WHY CULINARY BAKING YOU ASK?

According to psychologists, culinary therapy is also known as culinary mindfulness, which helps treat mental health. This therapeutic experience is a behavioral activation issued to treat depression and anxiety. Baking makes you happy; it’s also a coping mechanism and a stress reliever. It helps build self-esteem, patience, concentration, social and life skills and opens your creative mind. Culinary arts integration and STEM education are a natural fit. Baking therapy teaches children to follow directions, math skills, science concepts, boost rang skills, communication, etc.

The entry level in our program is Play Therapy.  Play therapy allows children to express and process feelings, thoughts, and experiences through their natural desire to play. Therapeutic play empowers the child to overcome challenges without demanding words, explanations, or adult reasoning.

Baking is not just mixing; it’s a coping mechanism. The program focuses on girls and boys 6 and older in the foster care system and are at the highest risk of “aging out” or reaching adulthood while in foster care. Our culinary therapy will teach them proper manners and etiquette, cognitive development, encouraging their thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. It also allows children to use their knowledge and apply it by counting, measuring, following a sequence, and directions, and cause and effect.  Whether in an individual session or group, we tailor sessions to fit the needs of our children, youth and young adults.