Building mental health resilience, every encounter, every client!
Child and Adolescent Programs
Testimonials
"I found the Cope program to help me with my anxiety. I feel better more often. This helped my life, I sleep better and am doing better in school." --P, age 12
"It is with great pleasure that I write this to support the Cope training. I highly recommend the Cope training to young kids of all ages. The Cope training helped my son to understand and cope with different issues that he has come across. I am confident that this training will help your child." --Y, mother of 7 year old child
"The Cope program is a good program. It helped me get through some of the hard times in my life. I would recommend it for anyone who deals with depression and anxiety should try it, you won't regret it."
-- C, age 17
"...I didn't know what to think about the Cope program at first, but the program helped and I liked it at the end..." -- J, age 14
"The Stop and Think program helped my grandson tremendously! He is now able to work through problems and make good choices. A nice by-product of the program is that his frustration and anger issues are virtually non-existent." -- K, grandparent/guardian of 7 year old child
"I thought the [Cope Headache] program was decent, and then I thought it was good. It helped me find new strategies. The people here are nice and helpful." -- K, age 12
"Helped me out when I was stressed. Really helped me a lot." --M, age 16
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"The Cope and Coping Cat [program] have been amazing for my 9 year old son. River has helped him learn so many skills that have helped him thrive. Thank you Norkris and RIver!" -- N, mother of 9 year old
"...the Cope program helped my son tremendously." --T, mother of 7 year old child
"This class helped me be more in the moment, worry less about how others felt about me. I can now handle my anger and forgive people more now than I could before." --J, age 15
"As a parent I really enjoyed my daughter being able to complete the Anger Management program. I have seen progress and growth in her ability to control her anger. The program has also helped me grow and to control my own anger." -- C, parent of 15 year old
"When I first got the Cope/CAT book I had just gotten out of the hospital for suicide and I was at a bad place in life.But with these [programs] I'm happy and able to live life like my friends." --A, 14 year old
"It was a helpful experience for me. It helped me cope and become more happy and calm. I recommend it for people that are having the same problems as me." --T, age 16
"The 'Keeping Your Cool' program was so useful for me as a person that has anger problems. This program helps you learn new skills how to deal with anger. It helps you to learn assertion and humor to reduce your anger. It shows you how to relax when an angering situation comes around." --A, 15 year old
"Cope has helped my son tremendously. He is able to control his anxiety with the coping strategies he has learned. He is less anxious and happier in general."
-- A, mother of 16 year old
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"The Cope program has helped me focus on what I needed to change for myself for the better. It made me set goals for myself that I have now achieved. It made me think better things about myself instead of downing myself, and it also taught me how to control anxiety and stress. The Cope program taught me strategies that I need everyday to help with issues I face like positive self statements, staying in the moment, exercising and bettering my nutrition. It has made me feel less worried and sad like I used to." -- K, 16 year old.
"This program was a great deal of help for my daughter. She started out feeling really sad, moody, lethargic and hopeless. Fortunately I've seen her change. She shows happiness. I can see with my own eyes her enjoy her family and most important herself. I see that [my daughter] values her life and is willing to focus on how to continue to improve using the new techniques she's learned from the Cope program." -- E, mother of 16 year old
"This class helped me out during some of the hardest part of my life. I was hopeless and lost when I first started the Cope book, but now I am a very happy individual." --S, age 16
"I think [the Keeping Your Cool] program helped a lot cause when I started I was really bad and over the summer I changed a lot and rarely got into trouble and learned a lot of new skills and tools to help me when I am in a bad situation. I am happy for school to start so I will have real challenges so I will be able to show my new tools and skills. So I won't get in any trouble this school year." --D, 16 year old
"I feel the CAT program was very helpful. It helped me work through my anxiety piece by piece which was nice and made me think every step of the way." -- E, 16 year old
"[My daughter] has improved a lot from [workbook to workbook]. [River] has done a wonderful job. The systems have made a big difference in my daughter. I would bring her back if need be." --B, father of 7 year old
"Cope and Keeping Your Cool were great programs. There were many skills learned that have helped me know how to better handle my son's outbursts. My son has learned valuable tactics in dealing with his emotions. He has gained self-confidence and knows better ways to express himself through words." --E, mother of 13 year old
"My grandson had a very hard time coping with life issues. So we finally came to see River, and it made a lot of sense what she said. He is on his way to a much better life. We had a rough time in years of getting to this point." --T, grandfather/guardian of 16 year old
"Before I started the Cope program I was really anxious and depressed to a point where it was impacting my lifestyle and relationships with my family. I faced problems without knowing the best solution and that caused me major stress that I couldn't handle without becoming agitated and irritable. But now that I have completed the Cope program I have learned so many good and healthy ways to deal with and manage my problems in life. Knowing what I know now will help me overcome future stressors and negative situations in my life and face them with a positive and hopeful view."
