Our story
We saw the gap. We built the bridge.
Hospitals are built for acute care. For the critical moments, the diagnosis, the annual follow-up. They do that work extraordinarily well.
But there is so much that happens in between. How a child learns to live alongside illness. How a family finds its footing after a diagnosis. Where to turn when you need more than what a medical appointment can hold.
Whole Kids Health was built for those spaces.
Where it started
Dr. Stella saw it firsthand.
Dr. Stella Dentakos spent years working alongside children managing chronic illness and complex medical conditions. Some she followed through a diagnosis. Others she saw for a single stretch of time. But in every case, the same thing became clear. The need was so much larger than what those moments could hold. A diagnosis does not pause between appointments. It shapes how a child sleeps, learns, makes friends, understands themselves. Most families were navigating all of it without anywhere to turn.
The deeper problem
Not enough clinicians trained to do this work.
The gap was not just geographic. It was systemic. Training in pediatric health psychology is limited across Ontario. There are simply not enough clinicians who have had the opportunity to work in these settings, to build the experience, and to bring that knowledge into the community.
Dr. Stella had spent years teaching, mentoring, and building training programs across hospital and academic settings. She understood that closing the gap required two things: creating a space where families could access that support outside of hospital walls, and growing a generation of clinicians who had the training to do this work well.
Clinical background
Every clinician at Whole Kids Health draws from training and experience across hospital and academic settings, including The Hospital for Sick Children, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, IWK Health Centre, Alberta Children's Hospital, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. That depth of clinical grounding is what makes care at this level possible.
The Whole Kids Learning Hub is a platform for clinicians who work with children and youth navigating health psychology. Built first for our own team, and now open to anyone doing this work in the field.
Because the gap between physical and psychological health only closes when more clinicians know how to work across it.
ALSO FROM WHOLE KIDS HEALTH
The training does not stop at our front door.
Whole Kids Learning Hub
For every clinician we train, more families get access to care that actually fits.
Training for clinicians supporting children at the intersection of mental and physical health. Built from hospital experience. Designed for community practice.
wholekidslearning.com
Visit the Learning Hub ↗The whole picture
Health psychology is our edge. Not our ceiling.
Whole Kids Health is a full-scope child and youth psychology practice. We support children navigating anxiety, ADHD, learning differences, mood challenges, school difficulties, and the full range of concerns that bring families to psychology.
What makes us different is that we hold the mind and body together. Every clinician at Whole Kids Health understands that a diagnosis shapes how a child understands themselves, moves through school, and experiences their world. How that story gets told matters. We work to make sure it becomes one of understanding, not limitation.
Ready when you are