South Jersey's Thrive Network helping kids make sense of their mental health
As the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to affect the mental health of children and teenagers across the region, a South Jersey mental health practice is working to expand access to its therapy services for families.
The Thrive Network is partnering with schools across Camden County. Through the program, administrators can refer students who may be struggling with trauma to the organization's practitioners.
Cofounder Lorenzo McFadden said the practice's efforts include signing up uninsured families for Medicaid, which helps families afford treatment.
"We get to work with the young children at a very young age so that we catch them before some of the problems escalate," McFadden said.
The efforts come as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the percentage of students feeling persistently sad or hopeless spiked to 42% in 2021.
Karen Glenney, The Thrive Network's clinical director, demonstrated one of the techniques therapists use to help children express their emotions.
Therapists sometimes have children play with toy people or movie characters in a sand tray.
"We can really gain a lot of information based on the position of how they are and based on the types of miniatures that are going into the sand tray," Glenney said. "They are using them to represent something in the sand tray depending on what they're working through."
Katie Arcand's daughter, Ava Cortez, played in the sand tray as a patient at The Thrive Network.
"During the pandemic, right around that time, Ava was having trouble with transition of life at that point and how things kind of changed," Arcand said. "It was important for me to have somebody that both of us could talk to."
Arcand said Cortez got the help she needed and is now thriving.
Cortez said, "They were really nice, and they talked to me!"
The Thrive Network has also introduced music and art therapy classes to Camden high schools to help show teenagers what therapy looks and feels like, with the goal of eliminating the stigma some might feel about seeking help.
