The Children’s Treehouse Foundation Information

The Children’s Treehouse Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Denver, Colorado with the mission of improving psychosocial adjustment in children, ages 5 through 12, who have a parent or grandparent with cancer. The Children's Treehouse Foundation has created a research-based, psychosocial intervention, group-support program called CLIMB® - Children's Lives Include Moments of Bravery. CLIMB® helps to normalize feelings of sadness, anxiety, fear and anger for the kids and stimulates improved communication between the children and their parents. CLIMB® is the only group-based, manualized, and internationally delivered intervention that has been developed specifically for children with a parent or caregiver with cancer. The Children’s Treehouse Foundation trains oncology social workers, child life specialists, nurses and other oncology professionals at cancer centers internationally to deliver our program.The CLIMB® Program is now available in 57 cancer centers in the U.S. and 24 additional centers in 6 other countries. We have trained 366 oncology professionals since we began and CLIMB® serves an estimated 1560 children representing more than 600 families every year. The CLIMB® (Children’s Lives Include Moments of Bravery) Program is based on principles of mental health promotion, not psychotherapy. Intended for children ages 5-12, the aim is to build upon the child’s strengths and increase his/her ability to cope with stress associated with the parent’s illness. Cancer affects the entire family; and the parent’s cancer-related stress is reduced when there is a professional support program to help their children cope and improve communications between the parents and children. In the course of one night per week for six weeks, the children have cancer demystified, lose a sense of isolation, learn to communicate their feelings with others, and learn how to cope with feelings such as sadness, anger and confusion.