Developing the Child
At Niños del Lago, we act as positive mentors for the children sent to us, we assure them that they are wonderful and we challenge them to dare-to-dream.
Professionals in the field of child psychology agree...
A child's future may be saved by the action of just one adult who focuses
on the child and reassures them they are valuable and worthy.
Just one positive experience with one caring adult can enable a child to
develop resilience against the problems they face.
A child's future may be saved by the action of just one adult who focuses
on the child and reassures them they are valuable and worthy.
Just one positive experience with one caring adult can enable a child to
develop resilience against the problems they face.
Chris Tickner works as a psychotherapist at a major, not-for-profit residential treatment center near
Pasadena, CA, serving some of the most mentally ill, severely abused, and neglected children in the
Los Angeles metro area.
"Vital to any child's development is simple play. With play, children develop resilience to suffering,
providing a sense of mastery and hope for the future. Research has shown that intervening with
this inter-generational cycle, by providing opportunities for children to play and grow can reverse this
cycle.
This is what Niños del Lago will accomplish. The program provides children with periods of worry-free play,
filled with loving interactions and unconditional acceptance. Energy usually spent finding food
and soothing fear and anxiety, becomes available for joy, laughter and hope.
Leaving Niños del Lago, after having such an experience, children can return to their lives, restored,
refreshed, but most importantly, they have a picture of what can be, what feels good, providing a sense
of hope for what life and their future may hold."
Dr. Patterson is a Jungian analyst who has devoted his practice to healing severely distressed children.
"The pain in a child's eyes can often be eliminated with loving care, but the pain we cannot see, the pain
in a child's 'heart', is not so easily removed. For many children, this 'heart' pain is never erased and the
child simply learns to suppress the pain; this, at a terrible cost to us all. This inner 'heart' pain is created
when a child's Soul loses hope and he/she looses trust in the core humanity of others. Sadly, the
children blame themselves.
At Niños del Lago, special attention is given by well-trained counselors,
helping to erase this misperception of self-blame within the hearts of children while restoring their trust.
When a child's heart is free of self-blame, life takes on a very different perspective."
