About Us

Dear parent/caregiver, school professional, curious seeker,

Heartfelt welcome to the Child Behavioral Health Network, or CBHN for short! This is a network of passionate and dedicated child based therapists and child health practitioners working mostly with the Expat community in The Netherlands. We work with children ages 0 to 12 years and from all cultural backgrounds.

In particular, our therapists are international (including geographically) and bilingual, speaking English and another language. They are also trauma and attachment informed, with an eye for expressive and evidence based methods that help reduce symptoms. In the former, oftentimes when children have physical-cognitive delays, are going through difficult transitions, or have endured trauma, they may not have the words to express themselves or trust the adults in their immediate environment to help them process what happened, or what they continue to feel. By guiding them to non-intrusive therapeutic services called ‘expressive arts therapies’ such as art, dance, music, and even yoga therapy, we believe the child can begin to find themselves, find their words and eventually find the tools that will work for him or her in order to self regulate, identify and problem solve. As Dr. Cathy Malchiodi speaks on the healing power of the expressive arts: “Expressive arts help people discover just what forms of expression will be self-regulating, communicate their experiences in reparative ways, imagine restorative narratives, and ultimately support recovery.” So, whether it is building fine motor skills, increasing self esteem, mindfulness/awareness or learning to reconnect with the body and mind via tapping after a trauma, we try our best to pay attention to each child’s needs and capabilities and the methods that may work for him or her. Most of all, we are guided by the child and what he or she is willing to share with us. We listen compassionately, respect their words and guide them to find their own voice and solution(s).

Next to therapy, we also offer workshops tailored to child mental health related issues (see individual clinician's practice site for more information) and a ‘Community Healing HeARTs’ program for adults needing to work on childhood related experiences.

Also, often within a network, such as ours, there are other needs that arise. For CBHN we believe that parents should be able to access psychologists who can make a diagnosis, paediatric chiropractors, to name a few. That is why we have expanded our Network to include these much needed services. So be sure to check out our health clinicians' practices to find the right fit for your child!

Before closing, we should be reminded that children are our future. As adults we should try our utmost to make sure their present is safe so that they can thrive and become productive citizens in the future. For our work to be effective, we rely on the African proverb that ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ because more often than not, children’s problems do not exist in a vacuum. In fact, their problems are often created and/or are aggravated by the very social and cultural environments that should be protecting them. So for every child that walks through our doors, we try to create a village–parents, siblings, teachers, admins, anyone involved in the child’s life- who can commit to helping the child work out his or her problem(s) and to implement most appropriate interventions and strategies so that we can make deeper, long lasting impact. I hope that you will join our village and shape the village for your child(ren)’s mental wellbeing.