Our agency, the Vinewood Center for Children and Families, works to provide clinical and other services to children who may be suffering from psychological stress and behavioral issues. These issues can be disempowering at school and at home, and, if left unchecked, can lead to more severe mental health and legal concerns.

Intervention and prevention can save not one but many lives — the child who is in turmoil, as well as those who are affected by him, those who affect him, and the community at large.

Carl Rogers, pioneer of the client-centered model of psychotherapy, and R.D. Laing, a Scottish psychiatrist and author, spoke of the importance of unconditional positive regard as a precursor to the healing process. Labeling people’s behaviors as bad or sick without allowing for a healthy environment to work out one’s inner angst was seen as the root of mental disturbance. They stressed the importance of non-judgment in bringing out the best in a human being.

Children are the first to be affected by the larger socioeconomic and cultural milieu of which they are a product. That backdrop dictates how mentally healthy and socially successful a child will be as a member of community.

Tracy is a small community, yet it is not immunized from conditions at large, be they state budget cuts, the influx of those who are moving from the Bay Area to Tracy, the commuters who work in the Bay Area yet live here, the loss of homes to foreclosures, layoffs, mental stressors at home that affect parenting — they all impact the mind of the child.

Children, like adults, can be prone to varying levels of depression, isolation, anger, violence and acting out. In school, this is evidenced by a general inability to excel, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, a general failure to thrive. If these go unnoticed, such a child may become dangerous to himself and others, a brewing storm you had not noticed but that eventually erupts.

The Vinewood Center offers a program very close to my heart. It is called the Primary Intervention Program, known as PIP. PIP is a school-based program designed to help primary-grade children adapt to the school environment and to enhance their personal development by increasing their self-esteem.

PIP is based on the clinical model developed by child psychologists using what is called nondirective play therapy, a method by which an adult, parent, friend, teacher or therapist plays with the child without direct instruction. The child leads and is the sole decision-maker and activity director. In nondirective play, the adult serves to support the child without directing the child’s activities or passing judgment on what the child says or does.

PIP helps children heal from the stressors causing maladaptive behavior. It allows the child to use inner resources through play and fantasy to work through emotional issues. It also allows the child to learn how to use his internal prowess to solve problems, discretely and quietly, without having to deal with the frameworks that surround him during class and at home.  

The PIP playroom becomes a healing playground in which the child is allowed to be who he or she truly is, without judgment or pressure. Children develop an understanding of themselves and others in the emotionally free environment of the PIP play room. When psychological stressors go down, the ability to achieve educational competence and confidence goes up, communication improves, language skills increase, social skills become easier.

Roleplaying, through the use of artwork, expression and fantasy work, develops a child’s overall socio-psychological skills

PIP is modeled after the primary mental health project, which started in Rochester, N.Y., in 1957. To date, more than 30 separate PMHP outcome studies have been carried out. The research has consistently shown that PIP — like what is being done in Tracy — and similar programs are successful and cost-effective. In addition to California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Connecticut have used the program model. Public officials, including the U.S. Surgeon General, have voiced their support for PIP.

Thanks to the state of California, Vinewood Center for Children and Families has successfully carried out PIP programs in Tracy schools. We have served more than 70 children via local schools such as Jacobson, Freiler, South/West Park, Villalovoz and Central schools.

We hope to bring this program to other schools in Tracy as well, to help kids who need a little extra nurturing to bring them to their full potential.

• Samina Masood has lived in Tracy since 2004 and is among a select group of local Town Crier columnists in the Tracy Press. She is the director of Vinewood Center for Children in Tracy and is a mother of two who has master’s degrees in both journalism and clinical psychology.