Psychology and Behavioral Health

When your child is dealing with emotional, psychological or behavioral challenges, everyone in the family is affected. Our child psychologists and other mental health professionals understand the unique behavioral health needs of children and adolescents. We respectfully work together with your family to find the most appropriate treatments to address psychological challenges, promote psychological wellness and restore your child's quality of life. We coordinate care with other medical professionals, school personnel and care providers to address your child’s emotional and behavioral needs.

Treating Your Child's Unique Psychological Needs 

Our Psychology and Behavioral Health team includes over 30 doctoral-level psychologists and an expansive training program including psychology fellows, pre-doctoral interns and graduate level trainees. Features of Psychology and Behavioral Health at Children’s National include:

• Individualized approach to treatment. Our team offers comprehensive psychological care throughout numerous specialty clinics, each uniquely designed to treat your child’s particular needs. Psychological care is not a one-size-fits-all approach at Children’s National, which is why we offer targeted programs for anxiety, early childhood assessment and treatment, and coping with chronic illnesses like diabetes, food allergies or celiac disease. Following a thorough assessment, our team develops the right treatment method for your child and family.
• Integration with medical care. Our faculty are embedded in primary care and a number of medical specialty divisions to provide tailored, coordinated consultation and treatment as part of team-based medical care at Children’s National. 
• Ongoing research to improve understanding of psychological needs and treatment methods. We are dedicated to providing evidence-based psychological care. Through our involvement in research based at Children’s National and in collaboration with organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, our psychologists and behavioral health specialists are working to advance the field of psychology, so every child receives the care he or she deserves.
• Support for the entire family. We understand that psychological conditions are difficult not only for the child, but also for parents and siblings. Our team offers compassionate support for social, educational and emotional difficulties that often accompany psychological and physical conditions. In addition to individual therapy sessions, family and group therapy sessions offer comprehensive support for the whole family.

Conditions We Treat

If your son or daughter has a psychological condition, he or she can receive excellent care from our Children’s National specialists, who are uniquely qualified to help children and teens with a range of concerns, including:

• Anxiety disorders
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Coping with chronic medical illnesses including food allergies, diabetes, celiac disease, cancer, chronic pain, HIV, kidney disorders, sickle cell disease and other medical conditions
• Disruptive behavior disorders
• Mood disorders (i.e. depression)
• Obesity
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)/Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with streptococcal Infections (PANDAS)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Schizophrenia

Services We Provide

We treat every patient at Children’s National as an individual. To accurately diagnose and provide the most appropriate care, we consider all the variables that might affect your child or teen.

Depending on your child’s needs, our specialists may interview him or her separately from the parents. We also may have you or your child fill out questionnaires about different aspects of your child’s life, including physical health concerns, difficulties at school and behavior with friends and family.

Our care team offers the following services:

• Consultation with multidisciplinary teams
• Family therapy
• Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) for young children with disruptive behaviors
• Outpatient psychotherapy
• School consultation
• Group therapy for targeted needs (e.g. social anxiety)

Specialized clinics within Psychology and Behavioral Health include:

• Anxiety Disorders Program
• Child Development Program
• HIV Services Mental Health Program
• Hyperactivity, Attention, and Learning Problems (HALP) Clinic
• Mood Disorders Program

Multidisciplinary Specialty Programs

Some children and teens have complex conditions and benefit from multidisciplinary programs that call on the expertise of many specialists. We work closely with our colleagues in specialties throughout Children’s National, including Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, to provide optimum treatment for our patients.

The Medical Psychology Program at Children's serves families and patients who have chronic medical conditions, acute physical symptoms or distress associated with medical treatment. Our psychologists are embedded in and serve as consultants to many divisions and programs throughout Children’s including Allergy and Immunology, Bariatric Surgery, Cardiology, Craniofacial Program, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Epilepsy, Gastroenterology, Hematology, Kidney Transplantation, Neonatology, Oncology, Pain Medicine Care Complex, Pulmonary Medicine, Sleep Medicine, Trauma and Burn Surgery and Primary Care. 

Services offered through our Medical Psychology Program include:

• Helping children cope with medical regimens and procedures
• Screening for mental health related side effects of medical treatment, such as developmental, educational or neuropsychological effects
• Medical evaluations and consultation
• Individual, family and group psychotherapy to help families cope with a child's illness, school attendance issues, bereavement and other issues. 

Contact Us

For more information about Psychology and Behavioral Health or to schedule an in-person appointment or telehealth visit, please contact our coordinator, Kelly Fuentes, at 202-729-3300. If you're the parent of a new patient, please fill out the Psychology New Patient Intake Packet prior to your visit.