SEATTLE — What has become common among adults is also becoming increasingly available for children. We're talking about therapy by a licensed psychiatrist.
Reducing the stigma of seeking therapy and empowering young people with the mental health resources they need, is the goal behind a program launched this school year at Renton Public Schools to provide one-on-one, virtual therapy for students.
Funded by Providence's Well Being Trust, the offering expands mental health resources for students who increasingly face mental health challenges, post-pandemic.
"Having to do remote learning, and missing part of that developmental stage for getting that peer, social interaction, coming back to the schools, there was a lot more anxiety. And sometimes that was communicated through behavior," said Devyna Aguon.
Aguon is a social and emotional learning facilitator at Renton Public Schools.
The school district is partnering with Hazel Health to provide confidential virtual therapy sessions for students of all grades and all schools in the district. The program launched this school year. Students and families will not need to pay, though insurance is needed.
The offering comes as U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared this year, a mental health advisory.
"We have a youth mental health crisis in our country and I'm very concerned that social media has become a contributor to that crisis," Murthy told NBC News this year.
Providence's Well Being Trust took note.
"Just to put this in context, these advisories are not given lightly," said Dr. Arpan Waghray, a psychiatrist and CEO of the trust.
"Stigma is a problem for adults too, but children particularly. So a vast majority of people who might need help, children who might need help, [are] probably not seeking help for themselves because of stigma," Waghray said.
The trust is funding thousands of dollars for the therapy program for Renton Public Schools.
"In this particular context, this is already over half a million that we've committed to," Waghray said.
"We're doing this not just for one year, but we've made a three-year commitment to make sure we get this off the ground, and really keep it sustainable," Waghray said.
As for how it works, families can sign up for the sessions online via Hazel Health. The one-on-one sessions are done virtually via tablet and can be done at school, or at home. Students can also be paired with diverse, and bilingual providers to further reduce barriers.
"Being able to normalize what mental health is, right? Just like how we have our physical well-being, we should also be looking at you know, our mental health well-being," Aguon said.
Therapy sessions now offered for free at Renton Public Schools: HealthLink
The free, virtual sessions come as young people increasingly face a "mental health crisis."