When a child or teenager receives both counseling and psychiatric medication management, parents may wonder how those two parts of treatment fit together. Coordinated mental health care can help connect different parts of a child’s treatment while keeping their individual needs, privacy, and family’s consent at the center. Does the
ADHD vs anxiety in children can be difficult for parents to distinguish. Your child’s teacher may say they cannot stay focused. At home, homework takes twice as long as it should. Your child seems restless, forgetful, easily frustrated, or constantly distracted. Maybe they are having trouble falling asleep, waking during
When you schedule a psychiatric appointment for your child or teenager, you may be asked questions that span years of their life. When did you first notice a change? Have they received therapy before? What medications have they tried? How are things going at school? Is there a family history
If your child has been referred for a psychiatric evaluation, it is completely normal to have questions. What are they going to ask? Will my child have to talk without me in the room? Does an evaluation automatically mean medication? What if my child shuts down and refuses to talk?
If you have ever thought I do not want my child labeled, you are not alone. Many parents worry that putting a name to their child’s struggles, whether anxiety, ADHD, depression, or something else, will somehow change how the world sees them. They worry their child will be treated differently
If you’re lying awake at night worried about your child’s constant worries, you are not overreacting. If you’ve noticed your once-confident child refusing to go to school, avoiding their friends, or complaining of stomachaches with no medical cause, your instinct that something is wrong is correct. Parents often come to
I hear this more often than anything else: “I wasn’t sure if I was overreacting.” Parents come to my office worried, exhausted, and carrying guilt. They describe a child who seems withdrawn, or irritable, or struggling in school. And almost every parent says some version of the same thing: “I
For families like yours, already navigating the weight of a child’s mental health challenges, the phrase “Mental Health Awareness Month” can feel oddly disconnected from your daily reality. You are not unaware. You have been living inside this for months, maybe years. You know the texture of your child’s anxiety
One of the most common things I hear from parents after their teenager is diagnosed with depression is: “I don’t know what to do about school.” By the time a teen is in my office, they have often been struggling academically for months — and most of that time, nobody
Parents often tell me some version of the same thing: “I know teenagers are moody, but something feels different this time.” They’re not sure whether to be worried, whether they’re overreacting, or how to tell the difference between teen moodiness vs depression. In my clinical work, that uncertainty is almost
