View the full story with video and photos on ksltv.com
BY KEN FALL AND EMMA BENSON, KSL TV
KSLTV.com
WEST VALLEY CITY – Stephanie Jashinsky is no stranger to heartbreak.
“I had five previous pregnancies that all ended in loss; I had endured a lot of trauma,” she explained.
Then came Ira, her first child. Stephanie recalled, “He was born prematurely, partly because of the anxiety I had. And it impacted him.”
As a toddler, Ira had difficulty emotionally. His father Jesse remembered, “When he was really upset, all our best efforts, we just couldn’t calm him down.”
The family soon added a daughter, Ellie. The stress of parenting, plus Ira’s struggles, along with Stephanie’s trauma, made them seek help. That’s when things took a more promising turn.
“At these younger ages in particular, a child’s symptoms do not develop in a vacuum,” said Kyle Smith, MD, a child psychiatrist with The Children’s Center Utah.
The Children’s Center, or TCCU, provides evidence-based mental health treatment for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families and caregivers.
Staff and clients in The Children’s Center Utah’s therapeutic preschool program. (The Children’s Center Utah)
“Our therapeutic interventions are primarily dyadic, working with caregivers and the child to help with their relationship. And specifically tuned for the young population that we work with,” Smith said.
Stephanie Jashinsky put it this way: “So, although your child is the client and that’s who they focus on, they work with you as a family.”
Mental health concerns can affect people of any age. Studies show that one in five Utah children, from newborns to the age of eight, experience emotional and behavioral challenges.
Stress and untreated trauma in young children can lead to more severe mental health problems down the road.
Rebecca Dutson, CEO of The Children’s Center of Utah, said they help about 1,000 families each year.
“We can change the trajectory of their lives by giving them the tools to manage and regulate their emotions and keep more complex problems from happening downstream,” she added.
Dawn Wright and her family are also clients of the center.
“Almost overnight, the problematic behavior we were seeing disappeared,” Wright said. And she believes the constructive language and positive reinforcement that she uses with her kids have made her a better parent.
“Sometimes the situation demands connection, not correction,” she added.
The Jashinskys agreed.
“We praise him when he’s doing something that we’re proud of. We don’t focus on anything negative,” Stephanie said.
When interacting with Ira, the Jashinskys now focus on being in the moment.
“He’s able to calm down from being upset more easily now,” Jesse Jashinsky said.
Established in 1962, TCCU’s services are unique and unduplicated in Utah. The center provides outpatient clinical services and family therapy, early childhood consultation and training, and runs the Therapeutic Preschool Program for children ages two to five.
KSL TV’s Annie Knox contributed to this story.
