Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

For children ages 9 through 15 with serious psychiatric disorders, we offer 24-hour inpatient services in our 10-bed, locked unit. Children receive a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation, medications and other appropriate therapeutic interventions, which may include skills-based behavior management programs and therapeutic recreation along with educational services through the BOCES program.

A core component of treatment is parent training to reinforce inpatient treatment, better manage the child, and give parents a new set of coping skills. The inpatient team includes a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants.

Unique to Long Island, the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) program provides school services while the child is hospitalized. BOCES teachers help students maintain and develop their educational potential during hospitalization, create a routine and develop new coping skills. The program is available to both regular and special education students. The BOCES team works closely with the school to assess the child's performance and ease the transition back to school.

To learn more about our interdisciplinary approach to care, please visit our Inpatient Child Psychiatry Services.

Our mission is to provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based clinical care to children and adolescents who are suffering from psychiatric illness. Through an understanding of the multiple biological, psychological and social factors related to a child's problems, we deliver comprehensive psychiatric evaluations and innovative treatment plans to help alleviate their symptoms.  

We offer pharmacologic evaluation and ongoing medication management, as well as time-limited individual therapy, based on the needs of our patients and their families. We are also dedicated to developing additional therapeutic services for patients and families, including group therapy and parent management training. We strive to work in collaboration with families to best understand the problems they face and to utilize their inherent strengths to improve their lives.

Our experienced child and adolescent psychiatry faculty are nationally renowned and have expertise in a wide range of disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorders, early childhood conditions, learning disorders and emotional/behavioral disorders.

Our team includes experts in psychiatry, psychology, and social work who provide care in our outpatient clinics and also consult to schools.

Our clinical care begins with a comprehensive evaluation that includes obtaining standardized ratings from parent and teacher, copies of past evaluations and hospital records if relevant, and an interview with the parent/guardian and child.

For more information, please visit our Child and Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatry Services.

Our consultation services provide high-quality, thorough and timely psychiatric consultations to pediatric patients throughout Stony Brook Children's Hospital. These services provide assistance with the evaluation and management of psychological conditions and psychiatric disorders occurring in medically ill children throughout the hospital. These include complex medical/psychiatric diagnoses, stress reactions to medical conditions, self-injurious behaviors or suicidal attempts and ideation, acute decompensation from prior psychiatric or psychological status, procedural anxiety, depression and chronic pain.

Assessment consists of providing psycho-education to the families and children about medical and psychological/psychiatric conditions and collaborating with the pediatric team involved in their care.

The Stony Brook school-based program has a longstanding relationship with the schools of Suffolk County. Our experts are embedded on site in Western Suffolk BOCES to provide expert psychiatric consultations to children and adolescents in special education settings.

In addition, the school program provides in-depth evaluations in the outpatient clinic through the BOCES system. These assessments, which are sometimes needed for legal matters, typically provide second opinions for school districts that seek detailed reports to help the child obtain appropriate school services.

Our ADHD Testing Program provides comprehensive evaluations for children, adolescents, and adults to identify symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. The assessment process includes a detailed clinical interview, behavioral questionnaires, and standardized attention testing to ensure an accurate diagnosis. Our licensed clinicians gather input from multiple sources—such as parents, teachers, and healthcare providers—when appropriate, to gain a complete understanding of each individual’s challenges and strengths. Following the evaluation, clients receive a diagnostic report, personalized feedback, and evidence-based recommendations for treatment, academic or workplace accommodations, and ongoing support strategies.

The CARE Initiative is a groundbreaking initiative from Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, created in response to the growing health care needs of students across Suffolk County, especially those surrounding mental health and wellness. In partnership with local school districts, CARE delivers timely and expert support—connecting schools, families, and students with pediatric specialists in psychiatry, neurology, psychology, developmental pediatrics, and social work. The initiative further supports students and families with their overall health needs, helping to improve access to the many specialists at Stony Brook Medicine.

Whether a student is facing an urgent mental health concern or navigating other health challenges, CARE works to improve access to comprehensive care, education, and support.

For more information regarding the CARE program, please visit the following link: https://www.stonybrookchildrens.org/child-and-adolescent-resource-for-emotional-health

Our division maintains an accredited two-year psychiatric fellowship with two fellows each year. Our faculty also teaches residents and medical students from the Stony Brook School of Medicine.

We have been active in research efforts for many years. For example, Dr. Gabrielle Carlson is an internationally recognized researcher in bipolar disorder. She has also been involved in several longitudinal studies based at Stony Brook University.