Healing Trauma Through Play
Despite thousands of Texas children and adolescents struggling with trauma, depression, anxiety, and a myriad of other mental health concerns, only a small percentage are able to receive much-needed professional treatment.
Why?
A large contributor to this gap between struggling with mental illness and receiving care is having access to treatment. Unfortunately, access to mental health professionals in Texas is one of the lowest nationwide, despite being the second-largest and fastest-growing state in the country.
Left untreated, these conditions can lead to serious consequences, including substance use, self-harm, low school performance, violence, or behavioral concerns.
Texas Tech and UMC’s Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic: Making a Difference Across West Texas
The Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic (CBHC) is a unique collaboration between the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech and University Medical Center (UMC) Children's Hospital. It is making strides in addressing the above challenges by providing innovative, accessible, and affordable mental health services to families in West Texas and beyond. The CBHC operates out of UMC Children's Hospital, serving as a crucial resource for patients and their families—providing expert mental and social health services at the Level I Trauma Center hospital.
Since its opening, the impact of the clinic has been far-reaching, serving families in the West Texas area who need it the most. However, the ever-growing needs of the children, adolescents, and families across Texas are presenting challenges to the support services provided, and you can help make a difference.
How Can You Help the CBHC Further Its Impact?
- Therapeutic Sand Trays. A staple in the treatment of children, sand trays are an effective way for children to express themselves, improve self-esteem, unpack traumatic experiences, and reduce aggressive behaviors in a language that is comfortable and safe. Your support will allow the CBHC to have four fully stocked sand trays, ensuring that every therapy room within the clinic has one.
- Therapeutic Puppets. Similar to sand trays, puppets provide space for children and their families to effectively express themselves through an unconfrontational and playful medium. Puppets also allow therapists to communicate and encourage healing and change through an avenue that many children are most comfortable with, imaginary play. Your support will allow the CBHC to have 40 puppets -animals, people and professions - equipping the entire clinic with these critical tools.
- Therapeutic Dress-up. Furthering our efforts to encourage expression, connection, and change through various mediums, having an eclectic collection of ways for children to dress up is an essential tool within treatment. Your support will allow the CBHC to have nearly 30 colorful, creative, and engaging hats, supplying multiple therapy rooms with an additional avenue for therapists to promote expression, change, and healing.
- Therapeutic Board Games. Working with children and their families poses many difficulties. Our skilled therapists have learned that board games that are engaging for all ages can promote connection, support, and healing within the family. Your support will allow the CBHC to have multiple sets of two widely accepted therapy games: The Ungame and The Talking, Feeling, and Doing Game. These two games are used by many therapists to successfully build trust, foster connection, and improve communication in struggling families.
Each contribution will allow the Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic to address mental health issues in West Texas and promote healing in our community. Thank you for your support in helping the CBHC directly impact thousands of children and families in our West Texas community – the value of your gift is truly immeasurable.
We've reached our goal thanks to you!
Thank you to everyone who supported the Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic for our Healing Trauma Through Play Therapy campaign. We look forward to expanding our reach to children and families across West Texas.
Thanks to you, we will be able to provide new and exciting therapy tools as we work to improve and enhance the care at CBHC.
Contact us to learn how you can further your impact by emailing cam.brown@ttu.edu.
1367 days ago by College of Human SciencesThank you to everyone who has supported the Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic in our Healing Trauma Through Play Therapy campaign so far—we've hit 90% of our goal!
We look forward to expanding our reach to children and families across West Texas.
Help us finish strong: www.bit.ly/CBHC-give
1378 days ago by College of Human Sciences75% of our goal
Calling all Texas Tech alumni and friends: How can you make an impact? We’d love to share more with you about how these therapy tools will greatly impact the lives of children receiving care at the Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic in Lubbock. Let us know if you have any questions!
Contact our team at cam.brown@ttu.edu.
1382 days ago by College of Human SciencesThanks to your support, we are over halfway to reaching our goal.
The Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic (CBHC) at University Medical Center in Lubbock provides innovative, accessible, and affordable mental health services to families in West Texas and beyond.
Join us as our staff in the College of Human Sciences looks to increase its treatment options through the purchase of child-friendly therapeutic tools.
Make an Impact: https://bit.ly/CBHC-give
1389 days ago by College of Human SciencesSince its opening, the Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic’s (CBHC) impact has been far-reaching. The CBHC needs your support to better serve families in the West Texas area. Your gift will allow the clinic to address mental health issues in West Texas and promote healing in our community.
Give now: https://bit.ly/CBHC-give
Since its opening, the Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic’s (CBHC) impact has been far-reaching. The CBHC needs your support to better serve families in the West Texas area. Your gift will allow the clinic to address mental health issues in West Texas and promote healing in our community.
Give now: https://bit.ly/CBHC-give
Check it out! The Children's Behavioral Health Clinic (CBHC) was featured on the Texas Tech website.
Four years ago, two doctors in UMC Health System's Pediatric Trauma Unit noticed an unsettling trend. As physicians, they could heal the physical wounds of children who had suffered dog bites, car accidents, serious falls and more, but they were powerless to heal the mental and emotional scars these events caused.
After children and their families left the hospital, assessment and treatment of these invisible consequences were minimal. Psychological and behavioral disorders like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, left untreated, later manifested themselves in behavioral issues, recidivism and even reduced adherence to physical treatment plans. For patients living in rural communities, where mental health treatment options were few and far between, the situation was exacerbated.
Drs. Brian Payne and Thomas McGill knew there had to be a better solution, so they reached out to peers across the country to see what others were doing. What they found, however, was many providers saw the same concerns – and no one had an established approach to assess and treat these types of patients.
So, the physicians reached outside the medical field, to colleagues in Texas Tech University's couple, marriage and family therapy and clinical psychology programs.
“Seeing the urgency of this need and lack of precedent at other medical centers, Drs. Payne and McGill expressed their concerns and desire to collaborate,” said Cam Brown, an assistant professor of couple, marriage and family therapy. “They wanted not only to serve the local community, but also create a blueprint that other large medical centers serving diverse and rural communities could adopt.”
The collaboration led to the opening of the Children's Behavioral Health Clinic (CBHC), which now caters to children and adolescents in the community as well as those who have passed through the hospital.
Donors
View All Donors
| Affiliation | Donors | $ Raised |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2 | $550 |
| 2010 | 1 | $500 |
| 2022 | 1 | $125 |
| 1985 | 2 | $100 |
| 1989 | 1 | $100 |
| 2020 | 1 | $100 |
| 1970 | 1 | $75 |
| 2018 | 1 | $50 |
| 2013 | 1 | $30 |
