Experiential Therapy Programs

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Sponsored by an Anonymous Challenge Grant, Newmont Mining, ECA Foundation, and Gary-Williams Employee Fund

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

Sponsored by an Hunt Alternatives Fund: 3rd Generation, and Flobots.org

Music Therapy specifically, provides a healing influence to counteract depression and psychological stress for our children. In our second year of offering music therapy, 34 DCH clients received this form of treatment. Several positive results have been observed among the clients. Amongst these are an increase in motivation and volition in the older males. Related to this is an increase of self-esteem and experience practicing patience. Younger clients have experienced more interpersonal and relational effects. This has been primarily experienced as positive social interactions, increased eye contact, sharing of feelings and a decrease in nervous reactivity.

Click the post-it note at the top of our website to listen to the music and poetry player!

Live at DCH: Flobots Music Program

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. Due to the generous funding of Hunt Alternatives Fund, the healing influences of music are daily counteracting depression and psychological stress for our children.

Yoga Therapy

Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente Foundation

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

Sponsored by Betsy Duffner Memorial Fund

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.

Pet Therapy

Sponsored by the Animal Assistance Foundation

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.

Recreational Therapeutic Activities

Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente Foundation

At Denver Children's Home we recognize the value of a healthy lifestyle and how an active lifestyle helps our children heal and mature. Therapeutic recreation is an important part of our holistic approach to treatment.