Our Programs and Services

• Outpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic
• Consultation to Pediatrics and the Emergency Dept. 
• Parenting at a Challenging Time (PACT) Program
• Fall Parent Education Group  
   

Outpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic

In the outpatient clinic, we treat patients from preschool age through adolescence for a variety of issues. Our staff in the clinic includes seven child psychiatrists, one child psychologist, and one social worker. 

Treatment in the clinic begins with a thorough evaluation, including a detailed review of your child’s medical and psychiatric history. Often, the clinician assessing your child will request your permission to speak with important people in your child’s life. They may talk with their pediatrician, a teacher or a therapist to help develop a more complete understanding of your child’s difficulties. 

After the initial evaluation, recommendations for an initial treatment plan will be discussed with you and your child. This plan will be tailored to your child’s specific needs and may include additional medical or psychological testing, referrals to group or individual therapy, and work with school services. While some children benefit from a short-term consultation with our staff, those who require ongoing psychiatric care can continue to receive treatment in the clinic for as long as necessary.

Consultation to Pediatrics and the Emergency Department 

Our clinicians provide specialized mental health evaluation, treatment and support to pediatric patients who have been admitted to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for a medical condition. We also complete crisis evaluations for children and adolescents who present to the Newton-Wellesley Emergency Department for a psychiatric emergency.

Parenting at a Challenging Time (PACT) Program 

The Pappas PACT Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital provides guidance for parents faced with the challenge of raising children while undergoing cancer treatment. This program - run in the Mass General Cancer Center at Newton-Wellesley - helps parents who are concerned about the impact that their diagnosis and treatment will have on their children. For more information, visit the program’s website at www.nwh.org/pact.

Parent Education Program

The Raising Resilient Teens program is a group designed for parents of teens aged 13-19. The group, which runs for 6 consecutive Fridays, between 8:45-10 AM is held at Newton Wellesley Hospital. The group runs several times throughout the year in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. The groups are facilitated by psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Newton Wellesley hospital.

The overarching aim of the Workshop is to educate parents about resilience, teach them strategies for fostering resilience with their teen, in themselves, and in the relationship with their teen. The first 3 sessions are largely psychoeducational.  Points of focus include: defining resilience, examining some component parts of resilience, reviewing teenage identity development, understanding the changing teen brain, as well as reviewing specific communication and relationship tools to foster resilience. 

The final 3 sessions are the applied part of the workshop. During these sessions parents are encouraged to take what they have learned in the first 3 sessions about resilience and apply this to ‘hot-button’ topics including healthy habits, screen time, relationships, substance use. Additional materials including helpful resources, summary tip ships, and things to practice between sessions are handed out weekly.

If you are interested in learning more, please email Tai Katzenstein, Co-Director of the parents program, at tkatzenstein@partners.org

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