ABOUT THRIVE
Why THRIVE?
Thrive aims to fill in the gap and provide quality mental health services in the school setting. It is a private practice model with trauma-informed therapists that provide individual therapy to the child, work with the parents to support the child at home, and support the teacher in providing guidance on how to best work with the student. Thrive provides a collaborative approach of working with teachers, parents, and the child. We aim to spread compassion and kindness to all in the school community so that we all Thrive.
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the THRIVE approach
Individual Child Needs
Strength-Based Approach
Self-Awareness
Coping Skills
Identify Social, Emotional, & Psychological Needs
Help child identify their strengths
Help child understand their Thoughts, Emotions, & Behaviors
Help child develop healthy strategies so they can THRIVE
Teacher's Perspective
Direct Observation
Collaboration
Tools
Collaborate with teacher
Classroom & Playground Observations
Help teacher understand individual student's needs
Provide teacher practical tools to help student THRIVE
Parent's Perspective
Information Gathering
Collaboration
Tools
Collaborate with parent, caregiver, and family
Parent intake and ongoing collaboration
Help parent understand individual child's needs
Provide parent practical tools to help child THRIVE
Living through the global pandemic of COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021, we understand the demands that were placed on our children, their parents, and teachers. With the drastic increase of mental health related conditions in our children, which affects their behaviors at school and at home; parents, teachers, and schools have an inordinate demand to address the behaviors and support the child. But how can teachers and parents support the child when they are overwhelmed themselves and lack the support and knowledge to know what to do? On top of everything, child therapists are in-demand and often have a waiting list of 6 months to be seen, in addition, demands on time for the parent to take their child to therapy. Thrive provides the services and support to meet the needs of the school community.
Mental Health in the South Bay
The South Bay of Southern California there is a unique culture and population in the small beach cities, including the reality that the residents can be from low, middle, and high socioeconomic status (SES). This area does not see a large population of students with MediCal or what most agencies would consider “high risk,” however this population still has higher rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide (Goldman-Mellor et al., 2019). The schools within this area have more resources for social emotional wellbeing programs but they cannot provide quality psychotherapy to students who need it (South Bay Families Connected, 2021). This leaves students and parents looking for therapists outside of the school to obtain mental health services on their own with very limited ability for collaboration with the school (Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, 2021). Care Solice, a partner program with many of the school districts, recognized the gap in services and works with students and connects them with therapists in the community, but does not provide the services (Care Solice, 2021).
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Thrive, the proposed School Based Therapy Program, provides traditional outpatient mental health services directly to the client in their school setting. This program can benefit the client, the client’s family, the school and fellow students. Additionally, the ability of collaboration between the therapist and the school staff can complement traditional outpatient therapy. The therapist providing therapy within this program will be trained in a specific evidenced based therapy model with ongoing supervision and consultation.
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Global Impact Data & Statistics
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Economic and societal changes have substantially contributed to the increase of teen mental health problems worldwide. COVID-19 continues to negatively impact children’s mental health as more and more research shows the devastating and long term ramifications of the pandemic. The pandemic has drastically increased the acute risk for mental health issues and has reduced the resources available to compact the detrimental impact on our children and their families. Mental health illness in youth had already seen dramatic increased over the last decade and since the onset of Covid-19 it has developed into parallel pandemic that needs to be addressed by increasing access to quality mental health care for children and teens.
Providing quality mental health services for children and teens at the school where they spend a majority of their time is essential in meeting the needs of the students. We understand the demands that were placed on our children, parents, and teachers. As difficult as the pandemic has been for most adults, it is the children and teens that have been impacted more than most people realize. Children were expected to maintain "normal" academic standards during a global pandemic while trying to learn at home. Parents were expected to become their child's teacher while maintaining their own job. Teachers were expected to adapt to distance learning, many with children of their own at home.
Our children and teens need quality mental health care to help support them as they return to school and process the impact the pandemic has had on each of their lives. Our schools and communities are unequipped to handle the need within the school setting. That is why we have made it our mission to develop a school-based therapy program accessible to all students, to bring quality mental health services directly to them at their school to help them and their families Thrive.