to Quest struggling to make friends, handling frustration and conquering their fears, leave with increased self-esteem and improved peer and family relationships. Their fears and frustrations are reduced and behavioral problems become less influential in their lives. In the research study, gains were found across diagnostic, ethnic, age, income, medication status and gender groups and across clinical importance measures, including reliable change, clinical equivalence, effect size, and global impairment indices. Quest Therapeutic Camp demonstrates large effects in improving overall functioning in different settings and medium effect sizes in reducing problem behaviors and improving social skills based on parent and counselor report.

"Quest provides an effective and positive behavioral program with emphasis on the types of sports and social skills that are often essential for children with ADHD. Families are pleased with the results. This is the type of program that is made to order for ADHD children."

Steve Hinshaw, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Psychology
University of California, Berkeley
Principal Investigator, Multimodal Study of ADHD

For more information regarding Quest's history, effectiveness, parent
satisfaction scores, and camp photos please visit www.questcamps.com
The "In their Own Words" section is not to be missed!

Quotes from Parents Regarding Quest's Huntington Beach Program
“I enjoyed watching my son grow and learn each day at camp. Watching his face as he reached his goals each day was such a joy for him and me. Watching each child being treated as an individual and then watching them come together as a group, a team was wonderful. The improvements that Quest and everyone at Quest helped my son achieve were beyond our dreams.”

“Quest was such a great camp for my son this summer. He worked on his issues in a caring fun environment. He was challenged in a positive way that will help him in life to do and try new things. I loved that my son’s worries or fears were dealt with in a fun, challenging, and rewarding way. He did things he never would even think he could do or was too scared to try (this is amazing for someone who has so many fears). He always talks about doing those activities that scared him most like rock climbing, sleeping over, or the ropes course. He really enjoyed himself at camp and it was great for his self-esteem. It was a structured program he could relate to and also be successful in. Nice to have other kids who have issues but see them all be successful and having fun, not being judged by their issues. Quest is the camp for kids to succeed in a nurturing environment that helps them build lifelong skills. Thank you Dr. Knott and Tessa—we loved it!”

“The teamwork of the staff was definitely the strength of Quest. You could see that you all worked great together. Most helpful to my son was that you pushed him to do things he did not feel he could do. This was definitely the best summer he has ever had. I really liked that my son naturally seemed to begin to think that exercise was fun and important…Being active is now his baseline.”

"I cannot thank you enough for everything; you really did save my son's life. Your program is the reason he currently has the first friends in his life and is surpassing the expectations of his IEP team. He is proving everyone wrong, including myself. He recently attended a 5 hour birthday party and the parents said he was the best behaved kid out of 12 boys. At the start of your program I was at the end of my rope with trying to fight for my son. I was a party of one beleiving in him and had been told he would never be able to be educated around "normal" kids. You helped him to find the tools to prove them wrong...what a difference one summer made. It changed our lives as a family in a huge way. The reduction in stress was phenomenal. Having my son be able to make it through a school day and afterschool program without being sent home has made such a change in his and our lives. The first time anyone outside of home ever saw my son smile was in the photograph Tessa took of him at summer camp. His IEP team were blown away by her pictures. I still have the enlarged picture she gave me framed at home; it is the best representation of him I know and love. I cannot thank you enough. Please feel free to share this with your team, they all played a key part in my son's change."

“Love, love, love Jodie and Tessa—great staff! Unique in comparison to a regular camp. Great redirection, encouragement, positive environment, patience. Professional staff who know how to work with these children! I was so glad to see that you know how to challenge and push our son but without him feeling discouraged. He actually communicated his goals with us and how he wanted to move up to new challenges.”

“My family and I have been seeing Dr. Knott for several years now. Last year she approached me to see if I would be interested in allowing my three daughters to participate in a therapy she was offering. I was not sure!  She explained what the process was and I was very intrigued by the idea.  This therapy involved using rock climbing as a type of group therapy for children. At first because of my lack of knowledge of this sport I was hesitant, but after talking with my girls, we decided to give it a try.  All three of my girls have their own unique social issues.  I stayed and personally witnessed some of the miraculous interaction with my girls and the other children in the group.  Not only is this an ingenious idea for social interaction between children, I think as parents and adults we could receive invaluable life skills from this process. Teamwork, communication, understanding, patience, and friendship being some of the many things I observed personally from just being a bystander. This process has not only helped my daughters to become better communicators, but also to learn tolerance and understanding for others. They love the rock climbing, have become quite proficient at it, and remain excited about climbing as an athletic form of therapy in its own right. The sense of accomplishment and teamwork gives them great pride and joy. They look forward to continuing to work with Dr. Knott in this endeavor.  I would like to thank Dr. Jodie Knott for her wonderful insight and care that she has for these children and their families. I do not know what we would have done without her caring support and knowledge.”  

“Dr. Jodie Knott's social skills through rock climbing course is a fun and effective tool in the therapy of children with attention and social difficulties.  It reinforces the need for and importance of: focus, discipline, cooperation, patience and perseverance. Dr. Knott gently encouraged and guided each child and many of them found that they could do so much more than they thought possible. Experiencing and developing these attributes demonstrated to the children how they could be very productive and reliable despite their attention and social difficulties.”