FAQs about Virtual Mental Health Care for Kids and Families

Only 1 in 10 children under the age of 12 are getting the mental health care they need. The top challenges associated with access to care include waitlists usually around 6-months, travel challenges especially for families in rural areas, and a national shortage of pediatric mental health experts.

Little Otter’s virtual mental health care model was created to address these issues, offering accessible, high-quality care to every family, no matter who they know or where they are. This approach not only removes geographical limitations but also ensures that families receive the support they need when they need it most. 

In this article, we’ll explore some of the most frequently asked questions about Little Otter’s virtual care, how it works, and why it’s so effective in addressing a wide range of mental health concerns. 

Why does Little Otter exclusively offer virtual care?

70% of counties in the US have no child psychiatrists. Little Otter is committed to virtual care because it removes geographic barriers without having to sacrifice high-quality care. Virtual pediatric mental health care allows families to get support from the best clinicians without traveling or sitting on a waitlist.

Virtual care also ensures that families can engage in therapy from the comfort of their homes, which is particularly beneficial for young children who often feel more at ease in familiar environments. 

At Little Otter, we’ve found that virtual care allows for seamless collaboration with schools, pediatricians, and caregivers, ensuring a comprehensive approach to mental health. By leveraging technology, Little Otter can provide personalized, evidence-based care at scale, ensuring that more children and families receive the support they need when they need it.

How does Little Otter engage young children in virtual therapy?

Engaging young children in virtual therapy requires creativity and flexibility, and Little Otter has developed a model that makes therapy interactive, engaging, and impactful. 

Little Otter providers use play-therapy, storytelling, games, drawing, and virtual whiteboards to make sessions more dynamic. Therapists work with the parent and the child together to provide real-time feedback regarding their interactions to promote a strong and secure relationship. Children are encouraged to move around, show their therapists favorite toys or pets, and interact naturally rather than feeling restricted to sitting still in front of a screen. 

Additionally, this approach allows providers to observe children in their natural home environment, allowing for more accurate assessments and personalized interventions.

Is virtual mental health care as effective as in-person therapy?

Yes, virtual mental health care is highly effective when delivered using evidence-based approaches. 

At Little Otter, 80% of children show clinically significant improvement within 12 sessions, and 75% of parents report reduced anxiety and depression. Virtual therapy allows for real-time coaching, family involvement, and observation of a child’s behavior in their home setting, which we’ve seen enhance treatment effectiveness. 

Little Otter clinicians track progress using measurement-informed care, ensuring that interventions are continuously adjusted to meet each child’s needs. Research supports that treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) are just as effective when delivered virtually, making it an excellent alternative to traditional in-person therapy.

What mental health concerns can be addressed virtually? 

Little Otter is the one-stop shop for families to get all of their mental health needs from concerns around sleep or tantrums all the way through to suicidal ideation, OCD, trauma, anxiety, and depression through virtual mental health care.

Our teams also have experience working with postpartum mental health issues, couple and marital conflict, parenting challenges, co-parenting challenges, and parent-child relationships. Through evidence-based therapy for children and adult caregivers, parent coaching, couples counseling and family therapy, and psychiatry services for children and adult caregivers, Little Otter teams are able to effectively address mental health concerns.

How do you know that kids and families are actually getting better when they’re in care? 

We use our Family Mental Health Check-up designed by Little Otter co-founder and world-renowned child psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Egger. This 10-minute assessment gives you a view of your whole family’s mental health results and see what’s typical or concerning. The assessment screens for: 

• Child Mental Health: We treat children ages 0-18. Answer developmentally-appropriate questions about behavior challenges, social challenges, emotional challenges tailored to your child’s age to reveal any mental health challenges.
• Parent Mental Health: Screen for your own anxiety and depression.
• Family Mental Health: Assess the overall health of your family’s relationships, including the relationships between you and your partner or co-parent, and you and 
your child.

We have families in care with Little Otter fill out our Family Mental Health Check-up every three months so families can see progress over time and catch issues as they arise and change.

What makes Little Otter’s virtual model a game-changer for whole-family mental health care?

Little Otter’s virtual model is revolutionary because it provides a whole-family approach to mental health care, ensuring that children, parents, and families all receive support from the same team. 

Unlike many traditional models that focus solely on the child, Little Otter integrates parent coaching, adult therapy, and family counseling into our care model. Our virtual platform allows for greater flexibility, enabling parents, co-parents, step-parents, bonus parents, and caregivers to join sessions from different locations. 

Additionally, Little Otter prioritizes early identification and intervention, using technology to screen for mental health concerns and track progress over time. By making high-quality, evidence-based care accessible to families regardless of location, Little Otter is transforming pediatric mental health care and closing the gap in access to essential services.

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