The Effectiveness of Pet Therapy and Equine Assisted Therapy

As the rates of depression and anxiety soar amongst children, adolescents, college students, and adults, the waiting lists for psychiatrists and psychologists continue to grow. Instead of waiting helplessly for months on end, we should take a closer look at pet therapy and equine assisted therapy for coping, resilience, hope, and healing. Research demonstrates that… Read more »


Types of Therapies for Mental Health: A Biopsychosocial Approach

Mental health treatment has typically focused on medications and therapy as gold standards for interventions. Most of our research is also highly focused on therapy and medications, giving it the stamp of ‘FDA approved’ and ‘evidence-based’. Unfortunately, this rather narrow approach to a myriad of diagnoses, including depression, anxiety, OCD, mood disorders, tics, ADHD, and… Read more »


Helping Children Cope With the Death of a Sibling

Grieving the pregnancy loss of a child is complicated, especially for siblings. As an example, let’s imagine a 4-year-old girl is participating in circle time in preschool. As her turn comes to share her weekend news, she innocently says, “We went to visit my dead brother in the graveyard. He died when he was born…. Read more »


USA Today Interviews Dr. Maker on School Shooting Drills

“Teachers at an Indiana elementary school were left bruised, bleeding and frightened after being shot “execution style” with plastic pellets during an active-shooter training exercise in January”, according to the Indiana State Teachers Association. According to USA Today, “lockdown drills have been around for decades, but as fear of school shootings has intensified, they have… Read more »


May Is Mental Health Month… With One More School Shooting

Source of graph: Wikipedia, 2018 Preventing Violence and Helping Children Cope with Trauma It is with great sorrow that we share our condolences with the families and community of Santa Fe High School. No one can doubt that school shootings are now an epidemic in the U.S., with an average of one school shooting every week… Read more »


Helping Kids Cope With The Trauma of School Gun Violence

Photograph Source: Wikimedia Commons The recent school gun shootings in Florida and Maryland continue to remind us of the critical need to take action to process the trauma with our children and to protect our children in schools. Children’s exposure to gun violence is a primary national health care crisis, and the American Academy of… Read more »


Healing Kids From The NY and Texas Shootings

It is with great sorrow that we extend our deepest sympathies to the families and communities of NY and Texas who experienced the recent shootings. In these incidents, many children witnessed the horror, know someone who was injured, or have lost a loved one in the attacks. Children also frequently hear about the attacks in their… Read more »


Support Kids Impacted by the Las Vegas Mass Shooting

Our deepest sympathies go out to the family members who were impacted in the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting. As a nation, we must come together to support the families and the communities affected. It is also critical that we not forget the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community – our kids. Hundreds… Read more »


Where Did My Friend Go?: A 2017 Book Excellence Finalist

We are delighted to share that Where Did My Friend Go? Helping Children Cope With A Traumatic Death has won the 2017 Book Excellence Finalist Award. We would like to thank all who contributed their time, creativity, and support to making Where Did My Friend Go? such a special book for children coping with death, loss, and… Read more »


Helping Kids Cope With An Expected Loss

Many young children are faced with the reality of losing a loved one to an illness or old age, and helping kids cope with an expected loss can make a significant difference in acceptance and healthy adaptation. Adults tend to shy away from sharing facts and information regarding loss with young children, given adults’ understandable… Read more »