We support families with children who are experiencing mental health crisis.
Mum, Dad – you are not alone!
We are here to support you.
The mission of the Mindset Institute is to support parents of children and teenagers experiencing mental health crisis. We help parents create the right conditions to foster the emotional recovery of their kids.
Mindset was founded in 2023 in response to a huge need of providing support to parents of children and young people in mental health crisis. We currently build our parent support programme to effectively and wisely help parents during the difficult time their families are experiencing.
In 2022, a tragic record of suicide attempts by children and teenagers was set in Poland. As many as 2037 young people attempted to take their own lives, of which 150 attempts ended in death. Most of those attempts were related to mental health crisis. At the same time, Poland ranks 3rd in the world in terms of parental burnout rates. Parental burnout means emotional exhaustion with the role of parent. Consequently, adults lack the resources to provide adequate conditions for children’s emotional growth. This is particularly acute when a child is facing a mental health crisis and needs more support than usual.
A common problem in the Polish NFZ health service is limited access to mental health professionals. There is also a shortage of psychologists in primary and secondary schools. Although each school is formally obliged to provide psychological care to pupils, more than a quarter of all schools do not employ any psychologist (data for the school year 2023/24). As a result, there are almost 800 children on average per one full-time school psychologist!
Obstacles also pile up if one wants to take their child to a psychologist or psychiatrist within the public NFZ health service, and even privately this is not easy. There is also a growing demand for treatment in children’s psychiatric wards at hospitals, with waiting times sometimes exceeding six months for a scheduled admission. A vast majority of young patients – more than 90 per cent – are admitted to psychiatric wards as an emergency, often because of a suicide attempt. This means that the young patient had needed help sooner but did not receive it. Unfortunately, the reality of psychiatric wards also leaves much to be desired. Due to the high occupancy of the wards, some patients’ beds are set up in corridors, which violates their intimacy and dignity, as does the placement of underage patients in adult wards.
Inefficiencies in the healthcare service mean that parents of children with mental health crisis are often left with no support. Added to this is lack of dialogue, trust and cooperation between schools, psychologists and psychotherapists from local counseling centres, hospitals and finally parents. And yet, the most intensive effort to restore a child’s mental balance takes place in their immediate environment, which is home. It is thus crucial to support the child’s parents in the process. This is where we at the Mindset Institute see our role.
The Mindset Institute supports parents of children experiencing mental health crisis. We accompany them on the difficult journey of gaining knowledge, building awareness and belief in their children’s happiness, until they develop the skills to support their children in achieving mental wellbeing.
We think and act systemically. The following principles lie at the core of what we do:
Mental health is a state when a person not only doesn’t suffer but also is able to realise their full potential.
To help a child in crisis, you need to help the whole family. A child’s emotional crisis affects the entire family system.
Home is the starting point. The support of those close to the child is essential in the process of building the child’s mental resilience.
One of the most important factors for healthy and happy children are supportive and happy parents. To help the child, the parent should also take care of himself.
A crisis can be the beginning of a better future. Difficult experiences offer a chance to develop self-awareness, discover greater meaning in life and positively transform relationships with oneself and others.
Mindset projects and initiatives are developed in collaboration with experts in psychiatry, psychotherapy, neurology, psychology and sociology, as well as with people who have experienced a mental health crisis in their own family.
The mission and goals of Mindset are in line with Polish and global programmes and objectives:
Poland’s mental health care objectives:
- Providing people experiencing a mental health crisis with comprehensive and holistic care and support appropriate to their needs.
- Preventing mental health problems and improving mental well-being.
Directions for the implementation of Poland’s public education policy in the school year 2022/2023:
- Point 2: Supporting the educative role of the family through proper organisation and implementation of the school subject: upbringing for family life. Fostering and strengthening the mental health of children and teenagers
Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the UN:
- 3: Good Health and Well-being.
- 4: Quality Education.
Mindset practically contributes to the implementation of human and civil rights as defined in the Polish Constitution. Article 68 of the Constitution states that everyone is entitled to healthcare, and access to healthcare services should be equal and independent of a person’s financial status. The Article states further that particular care should be provided to children. In our view, the right to care and support in mental health crisis is not fully realised. Mindset intends to change this.
Programs
Get support
Parents with children suffering from mental health crisis can register for a free counselling session at the mental health clinic cooperating with the Mindset Foundation. The counselling session can take form of a face to face meeting (in Lesznowola near Warsaw) or an online meeting.
To make an appointment, fill in the form below – we will contact you as soon as possible, within 2 working days.