Most Common Problems Addressed in the Outpatient Clinic:

• Attention/Distractibility

• Oppositionality & Defiance

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Sleep

• Trauma

• Bereavement

• Autism

• Bipolar disorder

• Irritability

• Tantruming

• Stress management

• Parenting / family / relationship issues

• Life transitions

• Psychosis

• Substance abuse / recovery

• School related issues

 

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Modalities of Treatment:

• Individual psychotherapy

• Parent training / coaching

• Referrals for Neuropsychological Testing

• Medication management

 

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Outpatient Assessment:

Without a solid assessment both the provider and family are set-up for failure.  The better the Assessment, the better the Treatment Plan.  The better the Treatment Plan, the better the outcome. 

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A psychiatric Assessment at Frontier Health Services (FHS) will be familiar and resemble assessments the family has experienced with other physicians in the past (like your pediatrician or another psychiatrist).  The Assessment usually begins with all present family members in the same room talking about why they are looking to have the evaluation done.  From there, questions are focused on the history of symptoms, relevant contributing factors, associated symptoms, severity of symptoms and patters over time.  Additional questions may be focused on other symptoms and conditions that may seem irrelevant by the family but need to be ruled out by the provider.  There will also be times during the interview when more traditional questions will be asked – family history, previous providers, current medications, previous treatments, social history, surgical history and medical history all fall into this category. 

 

Having the child and parents in the same room with the provider occurs first so the child can see through the actions of the parents that the provider is a safe person to be around.  A separate interview with the child typically occurs during the second meeting.  

 

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The Goals of a Thorough Assessment:

• Understand what some of the core driving forces are behind the symptoms.

• Identify contributing factors that initiate, maintain or extend symptoms.

• Develop an understanding of the biological predispositions of the child.

• Develop an understanding of the family, social and environmental factors that contribute to a given set of symptoms.

• Develop an understanding of the personal and psychological traits that are relevant to these topics. 

• Determine if and how individual symptoms fit into known diagnostic categories.

• Approach the assessment with the knowledge that the child and the family have their own unique life story with their own qualities.

• Assess with the knowledge that no one will fit perfectly into a box and no one is a statistic. 

 

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For More information on Outpatient Child and Adolescent Services visit our FAQ page.

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