Our Philosophy

At CHH we believe that family is the foundation for all social learning and emotional growth. This belief is reflected in our parent-child friendly surroundings. It is mirrored in our therapy services to include siblings, caretakers and grandparents. It is the foundation for our belief that following a relationship-based, developmental approach fosters growth to occur within the context of the parent-child relationship. Over time this growth is then generalized into the child's home, school, and peer environment.

The Center for Hope & Healing utilizes the P.L.A.Y. Project^® + DIR^®/Floortime^™ model as our foundation for treatment with children. The P.L.A.Y. Project^® + DIR^®/Floortime^™ created by Dr. Richard Solomon, M.D. is a practical, research-based, child-centered, family-friendly application of the DIR^®/Floortime^™ framework. DIR^®/Floortime^™ stands for Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-based approach. The DIR^®/Floortime^™ theory was developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan, M.D. and Serena Weider, PhD. It provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and treating children. This approach helps children master the foundational building blocks of relating, communicating and thinking.

Our programs at CHH focus on helping children with ASD and related disorders build emotional connections and engage in meaningful relationships with their family and others. By focusing on relationships, we help children gain skills and progressively move through the six Functional Developmental Levels (FDL):

1. Self-Regulation and Shared Attention
2. Engagement and Intimacy
3. 2-Way Communication and Initiation
4. Complex Communication and Language
5. Emotional Ideas, Shared Meaning & Simple Symbolic Play
6. Emotional Thinking and Complex Symbolic Play

The P.L.A.Y. Project^® + DIR^®/Floortime^™ approach allows us to apply techniques that match the child's development, allows us the freedom to see the child as an individual, and we are able to support the child's acquisition of social skills and language by building a strong relationship with the child and family.

See P.L.A.Y. for a full description.