Child & Adolescent Related Content

Understanding Anxiety in Kids and Teens

As a parent, teacher, babysitter, or even neighbor, you may notice behavior that concerns you. Though you may not be able to immediately identify it, you know something is not right. Anxiety in children can show up in different ways, such as avoidance of activities or experiences, irritability, and...

Everything You Need To Know About OCD in Kids and Teens

While working on a project together, you see a friend packing up their work supplies in a very neat fashion. You can’t help but point out that they’ve organized all their pens to be lined up in order of color and all facing the same direction in their box. “Oh,” they reply. “That’s just my OCD.”...

The Mental Health Impact of Bullying on Kids and Teens

When people hear the word “bully,” they may think of a child being pushed around by another kid. Or they may think of someone being insulted by a peer, whether face-to-face or online. Regardless of its shape and form, these experiences can be incredibly serious and often have lifelong effects. And...

Pathways Academy: Meeting the Needs of Students With Autism

Every child deserves and must have the opportunity to learn and reach their full potential…” Started in 2000, McLean Hospital’s Pathways Academy is a year-round, 216-day school designed to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of students, aged 6 to 22, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)...

Mentoring Tomorrow’s Mental Health Providers

Many students know their career path from the day they enter college, if not before. But for those who find themselves pondering their next steps as graduation approaches, McLean Hospital now offers an opportunity to road test some of their ideas. The Post-Baccalaureate Child and Adolescent Clinical...

Everything You Need To Know About Child & Teen Mental Health

Child and adolescent mental health has finally started to get the attention it deserves. Behavior that was once seen as kids being kids—like teens being rebellious or children misbehaving at home or school—may be due to the onset of mental health conditions in young people. Over half of all cases of...

Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder in Teens

Being a teenager is difficult. Teens go through many changes, including social and educational changes and hormonal mood swings. Sometimes teens act without thinking if they will get into trouble, with out-of-character actions, thoughts, and feelings all being part of the typical teen experience...

Compassionate Caregiving Born From Childhood Experience

“Compassionate curiosity.” It’s a philosophy that has guided Sophia L. Maurasse, MD , along her journey from a 10-year-old in war-torn Liberia—who was trying to understand why some soldiers could be helpful while others were threatening—to her current role working with children and adolescent girls...

Understanding Child Abuse and Its Effects on Mental Health

Children are among the most vulnerable people in our society. This is true across continents, cultures, financial situations, and ethnicities. Our youth are a precious resource and one we should guard carefully. Unfortunately, many kids are at risk of or are currently experiencing child abuse. While...

Supporting Children & Teens on the Autism Spectrum

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that impacts an individual’s ability to interact and communicate with other people and the surrounding world. Like other diagnoses that can affect mental health, autism can vary widely in its scope and severity. Autism is a very common...

Tackling the Mental Health Crisis Among Young People—One Intern at a Time

You need only turn on the nightly news to be reminded of the mental health crisis facing today’s young people. According to Daniel P. Dickstein, MD, FAAP , chief of McLean’s Nancy and Richard Simches Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, providing access to care in an efficient, affordable...

How To Set Up Your Kids for Success: Focus on Their Mental Health

Did you know that 50% of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14? Statistics like this make McLean Hospital clinicians, like Dana B. Sarvey, MD, want to spend every possible minute educating parents, pediatricians, and other adults who care for children about the importance of mental...

Everything You Need To Know About Teen Use of Drugs & Alcohol

Growing up can be difficult. Oftentimes, adolescents are curious, stressed, emotional, and looking for ways to escape boredom. Adolescents are also more likely to experiment with substances due to the way the brain develops. Sometimes, when given the opportunity, they’ll find an escape through drugs...

Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Q&A With Daniel P. Dickstein, MD, FAAP

Daniel P. Dickstein, MD, FAAP , newly minted chief of McLean’s Nancy and Richard Simches Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, has a big vision. His enthusiasm and passion are contagious. Dickstein, a physician-scientist who is uniquely triple board-certified in pediatrics, adult psychiatry...

McLean Offers Support and Expertise to Massachusetts Schools

After a two-week stay at a psychiatric facility, a ninth-grader was scheduled to return to school. But she begged to be allowed to stay home that first day, and her parents acquiesced, worried that returning too soon would trigger a rehospitalization. A day turned into a week, and the school...

Improving Child and Adolescent Care With “Big Data”

All too often, getting to the right diagnosis and treatment plan for a mental health disorder is a time-consuming, confusing, and stressful progression of guesswork, trial and error, and missed opportunities. This painful scenario is only intensified when it’s a child who is struggling. Dr. Alex De...