Everyone is prone to feeling overwhelmed at times. Imagine you’re a single working parent of two children, juggling financial and emotional struggles. In a situation like this, children are more likely to have difficulty in school and more prone to experiencing physical and mental health issues. Fortunately, in-home therapy offers a potential solution to help families in times of need in times like these.

Families of all types can face tremendous challenges that impact their behavioral or mental health. These challenges make it difficult for them to stay together and increase the chances of a child entering out-of-home care. In-home therapy uses interventions designed to improve a family’s ability to overcome mental and behavioral challenges. In-home therapy varies from the traditional approach. Instead of meeting a therapist in an office, therapy is provided in the family’s home, which research has shown to be significantly more effective. This is because adults and children tend to feel less nervous in an environment they are familiar with, allowing a therapist to more adequately address the personal needs of the family. Prolonged exposure to physical abuse, emotional neglect and other adversity can have negative long-term psychological and physical effects on individuals when gone untreated. Decades of research has shown that in-home therapy has proven to be a possible solution for families facing mental and behavioral struggles.

In-home therapists show parents how to better regulate their emotions and determine if medication is needed in conjunction with the therapy provided. Young children especially benefit from in-home therapy as the first few years of life are critical in brain development. Genes determine intelligence, skills, and sensibilities, but the presence of trauma or other adversities can halt healthy development of the brain. The presence of in-home therapy gives children the ability to overcome new challenges and heal the brain. For adults, in-home therapy teaches parenting skills and other strategies that they may not have already known. One study showed that after many experiments, families that received in-home therapy had fewer medical problems, higher participation in the workforce, lower reliance on public assistance, increased use of birth control and better spacing of pregnancies.

Additional details on in-home therapy:

• Services are delivered in the home and community
• Eliminates barriers for families who don’t have sufficient child care options or difficulty securing rides to a clinic
• More convenient access to care for the client
• 24/7 responsiveness in case of emergency
• Duration of a therapy session is not time limited and is based on need of the recipients
• Flexible scheduling
• Helps identify natural support options
• Allows a therapist learn more about a child or teen by working in their personal environment