How The Heart Leaf Center Seeks to Bridge the Gap to Mental Health Care Access
I see you. I hear you. I get you.
When children cross the therapeutic threshold, they are welcomed with an unconditional positive regard. They are seen with compassion by the therapist who is there to empower them and their families. That’s the beauty of play therapy—the ability to reach children in their natural language of play. But sometimes, the access to high quality play therapy can seem like a privilege. For several years, I provided community-based mental health education, bridging the gap between mental health clinicians and local communities. There are many systemic challenges in our world, but mental health care has an interesting way of integrating those challenges. Wellness and self-care push up against the barriers of the external world, complicating the journey to safety, healing, and self-growth.
There is tremendous value in combating stigma towards mental health through education, as stigma arrives and persists in various ways through different communities. And yet when one is able to be curious about and seek out mental health care services, sometimes more gaps and questions than opportunities remain. Does a therapist who will be a good fit for me have availability? How far away are they? Can I get there? Can I take time off from work or school? Do they speak my language? Will they judge my culture or background? How much will it cost?
The Heart Leaf Center is seeking to bridge this gap to mental health care access with empathetic counselors who are culturally responsive. According to a recent CDC study, 1 in 6 children had behavioral or emotional impairments that met the diagnostic criteria for a mental health disorder. Age and income also affect the likelihood of whether a child will receive mental health treatment. No child or family should struggle to access the mental health care they need.
We hope you will help us at The Heart Leaf Center empower children and families by eliminating barriers to mental health care access and increase affordability of high quality mental health care services.
About the Author:
Alice Zic, MPH, MSW, a Supervisee in Social Work, specializes in supporting individuals and families in healing from trauma, ADHD, emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and kinship family dynamics. Additionally, Alice enjoys working with and has a special interest in family gap conflict, issues of acculturation, and navigating multicultural identity. She is bilingual in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian and is conversational in Mandarin Chinese.