Healing Children

Healing the Inside
Jumping Mouse Children’s Center

"My day house" is how one child describes Jumping Mouse Children’s Center, a place where children come to heal from the inside out.

We provide expressive mental health therapy for children aged two to twelve for as long as necessary. We work with some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Last year, 78% of our children were from low-income families and 78% were single-parent households. Over a third of our children have been homeless and several are currently in foster care or living with relatives.

Kids come to Jumping Mouse for a number of reasons: Many have been abused or neglected, or a witness to domestic violence. Others are struggling with a family death or divorce. And some are here because they are vulnerable children who are unusually gifted or have specific disabilities.

Whatever their needs, children at Jumping Mouse are able to heal at their own pace, using play materials to express their thoughts and feelings. Talk therapy isn’t meant for young children, who may lack the vocabulary or have difficulty in expressing themselves verbally. Instead, we provide play materials that capture a child’s natural interests. In the process of play, children explore their own attitudes and feelings, to produce changes in awareness and behavior. With the help of her therapist, each child can confront difficult emotions and discover lasting resolutions and coping skills.

Part of what makes Jumping Mouse so unique is our work with the very young. Almost half of Jumping Mouse kids are aged six and under. Sometimes we underestimate the harm done to young children exposed to violence, neglect, and other trauma. Yet studies show that adverse experiences during early childhood increase the risk for significant emotional and physical problems later in life, including depression, drug and alcohol abuse, heart disease, and financial problems. Early intervention to address the trauma is essential to a child’s well-being.

One of our youngest kids, three-year-old Cassy was born addicted, spending the first month of her life in a detox unit experiencing withdrawal. Taken away from her birth parents, Cassy went to live with her grandmother and uncle. Cassy has a number of challenges; most prevalent is her difficulty eating, causing her to be severely underweight. When drugs were introduced to Cassy in utero, they interfered with her brain’s development, including the mechanisms that govern chewing, swallowing and tasting. In therapy, Cassy demonstrates her own understanding of these difficulties, setting up tables of food during each session. The food is simple because "only babies are able to eat it." She and her therapist move slowly through this hardship and she gradually begins to gain weight and move out of crisis. In the meantime, we also work with Cassy’s grandmother, helping her address Cassy’s challenges in ways that work.

We often assume that children have no memory of their experiences prior to the age of two, since their memory is not verbal. Yet Cassy’s early months of neglect express themselves in play. She lays out several babies, very carefully, and tells them not to cry. Becoming very agitated, she suddenly turns to her therapist, demanding she find the mama, represented by a miniature grandmother figurine. Putting the grandmother/mother in a rocker, Cassy settles down. Later, she wants her therapist to hold and rock her, and says, "You look like you’re crying. Don’t worry. When you’re sick, the mama’s here." She wipes at invisible tears and moves closer to feeling safe and cared for. She is recreating the bond she missed at birth.

Are we successful? Yes, when our children and families develop renewed strength in themselves and their environments. Yes, when parents reach out for support and find they can break unhealthy patterns and give their child what she needs. In our twelve years here, we have served over 400 children. Many of these kids are becoming powerful and active members of our community.

For more information, or if you want to have to have a tour of Jumping Mouse’s facilities, give us a call at 379-5109.