Hands-On Program Name Change

For those of you planning to attend a Hands-On Program in the next few months, you will notice a slight change in the printed materials and how staff refers to each program. We have received feedback from several survivors regarding the terms “Hands-On Programs” and “Retreat” that caused us to pause and re-evaluate how we refer to these incredible programs.

We looked up the definitions of “Hands-On” and “Retreat” to better understand how these terms may be interpreted. The definition of “hands-on” is: “involving direct involvement or intervention.” The key word of that definition being intervention, which proves why some survivors are hesitant to attend. The definition of “retreat” is: “a place of privacy or safety.” Those words describe C.O.P.S. programs more accurately, but we can still understand the misconceptions. In fact, one survivor group is known for saying, “we don’t retreat, we conquer!” 

The National Board took all of this into consideration during their meeting in January 2025. A unanimous decision was made to change the name of all adult programs to “Survivor Weekends.” By changing to “weekends”, there is no misunderstanding that these events are a time to bring survivors together over the time period of a weekend. Some people say changing the name to Survivor Weekends sounds “more inviting and fun.” For example, we will now have Parents Weekend, Spouses Weekend, Siblings Weekend, etc. 

You might be asking yourself, “What else about these events are changing?” The answer is nothing. Survivor Weekends will be structured the same way they always have been. Each weekend will be full of fun activities, counseling and peer support opportunities, informative and helpful sessions, and plenty of time for survivors to connect with other survivors. 

Kids Camp, Young Adults Camp, and Outward Bound® Adventure will still be called “camps.”

The brochures and other promotional materials that have been printed prior to the January board meeting will still use the former terms. However, information that is mailed to attendees and handed out at the actual event will reflect the new name.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the National Office at

573.346.4911. We look forward to implementing this change and welcoming back survivors who have attended for many years, as well as opening our arms to new ones attending for the first time.