During the first 13 years of clinical practice, Dr. Field provided individual, family and group therapy in the traditional office. To help provide a more naturalistic setting to work with kids, he started to spend half of the 90-minute group therapy session observing the children at play. The second half of the session would be for discussion. In 1992, Dr. Field thought to combine his extensive camp counselor experience of his youth with his clinical knowledge to develop Quest.

The first summer program was held at Athenian School that summer with four counselors running activities and Dr. Field developing the therapeutic program. Children made remarkable progress in the intensive summer program. The Afterschool program was developed to continue this progress during the more stressful school year. This provided continued therapeutic intervention and success for each child who participated.

During the first summer, 20 children participated. During the summer of 2007, over 190 children spent part of their summer at Quest. Another 60 participate in the Afterschool program. Over the past years, we have asked parents for their input to continually improve our program. Parents have reported high satisfaction with both the quality of the program and the progress their children have made.

Robert B. Field, Ph.D. received his Ph.D. from the California School of Professional Psychology specializing in clinical care of children and adolescents. After completing the doctoral program, Dr. Field worked as a psychologist at the Benjamin Rush Center for MH/MR in Philadelphia, Pa. before returning to California to start his private practice. In addition to private practice, Dr. Field also acted as team coordinator and psychologist for the Livermore Unified School District’s special assessment team. Dr. Field has provided assessment and treatment to children, adolescents, adults and families since 1979. He has also developed an interactive child therapy website, www.directiveparenting.com for parents of 4-12 years olds. He has been married to Debra Forrester-Field,M.A. since 1978 who acts as Administrative Director at Quest Therapeutic Camps. Bob and Deb have four grown children, Josh, Meghan, Rebecca and Carly who have all worked at Quest over the past years.

Much of this success is due to the high quality of staff. In addition to Dr. Field, Zack Oelerich, MFT has been a vital therapeutic influence on our program. Zack, as  Assistant Director, helps develop the therapeutic and recreational program at Quest. His energy and therapeutic intuition has been critical to the program. Other therapists have joined Quest over the years. During 2007, Heidi Meck, M.A., a fourth year doctoral student and Josh Wilson, M.A. joined Zack and Bob providing the therapeutic direction for our staff and campers. Each year, Quest receives many requests for employment opportunities. Staff members are hired based on their personal qualities, experience with children and their college education. Many of our counselors have gone on to careers in both psychology and education.

Quest provides an atmosphere where children feel respected and accepted. From the first interaction at camp, the program has been developed to reduce any apprehension or discomfort. This environment allows the child to take the risk to listen to staff direction, try new positive behaviors, handle failure and develop positive relationships with other campers and staff. Based on parental input and individual assessment by Quest professionals, each child is provided a treatment plan that helps address the most critical problems. During each hour of every day, the child receives specific staff feedback about the positive and negative aspects of his/her behavior. By developing this open, nurturing environment, campers make positive changes.

Realistically, change takes time. The longer a camper attends Quest, the more progress s/he makes. While three consecutive weeks is the minimum attendance, longer attendance is strongly recommended. In the first weeks, the camper understands the relationship of his/her behavior to others’ reactions. Then, experimentation with new behaviors and attitudes occurs. As the child feels more confident, positive behaviors are strengthened. Longer participation solidifies new patterns. Based on previous years’ parent evaluations, Quest has consistently improved behavior and self-esteem.