Our specialists offer expert evaluation, counseling, and treatment for children and adolescents with a variety of developmental and behavioral challenges. We care for patients with conditions ranging from ADHD and oppositional-defiant behavior, to autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. In addition, we treat fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, anxiety and depression, bedwetting, and Tourette’s syndrome. We provide families with detailed patient evaluations and treatment plans. Patients can be seen either at our outpatient developmental medicine center, or through inpatient and community consultations. Our team includes board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians, nurse practitioners, social workers, speech and language pathologists, psychologists, and occupational and physical therapists.

Yale Psychiatry is the largest provider of psychiatric services in Connecticut, and the top National Institutes of Health-supported Department of Psychiatry in the United States. We are dedicated to adding to the body of knowledge in the field, and improving treatments for psychiatric disorders that span all ages. This includes helping people cope with major life events or medical illnesses, behavioral problems associated with personality disorder or addiction, mood and psychotic disorders, and dementia. Yale investigators have pioneered new treatments for nearly every psychiatric disorder. Our research programs have produced breakthroughs in areas as diverse as molecular neuroscience, genetics, translational neuroscience, neuroimaging, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, rehabilitation, health services, forensic psychiatry, epidemiology, and health policy. Today, our clinicians are at the forefront of social, pharmacological, psychological, rehabilitative, and neurostimulation treatments. Through clinical trials, our interventional psychiatry service delivers high-impact treatments, including ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) and ketamine, for patients with treatment-resistant symptoms of depression. Our clinical programs are interwoven with our research efforts. We host programs that specialize in the major mental diseases and substance abuse treatment at three major institutions: Connecticut Mental Health Center, the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, and the Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. We also provide increased psychiatry support for Smilow Cancer Hospital in areas such as smoking cessation.

The Yale Child Study Center is an internationally recognized center of innovation in child and family mental health, dedicated to promoting healthy development and psychological well-being across the lifespan. We care for children and adolescents whose families are concerned about their child’s development and behavior. Common concerns include developmental delays, behaviors or worries that interfere with their child’s life, isolation and fear of school, and defiant and difficult behavior. Our first job is to listen. As we begin to understand the family and child, we will guide our patients through the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment process. We provide office and home-based interventions as well as telehealth services, and we work with as many people involved in your child’s growth as possible, including parents, teachers and pediatricians. Above all, we care about your child’s development and your family’s well-being. We will use every means available—and maybe even invent some new ones—to help the child and their family. We are committed to working with every family to help them understand and address their child’s and family’s needs. Our interdisciplinary teams use up-to-date science to evaluate and then work with the family to develop a comprehensive treatment recommendations. Our treatment may include (one-on-one or group) therapy, family therapy, and parent-centered approaches and collaboration with schools. When appropriate, our providers will discuss the use of medication, providing detailed information so parents can make an informed decision. Many of our patients improve and thrive without medication, and for others it is a valuable part of their treatment. At the Yale Child Study Center, we are pioneering many treatments including approaches that help parents improve disruptive anger and aggression in children with autism and other developmental disorders. We are also developing new ways to help children overcome anxieties that may limit their daily lives, and treatment approaches designed to lessen the impact of an overwhelming event on the child and family. Finally, we work directly with parents around their own concerns about their roles as parents.