For Childcare Professionals

Positive Leaps collaborates with caring childcare professionals to help children and teens improve their mental health and learn positive behavior.

Make a referral today. Referred families can request a same-day appointment.

A therapist is conducting an individual therapy session at Positive Leaps.

Committed, Passionate Care

Healthcare and teaching childcare professionals refer children in behavioral crises to Positive Leaps because we use researched-based, behaviorally focused interventions to foster improved, effective behaviors.

Our treatment goals are to improve the communication and interaction skills of children ages 3 to 8 years old by eliminating or significantly reducing negative behaviors and teaching them new skills to improve their effectiveness at home, school, among peers, and in the community.

For Referring Teaching Childcare Professionals

In cases where a child has been dismissed from an Early Childhood Learning Center or grade school due to behavior issues such as harmful aggression toward others and others’ property, Positive Leaps generally can often help a child return to the school environment in 10-12 weeks.

  • Positive Leaps Day Treatment Program focuses on skill building, using practices that are based upon scientific studies demonstrated to be successful with similar children. Specifically, Positive Leaps uses behaviorally specific praise, reward, modeling, problem-solving, and contingencies to help shape positive behavior.
  • Early and intensive intervention for children with significant behavioral problems is important, because without intervention, children’s behavior problems remain fairly stable over time, or escalate, increasing the chance that as older children they will require alternative educational placement, specialized educational services, or drop out of school altogether. (Koertering & Braziel, 1999; Olsen & Horza, 1993; Snyder, 2001; Raver & Knitzer, 2002)

For Referring Healthcare Childcare Professionals

Up to 75% of children referred to Positive Leaps have a pre-existing mental health diagnosis. Common diagnoses where Positive Leaps’ programs can help include:

  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
  • Disruptive Behavior Disorder – NOS
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Additionally, there may be a family history of substance use, and many children have been treated by a psychiatrist or therapist before being referred to Positive Leaps.

Research-based protocols are important to good clinical outcome. Our Family Therapy, Individual Therapy, and Behavioral Intervention Processes are implemented with rigorous fidelity to researched models. Our unrivaled success is attributable to intensive intervention over sustained periods with adherence to researched protocols, provided by highly trained staff within a facility specifically designed for young children and families with an emphasis upon parent participation.

Our Treatment Programs

Our specialized child behavioral therapists are always taking additional training to assist the children and families better referred to Positive Leaps. Our staff currently maintains the following current courses and professional designations:

  • Trauma-focused cognitive Behavior Therapy
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Youth
  • Trauma Focused Integrative Play Therapy
  • Play Therapy
  • Treatment for Bullying (for victim and perpetrator)
  • Child-Parent Relationship Training
  • Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
  • Art Therapy Techniques for Anxiety and Trauma
  • Group Therapy Techniques for Young Children and Youth

Additional Information Resources

Burke, R; Kuhn, B; Peterson, J; Peterson, R; Badura Brack, A. (2010). “Don’t Kick Me Out!”: Day Treatment for Two Preschool Children With Severe Behavior Problems. Clinical Case Studies 9;28.
http://ccs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/9/1/28

Burke, R; Kuhn, B; Peterson, J. (2004). Brief Report: A “storybook” ending to children’s bedtime problems: The use of a social story to reduce bedtime resistance and frequent night-waking. Journal of Pediatric Psychology 29(5), 389-396.

Gilliam, W. (2005). Pre-kindergarteners left behind: Expulsion rates in state prekindergarten systems. New Haven, CT: Yale University Child Study Center.

Gilliam, W. & Shahar, G. (2006). Preschool and child care expulsion and suspension: Rates and predictors in one state. Infants and Young Children, 19, 228-245

Refer a Family Today

Help a family replace problem behaviors in children with positive behaviors. Referred families have the opportunity to request a same-day appointment.

Pin It on Pinterest

Scroll to Top