Local organization launches new program focused on holistic mental health

A local childhood development organization is launching a new, free program aimed at taking a holistic approach to mental health for kids and their caregivers.

KidSCope is a program within the larger, Durham-based Families, Communities, and Rising child health care support organization. It began in 1988, providing classroom consultations for at-risk children and evidence-based parenting education.  

Healing Roots, KidSCope's new program, provides therapy for children up to eight-years-old and their caregivers, according to the program flyer. The program provides parenting classes to caregivers and hosts joint mindfulness and nature-based activities with families. These services are available in-person in Orange and Chatham counties and virtually across the state. 

Sara Garrison, the KidSCope family services manager, said the program also serves an important role in screening young children for developmental disabilities to provide them with therapy before they enter school systems. 

KidSCope Director Shanti Vyom said the organization received a three-year grant of $597,000 from The Duke Endowment to support the Healing Roots Initiative, which has allowed KidSCope to provide their services for free. 

Vyom said she created the initiative last year with inspiration from her Indian culture. 

“One of the things I saw from my personal experience growing up to this day is a really big emphasis on mindfulness and community connection, being in community, and I noticed how supportive that can be for young children as well as the parents, as well as the family unit,” Vyom said. 

She said the COVID-19 pandemic removed most of that community support structure. 

“COVID isolated all of us,” Vyom said. “Children weren’t around other kids, parents don't have that community support, whether it's family or whether it's friends in the community.”

Vyom said outside of parenting classes and therapy sessions, the program will teach kids and parents breathing techniques, walking meditation and the importance of sunlight and fresh air. Vyomi said the program focuses on these skills in particular because they can be molded and used in many contexts across cultures. 

Candace King, KidSCope family and child therapist, said she was drawn to KidSCope by the nature-based therapy aspect of the Healing Roots Initiative. 

“I think in general our culture is pretty divorced from the natural world sadly, and our food, and traditional agricultural practices, and we’re getting further and further away from these things,” King said. “But at the same time there is awareness of that that’s growing, and the importance of reconnecting with nature, and more than ever there's evidence to support these things.”

Sandra Wartski, a psychologist at Silber Psychological Services who has been practicing for 23 years, said she started using breathing and mindfulness techniques while working with kids when she was in school. 

Wartski said there was not as much research around these techniques back then and she organically used them as a way to get kids to step back and take a breath. She said continuing education in recent years has focused more on meditation and relaxing the nervous system.

“I think we're putting different words around it, but it has been around, and I’m glad it's now getting more the attention it deserves,” Wartski said.

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