--S, age 15
"[The Cope book] helped me calm my thoughts, stay more happy, and be less angry or upset. I've even changed my diet and exercise, in a better way of course. I've been enjoying my own company more than always resenting myself. Before my thoughts were terrible and I hated the way I was and the way I looked. But now I did and will still count my steps and I eat healthier. I've also been working on my overall attitude. [The Cope book] will open the door for anyone to be a happier version of themselves." --H, age 18
"The therapy Cope book helped me a lot with my problems I no longer eat out of anger, or cut when I'm upset. I find new and healthy ways of making myself better." --J, 13 year old
"Cope and Coping Cat gave our whole family a framework to work off of. Mom and Dad learned a great deal too! Our child can now begin to think through the steps of the "Fear" ladder before his anxiety is able to take over. Wouldn't it be great if all children were given the opportunity to learn better coping skills before reaching adulthood. We highly recommend this program and will revisit the book often!" -- G, parent
"Coping is an awesome program! It has helped me with my anxiety a lot! I think you will [enjoy it] as much as I do!"
-- G, age 8
"The Cope book helped me because when I have problems somewhere I can use my coping skills and what we learned in the Cope book." -- S, age 10
"When I first started the COPE program I had just been hospitalized due to my depression and anxiety. I felt like there was no hope and and my relationships to people I loved most suffered. I was always sleeping or crying and had felt so alone. Doing the multiple workbooks with River I have learned how to manage my mind and ways to soothe and take care of myself. The most important thing I learned was assertive communication and goal setting. When in crisis mode I did not know how to express myself and used anger on other people and myself. Now I set boundaries, I know how to communicate how I feel and manage my emotions. I no longer feel hopeless or alone. This program is life altering and changed and helped me evolve into a healthier person. Make sure you are honest and doing the work. This program will change your life for the better."
-- C, aged 17
"I think that the Cope book really helped my child stay in the moment more often. This program also helped the entire family deal with daily stressors. I would recommend this program to anyone who has daily stressors that cause any disruption in the daily life." -- C, mother of 10 year old
"This program helped me in multiple ways.I came in sad and hopeless and didn't think it was gonna work. But I showed up and after time it slowly started to work. The more I came the more my hope grew. I recommend it to anyone that is dealing with stress in their life." --B, 16 year old
" Before I started the COPE and CAT books, I was in a very dark place. I was constantly sitting in my room just depressed, and some days not wanting to be here. When situations or bad things would happen, I wouldn't know how to handle situations. When I started these programs, I was hesitant if it was going to help. As I progressed along I learned ways to get through situations, feel less stressed and more aware of my thoughts and feelings. As I completed these programs I feel like I have many tools to to help myself and even others in these stressful situations. I'm in a much better place than before I started the programs and I'm very grateful." -- J, age 15
"When my daughter started [this program], she was in crisis mode. She wanted to kill herself and we called the Harford County Crisis Center. Norkris was one of the programs recommended. I called panic stricken and they were able to work my daughter in quickly. My daughter met with River and worked though the COPE system and the C.A.T. project. What a difference! My daughter is like a completely different person. She is mentally healthier and better able to look to the future. River brought me into some of the sessions so I was able to learn the techniques to help my daughter. Our relationship has improved 100% and I feel like I have my daughter back. We are aware that there may be setbacks., but have been reassured that my daughter can check in as needed. Thank you Audrey, River, Sara and Norkris Services." --L, mother of 17 year old
"Before I got into the Cope program, i was really struggling with my body image and taking care of myself. After I got into the Cope program, we did goals each week and completing them really motivated me because it felt really good accomplishing those goals. After I finished, I am a lot more happy now and am happy with myself." --S, 15 year old
"I wanted to take a moment to share about the fabulous COPE program. This program has been extremely beneficial to my 15 year old foster daughter. Too often in life we assume that children automatically have the daily life skills they need in place to be successful. For those who need more guidance and support, the COPE program and facilitators like River are such a valuable asset to those needing the extra knowledge and guidance. While life can be stressful enough on a teenager, other life challenges that come with parents struggling with addiction can make the road ahead seem almost unbearable. Our family is beyond thankful for this program and River in the difference it has made. We are also hopeful it continues so others can take advantage of this resource as well. Thank you again for introducing our family to the program and all its benefits!" -- Foster mom of 15 year old