Experiential Therapy Programs

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Sponsored by an Animal Assistance Foundation, Anonymous Challenge Grant, Art For Kids Project, Newmont Mining, ECA Foundation, Flobots.org,

Denver Children's Home has strengthened our experiential therapy programs including art, yoga, music, pet, and recreation therapies. Built on a body of research that suggests "talk" therapy alone is not sufficient to treat abused and traumatized adolescents, the goal of the Experiential Therapy Program is to regulate the level of excitement through creative expression and help them overcome difficulty building safe, trusting relationships, and accurately communicating their emotions.

Music Therapy

Music Therapy specifically, provides a healing influence to counteract depression and psychological stress for our children. Additionally, members of Flobots, a Denver local hip-hop band, have offered their musical expertise, time and heart to the children of Denver Children's Home. Through a series of ongoing workshops, Flobots members teach guitar, violin, voice, lyrcisim, and recording. Click the post-it note at the top of our website to listen to the music and poetry player!

Yoga Therapy

Built on a body of research that suggests "talk" therapy alone is not sufficient to treat abused and traumatized adolescents, the goal of the Experiential Therapy programs is to regulate the level of excitement through creative expression and help them overcome difficulty building safe, trusting relationships, and accurately communicating their emotions.

Borrowing on this research and recommendations, Lila Yoga (a Vinyasa form of Hatha Yoga elaborated by Erica Kaufman, MFA, E-RYT) was proposed. Its focus on meditation in movement is particularly helpful in helping traumatized individuals better regulate their level of emotion, while also gaining mindfulness skills. Since it's inplementation in 2005, the DCH Therapeutic Yoga program continues to provide over 25 hours a month of yoga therapy.

Art Therapy

The Art Therapy Program helps at-risk youth access their own creativity to enhance self awareness, foster self-esteem and develop communication, socialization and problem solving skills. Most of the children at DCH have suffered abuse, neglect and trauma and have difficulty accurately identifying, expressing and communicating their emotions, thoughts and feelings through traditional verbal therapy. Therefore, they greatly benefit from experiential therapy, which allows them to build relationships through nonverbal participatory expression.

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Children with trauma histories and mental illness may be especially reluctant to engage in traditional talk therapy but may easily engage in interactions with an animal. Children experience a natural connection with the animals around us. Their innocence, playfulness, and dependence provide wonderful teaching opportunities as well as helping to instill values of safety, respect, responsibility, and empathy. The Working Out Our Frustrations (WOOF) program will enhance children's practice of kindness and patience by working with animals as well as team building activities The goal of this program include decreasing aggression and improving pro-social skills of youth.

Equine - Assisted Therapy

This intervention helps youth develop mutual trust, respect, affection, empathy, unconditional acceptance, confidence, responsibility, assertiveness, communication skills and self-control. Effective communication with a horse involves patience, understanding, attention, forgiveness and consistency.

Horticulture Therapy

Therapeutic gardens enable everyone to work, learn, and relax in the garden. Horticultural therapists are skilled at creating garden spaces that accommodate people with a wide range of abilities. People with physical or mental disabilities benefit from gardening experiences as they learn skills, adaptations, and gardening methods that allow for continued participation at home.

For more information, contact:

REBECCA HEA, Executive Director
Phone: 720.881.3405
rhea@denverchildrenshome.org