Letter From Dr. Helen Egger Our Co-Founder on World Mental Health Day 2024

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Dear Little Otter Family,

Thank you for being part of the Little Otter community. Your trust in us to care for your little ones and your family means everything. On World Mental Health Day, a day that brings attention to the mental health challenges people face worldwide, I want to talk about something that is close to my heart and central to our mission: Little Otter’s whole family approach to mental health care.

As a doctor, mother, and entrepreneur, I’ve spent my life working to understand the mental health needs of young children and their families. We know that far too many children and families are struggling without the support they need. 50% of teens and only 10% of younger children get the mental health care that they need. Even fewer get high quality care. At Little Otter, we know that the child mental health crisis is not only about children but also about the families they live in.

As the child mental health crisis has worsened, the adult mental health crisis has worsened. Parent mental health impacts children’s mental health, just as child mental health impacts parent mental health. Unmet mental health needs of both kids and parents lead to stress, conflict, and strained relationships within the family. Focusing solely on meeting the mental health needs of a child isn't enough. For children to thrive, we must address the mental health needs of parents and support healthy relationships within the family.

This seems really pretty intuitive, doesn’t it? To care for kids, we need to make sure their caregivers are ok. To care for kids, we need to invest in improving the environment they are growing up in–their family ecosystem. That's why we built Little Otter—to create a mental health platform that thinks holistically about children and families so that every child and every family has the chance to thrive with the right care.

Little Otter reflects our family’s own mental health journey. I founded Little Otter with my daughter Rebecca Egger who is CEO of Little Otter. We say: Little Otter is made for families, by a family. I am the mother of 4 children (including twins). As a mother I have navigated getting each of my children the mental health care that they have needed. Even as a child psychiatrist, I have had difficulty navigating the medical system to get them the right care.

I am also the mother of a child with a rare brain illness called autoimmune encephalitis–a inflammatory brain illness that presents with psychiatric symptoms. I have been able to get my son the care he needs for the last decade because I am a doctor. However, I have also experienced firsthand how parents are often dismissed or blamed by providers, particularly when there are no easy answers or treatments. Rebecca, as an older sister, experienced with her two little brothers how the whole family is impacted when a child in the family has serious mental health or physical illnesses.

Little Otter is the experience we wish existed for our family and for all families. Grounded in science and best clinical practice, Little Otter provides mental health care for children and the adults who care for them. This means treating the child, but also addressing the mental health of parents and the dynamics of various family relationships, including parent-partner, parent-child, co-parent, and sibling relationships. By providing virtual mental health services, we bring the best clinicians into your home, making care accessible and convenient for families everywhere.

Inherent in our whole-family model is the understanding that people and families are complex. At Little Otter we understand this complexity and embrace it. Our goal is to support your family in navigating not only mental health crises but also the everyday emotional ups and downs of childhood and parenting. With our team of experts, we're here to guide and empower you every step of the way. We’re your partners in care.

On this World Mental Health Day, let’s remember that mental health doesn’t wait. Every day is an opportunity to check in, reach out, and seek support for ourselves and our loved ones. The earlier we act, the more we can make a difference. Little Otter is here for you and your family—every moment, every challenge, every triumph.

Thank you for joining us in this important work and for helping us pave a new way forward for children’s mental health.

Warmly,

Dr. Helen Egger, Co-Founder

Little Otter