Our story began in 2017 when we began to be concerned about our daughter's struggles with mental health.  But, now, looking back, I can see that my story with mental health probably dates back to my own elementary/middle/ and high school years.  This is something that I did not realize until very recently, and I wonder how my life path would have been different had I known.  

 

In 2017, we were on a fun trip to the cities with friends when my daughter suddenly, and unexpectedly began throwing up repeatedly.  At the time we thought it was food poisoning from the fast food we had just eaten, but then it started to be a reoccurring event.  Over the next few months our daughter would have to excuse herself to the bathroom because she knew she was about to be sick.  This would happen at the most unexpected times, including school, social activities, and even during church.  During this time, there were many mornings that we would wake up to find our daughter  curled up and sleeping on the bathroom floor...only to discover that she had been there all night long and was just thankful that she could finally fall asleep early in the morning.  It was heartbreaking as a mother to not be able to help her at all.  We went to the doctor, thinking maybe there was a medical problem, but after running all sorts of tests they found nothing medically concerning.  Our breaking point came during the first week of her second trimester.  Every day, for an entire week, our poor daughter was physically sick.  Every....single....night....all....night....long.  During this week, my daughter was also getting sick every day at school.  We began to get curious though when we discovered that at school, she was getting sick at the same time of day (after a stressful class) and then miraculously she would be totally fine for the rest of the day....until nighttime came again.  

 

After visiting our doctor again, they suggested that we seek therapy.  Just that year, our school district made the wonderful choice to employ a full time mental health therapist for our district.  This new service provided free mental healthy therapy for students in our district that were struggling with their mental health, and our doctor suggested that we pursue that route.  As a teacher in the same district, my first reaction was to feel guilty, that my own children (who I didn't realize, at the time, were struggling with their own serious mental health issues) would be taking a treasured spot away from other, more needy children in our district, who needed the help more than my own daughter.  This internal thinking on my part, was WRONG!  It took me talking to some great coworkers in my school to realize that my own children were just as deserving of this mental help as other students, but it took me awhile to make peace with this idea. 

 

In the meantime, I researched therapy service that were available through our health insurance and quickly realized that there was not much available in our area that was actually decently covered by our insurance.  I toyed with the idea of paying cash for these therapy sessions, but quickly realized that the real issue was the amount of time that I would have to take off work in order to bring my daughter to the therapy sessions.  After a lot of internal debate, we finally decided to reach out to our district mental health therapist....and  I couldn't be more grateful that we did!!  This changed the trajectory of our daughter's path and helped us see, with much more clarity, what issues our daughter was actually struggling with.  This began our daughter's 5 year path through biweekly therapy sessions that helped her discover how anxiety was overwhelming her life; emotionally, physically, and mentally.  

 

I can't even begin to tell you all how thankful we are that she was able to connect with a wonderful therapist, who helped her explore herself and discover her strengths and weaknesses.  I don't think people realize what an incredible asset this is to a school district to be able to offer this kind of support, free of charge, to our children....while they are at school. 

 

It allows children to...

• get the help that they so desperately need
• connect their therapy services with their academic progress
• have teachers notified of therapy goals that they can support in the classroom

 

It allows parents to...

• get therapy services for their child, free of charge (many families cannot afford this on their own)
• avoid having to take time off work to transport their child to therapy
• keep in close contact with the therapist about goals that they can support at home 
• have frequent updates to monitor their child's progress with therapy

 

So....an INCREDIBLY BIG SHOUT OUT TO OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT....for providing this resource for students.  

I am thankful that our superintendent saw this as a need in our district.  I am thankful that our school board saw this as a valuable way to spend our district money (you can't teach kids much until their basic emotional needs are met).  And most of all, I am thankful for our therapist that spends her days in the trenches working with our kids.  I have seen the effect it has on students (both as a teacher and as a parent) and believe me....what they are doing IS making a difference!  

 

So, if this is something that you wish your child's own district would offer, consider contacting the superintendent or school board members and bring up your concerns.  

 

If this is something that you think is a waste of taxpayer dollars, ask yourself why?  Aren't our children worth it......all of them?