Skip To Main Content

School Header

Logo Container

logo-image

Location

Schools

Search Button

Trigger Container

Breadcrumb

Mental Health & Wellness

With the safety and well-being of our students as a top priority, we recognize that strong mental health plays a vital role in a student's growth and success. Lakota offers a variety of services and supports to meet the mental health needs of our students.

If a person needs immediate assistance:

Immediate Crisis Response and Consultation
Mobile Response Stabilization Service: 844-427-4747 

Consultation Support and Referral/Intake
Children’s Hospital Psychiatric Intake Response Center (PIRC): 513-636-4124

Crisis Numbers

  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 
  • Butler County Crisis Hotline: 844-427-4747 or call 911
  • Ohio Crisis Text Line: Text 4HOPE to 741741

Our Therapy Dog

black therapy dog with red bandana

Reeves is Freedom's Therapy Dog and has been trained, certified, and insured through Circle Tail on how to interact with children within a structured environment. Reeves has also undergone temperament and obedience training, and passed with flying colors.

Reeves brings joy to students everyday at school and provides many benefits:

Cognitive: Companionship with a dog stimulates memory, problem-solving and game- playing.
Social: A dog provides a positive mutual topic for discussion, encourages responsibility, wellbeing and focused interaction with others.            
Emotional: A school dog improves self-esteem, acceptance from others and lifts mood, often provoking laughter and fun. Dogs can also teach compassion and respect for other living things as well as relieving anxiety.    
Physical: Interaction with an animal reduces blood pressure, provides tactile stimulation, assists with pain management, gives motivation to move, walk and stimulates the senses.
Environmental: A dog in a school increases the sense of a family environment, with all of the above benefits continuing long after the school day is over.

*If your student has a significant dog allergy or fear of dogs, please contact our school counselor so she can work with your family to ensure the best experience for your child. 

School Based Therapy

MindPeace logo with ladder and sun as the letter i

We want all of our students to be healthy and ready to learn, and we recognize that strong mental health and wellness play a vital role in a student's growth and success. Students who are struggling with stress, anxiety or other concerns cannot focus on school work. That's why we’ve partnered with Catalyst Counseling and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to help increase student access to high quality and affordable mental healthcare.

In addition to their network of school-based providers, MindPeace also manages a comprehensive community database of all the mental health providers in our region, along with other helpful resources to meet the needs of students and their families. Visit the MindPeace website to view the comprehensive list of providers and resources. 

 

After a rigorous needs assessment and interview process, Freedom Elementary identified Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) as our partner to help increase student access to high quality and affordable mental healthcare. 

Meet Our Therapists

Lauren Maas

Lauren Maas

Lauren earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Xavier University, with minors in Criminal Justice and Gender and Diversity Studies. She went on to receive her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in mental health. Lauren has spent the past decade supporting children and families across a range of settings, including schools, outpatient clinics, foster and adoptive agencies, and a partial hospitalization program. Lauren is especially passionate about meeting children where they are and helping them use their strengths to build coping skills, process difficult situations, and feel more confident and peaceful in their everyday lives. Her approach to therapy is trauma informed, strengths based, and often includes elements of play therapy. She believes that healing happens best when we work together, and she loves partnering with families, teachers, and staff to support the whole child. Her goal is to create a safe and welcoming space where students feel heard, valued, and empowered to grow. When she's not working, Lauren enjoys spending time outdoors—whether she's traveling, playing sand volleyball, swimming, or hiking with her husband and their dog, Moe

Kayla Puckett

Kayla Puckett

Kayla graduated from the University of Cincinnati with her bachelor’s in psychology and a minor in sociology. She went on to graduate from Xavier University with her Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and has worked in multiple roles in the mental health field for over 8 years.

Previously she was an intensive home-based therapist for children experiencing significant mental health and/or behavioral problems, a resiliency therapist for people suffering schizophrenia spectrum disorders, on-call crisis management therapist and health officer, and more recently was a clinical assessment specialist working closely with Hamilton County Children Services. She’s proud to have worked within several different populations and specialties within the field.

Though she has a great amount of experience working with different populations, she has a great passion for working with children and families. She really enjoys being able to see so much growth and positive change in the children and families that she works with. She has a strong desire to continue helping children learn about their emotional well-being and grow to make healthy decisions. 

When she is not working, she is likely spending time with her toddler son and her rescue boxer-mix dog, Maggie. Kayla is excited to be a part of the Freedom family!