Pediatrics

Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

At NewYork-Presbyterian, specialists in child and adolescent psychiatry diagnose and treat a wide range of mental health disorders in children of all ages. Our compassionate and highly skilled team works closely with you and your family to meet your child’s unique needs, empower you with the most current information on therapeutic options, and give you the guidance and support that enable you to make the best decisions for your child’s mental health and well-being. Through NewYork-Presbyterian’s vast network of resources, we bring together the best of innovative research, scientific advances, and superior patient care.

About Our Program

Our experienced child and adolescent mental health experts provide diagnostic services, treatment, and crisis intervention to thousands of families each year. Our continuum of care includes outpatient services, partial hospitalization, and both general and specialty inpatient programs in multiple locations.

If your child comes to the emergency room or is hospitalized for medical or surgical treatment, our child and adolescent psychiatry team offers consultation to facilitate their ability to cope with their illness or injury, participate in medical care, ease anxiety surrounding difficult tests and procedures, and enhance recovery.

Conditions we treat

At NewYork-Presbyterian, we provide state-of-the-art, evidence-based treatments for a full range of childhood and adolescent mental health concerns and needs, including:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behavioral disorders
Anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety, panic disorder, specific phobias, school refusal, separation anxiety and social anxiety
Autism spectrum and developmental disorders
Eating disorders, such as avoidant/restrictive food intake disorders, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorders
Learning disorders
Mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Post-traumatic stress
Psychosis
Schizophrenia
School and learning problems
Tic disorders, including Tourette’s syndrome and Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder)

Our Approach to Care

Your child’s care begins with a thorough diagnostic assessment to determine the root cause of their symptoms. We recognize that every child with a mental health disorder has a unique set of symptoms, circumstances and needs. Our goal is to take care of your child as a whole person — which includes comprehensive, customized treatment and addressing how the disorder may affect both the patient and the family.

A multidisciplinary team of experts

Collaboration with other pediatric experts is vital when caring for young patients with mental health concerns. Our interdisciplinary team includes psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers. In addition, your child's healthcare team has access to all of the various other pediatric subspecialists who practice at NewYork-Presbyterian, ensuring that all of their needs can be addressed in one medical center.

Treatments we offer

Our child and adolescent mental health experts are leading authorities in many types of treatment, including:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), including exposure therapy for OCD, various types of anxiety, and traumatic experiences, interventions for tics, and third wave treatments such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A)
Psychopharmacology (medication, typically in combination with therapy)
Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT)
Parent Management Training (PMT)

Programs and support services

We provide a wide range of dedicated programs to address children’s mental health needs, including:

Adolescent Partial Hospitalization - NewYork-Presbyterian offers a medically supervised adolescent partial hospitalization program at the NewYork-Presbyterian Payne-Whitney Clinic as an alternative to or step-down from hospitalization. We provide intensive brief treatment in an outpatient setting using cognitive-behavioral principles.

Integrated Mental Health Programs - This innovative program provides mental health services as part of NewYork-Presbyterian's Ambulatory Care Network. Our multidisciplinary teams at these primary care sites provide mental health assessment and treatment to children, adolescents, and their families, as well as consultations with pediatricians.

Center for Autism and the Developing Brain - The NewYork-Presbyterian Center for Autism and the Developing Brain (CADB), located at the NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health Center in White Plains, New York, provides comprehensive care in a single setting for people of all ages, from the toddler years to adulthood- who are living with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disorders of the brain. Comprehensive care, including evaluation, treatment, education, and support, is customized to individual needs at all stages of life.

Center for Eating Disorders - The NewYork-Presbyterian Center for Eating Disorders helps individuals with eating disorders work toward recovery in a comfortable and supportive environment. The Center includes The Outlook at Westchester, an inpatient unit located on the expansive, park-like campus of NewYork-Presbyterian's Westchester Behavioral Health Center.

Center for Youth Mental Health - The Center for Youth Mental Health at The NewYork-Presbyterian is a unique, multi-disciplinary program that serves youth and young adults, with an emphasis on 16-28 year olds who are transitioning into adulthood. Across our campuses, we provide outpatient therapy, intensive day treatment, partial hospitalization, and other treatment programs specifically designed to meet the unique needs of adolescents and young adults dealing with anxiety disorders. We offer individual, group, parent support, and college readiness programs to help young people as they develop the lives that they want to live on their own.

Comprehensive Care for Pediatric OCD - At NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital, our providers offers comprehensive care for pediatric obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) that addresses a child’s unique needs. Provided in ambulatory, partial hospitalization and inpatient settings, our pediatric OCD programs offer a team-based approach to treating children and adolescents struggling with symptoms of OCD and related disorders. These programs use a variety of approaches, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, specifically Exposure with Response Prevention, to help children manage their anxiety and reduce their symptoms. Parents have the opportunity to attend parent sessions to learn the same skills as your child.

Centers of Excellence for Tourette’s Syndrome - At NewYork-Presbyterian’s Centers of Excellence for Tourette Syndrome, children receive specialized therapy and behavioral interventions treating Tourette’s and other related tic disorders.

The PROMISE Project - Thousands of New York City school children struggle with undiagnosed learning disabilities. At NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, the PROMISE Project is committed to making a difference by providing an educational path for underserved children who struggle with learning disabilities, evaluating their learning disabilities and getting them the support they need. By providing consultations, evaluations, and clinical and support services to children, families, and schools, the interdisciplinary team helps fulfill that commitment.

School-Based Mental Health Program - Collaborating with the Department of Education and partner schools, the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University’s School-Based Mental Health clinics provide psychological evaluation, treatment, consultation, and workshops to children (ages 4–13, grades pre-K through 8), families, and school staff. Services are available on-site at 14 schools at 10 sites in upper Manhattan. The goal of the program is to increase access to psychological care while keeping children in their educational settings and optimizing their achievement and functioning in the school setting.

NewYork-Presbyterian also offers support groups for children, adolescents, and family members, as well as behavioral training for parents based on treatment needs and availability.

Why Choose Us

NewYork-Presbyterian has a long, distinguished history of providing outstanding leadership in clinical care, training, and research in all areas of adult and pediatric psychiatric disorders. Over the years, our skilled faculty and staff have been at the forefront of advancing clinical treatment, furthering the understanding of mental illness, and training future behavioral healthcare specialists. Reflecting this expertise, NewYork-Presbyterian has been nationally ranked in the top five Hospitals for Psychiatry for more than seven years.

Access to world-class pediatric specialists

Your child's healthcare team has access to all of the various pediatric medical and surgical subspecialists who practice at NewYork-Presbyterian, ensuring that all of your child's medical needs can be addressed.

Both NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital are among the nation's leading centers for the diagnosis and treatment of childhood disorders. They are both major referral centers for complex and rare disorders in infants, children, and adolescents.