Announcing Little Otter
Today we proudly announce that Little Otter is opening in California to support all aspects of the mental health of young children and their families. Little Otter is a pediatric mental health company founded by a family — a mother-daughter duo with years of academic, entrepreneurial, and life experience in this field.
Little Otter is born out of our lived experience as a family. In 2009, Helen’s second child (Rebecca’s brother), Sasha, was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune brain disorder called autoimmune encephalitis. Despite our many privileges and the overall excellent care he received, we experienced first-hand that current medical and mental health systems do not put families at the center of care. Even though she was a doctor and tenured faculty member at a major medical center, Helen has many searing personal experiences where medical experts dismissed her insights and treated her as uncooperative when we had questions. We created Little Otter because we know that families are searching for better care for their children, just as we have. We also know what it feels like to be overwhelmed and to feel alone.
You cannot have health without mental health, and even before the pandemic we were in a child mental health crisis. One in five children and adolescents suffer from a mental health disorder that without treatment can cause life-long impacts on their physical and mental health.
As co-founders we have been able to leverage each other’s strengths to build a child and family mental health solution that isn’t just more efficient that existing services, it’s better. Helen is a child psychiatrist and scientist who is one the foremost leaders in early childhood mental health and delivery of quality care. Rebecca led technology teams at Palantir and the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative. Only by bringing together our areas of expertise could we create Little Otter.
Little Otter provides personalized, virtual care and an integrated care team to support healthy emotional development and treat emerging emotional and behavioral challenges. We also know the importance of early intervention and prevention. Just like a pediatrician who cares for a child’s physical health, Little Otter cares for all aspects of a child’s mental health, along with the entire family’s mental health and wellbeing.
Our proprietary assessments and quarterly mental health check-ups make it easy to match families to the right type of care at the right time. We let you know if you should be worried or not; we’re always available to answer your big and small questions.
Right now, few children or families get quality mental health care that works. At Little Otter quality and outcomes matter. Our digital platform makes it easy to deliver measurement-based care and facilitate communication between Little Otter families and Little Otter providers. Our platform makes it easy for families and providers to focus on what is most important: building trust, strengthening relationships, and working together to make life better for your kids and for your family.
Child’s mental health and healthy emotional development depends on the mental health of their parents and the health of their family. When families join Little Otter, they join as a family. At Little Otter, we take care of children by also taking care of their families, we provide couples counseling and parent coaching alongside our therapy services. We know this is the only way to make a difference.
We’re launching in California and will be expanding across the country soon. Sign-up for our waitlist to get more information on when Little Otter will be coming to you.
As we launch Little Otter, we want to thank our investors, our team members, and all of our families who believe in us and our mission and are making our vision a reality.
When Sasha finally was properly diagnosed after many months in the hospital, we knew how lucky we were. As a pediatric doctor and now the mom of a child with a chronic, life-threatening illness, Helen also said: “it is not ok that every child doesn’t get what my child received.” That is the seed that has grown to become Little Otter.
Looking forward to meeting you and your little ones,
Helen and Rebecca
