Videos and Social

Center for Child Counseling (CFCC) | CFCC integrates mental health care into primary pediatric care through a collaboration with Palm Beach Pediatrics (PBP).

Research has shown that unaddressed mental health problems among children can lead to lower educational achievement, greater involvement with the criminal justice system, and poor health and social outcomes overall. CFCC integrates its services to deliver an array of prevention, early intervention, and mental health services within the primary care setting,

A CFCC care coordinator and therapist are embedded at PBP, working seamlessly as a part of the PBP team to provide mental health services, consultation, crisis intervention, referral and triage, education, and resources for patients, families, and staff.

This collaboration promotes a best practice model of care that addresses the whole child, supporting social-emotional, cognitive, and physical development to ensure that children, adolescents, and families receive immediate access to mental health services, education, and resources.

Research shows that this holistic approach supports overall wellness, including short and long-term health outcomes.

For more information, visit: centerforchildcounseling.org/pediatricintegration.

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Center for Child Counseling (CFCC) | Sexual abuse is a public health crisis. All children deserve to grow up safe from abuse. CFCC's goal is to help adults who work or live with children to learn how to keep them safe through effective strategies that prevent abuse, build safety and communication skills, promote positive relationships and resilience, and identify risk early on.

Sexual abuse and its long-term effects can be prevented through education. Stay KidSafe!™ is an online training designed to provide educators and students with the awareness and knowledge needed to prevent child sexual abuse.

We are dedicated to transforming the lives of children, families, schools, and communities through effective prevention education that is easily accessible, offering reliable information developed by our team of child development and safety experts. We created beKidSafe.org to make it easy for ALL adults to become trauma-aware and recognize and stop childhood trauma and abuse in its tracks.

For more information, visit: bekidsafe.org.

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Center for Child Counseling (CFCC) | By focusing on prevention and early intervention, CFCC therapists are embedded in elementary schools throughout Palm Beach County to increase children's access to immediate assessment and mental health support.

Through a partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County, the school-based mental health program includes classroom support, mental health consultation with teachers and caregivers, crisis intervention, and one-on-one therapy within the school setting, at home, and in the community.

For more information, visit: www.centerforchildcounseling.org/schoolbasedmentalhealth.

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Center for Child Counseling (CFCC)| Beginning in 2019, CFCC began mapping out a Data Dashboard to directly fight the youth mental health crisis in Palm Beach County.

Through a data-driven, centralized intake, each family is screened to pick up on mental health and behavioral concerns, as well as financial, housing, and hunger concerns. The data collected allows CFCC to create services that are responsive to caregiver needs without a formalized diagnosis.

Tiers of service include: level 1 (prevention)–training and resources that can be accessed by anyone from anywhere to build the capacity of adults who live/work with kids to promote their well-being; level 2 (early intervention for kids with mental health concerns)–support services and mental health consultation for the adults in the child’s life to ensure they have the skills to support the child; level 3 (treatment)--providing life-changing mental health and trauma treatment for kids facing unbelievable stress and trauma.

Through the Data Dashboard, those with the highest needs can be triaged directly to treatment, rather than waiting on a list for care.

Populated with data from the 7,000 children CFCC serves each year, the system shows exactly where they are located within the county with the various issues they are facing. This geomapping is driving the agency’s vision to better serve kids and families in our community.

For more information, visit: www.centerforchildcounseling.org.

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Center for Child Counseling (CFCC)| The impact of Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma underlie many societal problems we face today. School violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, addiction, chronic diseases, depression, anxiety, and so many other issues have their roots in unbuffered early trauma and adversity.

Center for Child Counseling understands that our country can no longer afford the risk of the mental health and physical health ailments that ACEs cause. The Center is building community buffers to mitigate the impact of ACEs.

Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) are the antidote to ACEs, and we can make a difference and change a child's life if they are experiencing ACEs or trauma.

For more information on how the Center is preventing and healing the effects of early adversity and trauma on children to build healthier, safer, more nurturing families, schools, and communities, visit: www.centerforchildcounseling.org.

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Center for Child Counseling (CFCC)| CEO Renée Layman explains the importance of the child-facing adult's ability to regulate and create safe, regulated relationships with our children in order to promote optimal resilience and well-being in children.

The Center's "A Way of Being with Children" manual, workshops, tip sheets, and videos give adults who work or live with children the tools and strategies of how to do things differently in the moment with their child in order to nurture their well-being. It is a trauma-informed approach of what the adult does when a child is in front of them--the power to interact differently with a child and having the skills and knowledge to back it up.

For more information or to access "A Way of Being with Children" resources, visit: www.centerforchildcounseling.org/awayofbeing.

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Center for Child Counseling (CFCC)| Parents Bethany and Eric Eliason tell the story of their son Ace who was given the tools to cope with his increased anxiety, thanks to the integrated mental health services within schools that Center for Child Counseling offers.

Ace is extremely bright and a perfectionist but the pandemics changed things for their family. Ace started to become more anxious about his grades and sports, and his anxiety started affecting every part of his life. As concerned parents, Bethany and Eric reached out to their school guidance counselor and were then connected to a Center for Child Counseling therapist who was integrated within Ace's school.

Through the CFCC's integrated services within the schools, they provide three main levels of treatment: individual therapy for the student, support through mental health consultation, and crisis intervention.

Ace started meeting with a CFCC in-school therapist weekly. The therapist also collaborated with the teachers, other staff, and his parents so that Ace received the support he needed throughout the day. He learned coping mechanisms and is at a place where he will be able to handle many situations moving forward into middle school and beyond.

Through a partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County, CFCC's school-based mental health program is co-located at elementary schools throughout Palm Beach County to increase access to immediate assessment and mental health support for children.

For more information on the Center's school-based mental health program, visit: www.centerforchildcounseling.org/schoolbasedmentalhealth.

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Center for Child Counseling | Adoptive mother Bailey Hughes tells her story as a foster then adoptive family--the challenges faced and how the Center has helped them meet their children's needs.

She explains the importance of trauma-informed care and the necessity for parents to have the tools to caretake for children who have gone through trauma. Center for Child Counseling gave them, as parents, the tools they needed and the necessary therapeutic services for their children to handle their past trauma. Through play therapy, Bailey's daughters were able to show what happened and what they had gone through, and for the first time Bailey was able to understand the children she had been raising and what was causing their behaviors.

Bailey's story is one of hope--trauma is not the end all, be all. There are ways to work through and heal the effects of trauma and build healthy family relationships.

For more information, visit: www.centerforchildcounseling.org.

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www.centerforchildcounseling.org | As a part of Center for Child Counseling's Fighting ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Initiative, Lead the Fight brings the opportunity for local and statewide system, business, philanthropic, civic, medical, and school leaders to learn strategies to combat the effects of childhood adversity and trauma on families and communities through education, discourse, and action through a trauma-informed equity lens.

In 2024, CFCC will partner with the Palm Beach Pediatric Society to host a 3-part series focuses on the trauma-informed pediatric practice.

CFCC’s Fighting ACEs initiative to build trauma-informed communities is made possible with the generous support of local foundations, businesses, and private donors.

For more information on the Lead the Fight series, visit: https://www.centerforchildcounseling.org/leadthefight.

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