About Our CEO
Hi, my name is Amanda and I am the CEO/founder of Mental Heart Healing House.
I am a child-centered play therapist trained in trauma, emotion, art & behaviors with over 30 years of experience working with children, families, and teachers. I am a wife, mother of six & grandmother of six. Proudly from beautiful Queen Creek Arizona where my children and I lived for years after our departure from military life.
I began to see a need for smaller, more personalized programs teaching children how to manage & take control of their feelings & actions in an engaging way in a low-stress environment.
After several years of working with children who were considered high-risk, struggled with social skills and forming friendships, and children that had challenges managing traumas, emotions & other behavior concerns, or children who simply couldn’t find a truly inclusive environment that was flexible enough to meet their unique needs, Mental Heart Therapeutic Play was formed.
Our Mission
To give children a safe and inclusive space to confidently learn to manage their emotions and trauma, and to build social skills that will strengthen bonds with families & peers using the power of therapeutic play.
As Featured On
Check out the interview with Road Trip Nation. Learn all about Amanda’s journey to starting Mental Heart, the challenges she overcame as an entrepreneur, and the vision she had for her programs.
Mindful Hearts Learning Academy K-4 Microschool is part of the foundational growth of microschooling in AZ and championing personalized education for young children. Click to read.
FAQs
What is the Mental Heart Emotion and Behavior lab?
A safe place for children ages 3-11 to come and work on their behaviors and emotions in an environment designed JUST FOR THEM.
It is a hands-on, interactive, smart lab with pre-set stations and activities. Clients are able to move through the lab independently or with direction from our behavior coaching staff.
Items in the stations are intentionally designed and changed often to stay engaging and fun, as well as be customized for each one-on-one client as needed. Our classes and sessions vary with the age or readiness level of the child.
What type of children do you see?
We work with mild forms of emotions and behaviors for ALL children of ALL abilities. If it goes over our scope of practice or we feel your child is not a good fit for our level of care, we will offer you a referral to our trusted doctors or licensed therapist.
Do you sit and talk with my child?
We provide an interactive, hands-on approach. While we do engage in intentional conversation, we aim to authentically get to the core of the child’s emotions with relationship building, observation, scaffolding, and modeling.
Is this therapy or play?
Though we support with big emotions and challenges our services differ from therapy! Play therapists are hired to guide for you, our therapeutic play helps your child by supporting with you and diving into the situation to support their unique needs and lifestyle.
We use the medium of play because a child’s language is play. Play therapy builds on the instinctual way that children learn about themselves and their relationships in the world around them
Do you offer parent coaching?
Not at this time, though our programs do embed lots of parent involvement and connection-building with their child. We also provide resources and information for parents to find further support and programs to help children as parents navigate these changes, such as our Banana Split program for children of divorced/separated parents.
Do you provide diagnosis or medication?
NO, we are a holistic program and refer out to a licensed therapist, family psychologist, or children’s behavior pediatrician.
Therapeutic play teaches children holistic ways of handling their big emotions and behavior. We do work with ALL children and families including those who are on medication and/or being treated with CBD & THC for medical reasons.
