Behavioral Health
Behavioral, mental and emotional health is such an integral part of a child’s overall well being that we offer behavioral health counseling within our practice. Dr. Adrija Chatterjee and Dr. Alice McCutcheon both work directly with Kids First patients and families in our counseling room right on site. Dr. Chatterjee and Dr. Alice McCutcheon are behavioral psychologist with the Gersten Center, who each work at Kids First twice a week.
Following are just some of the behavioral health issues Drs. Chatterjee and McCutcheon can support:
- Phobias
- Rigid behavior
- Picky eating
- Depression
- Anxiety
- ADHD
- Executive functioning
- Behavioral management
For those interventions that include psychological testing, Kids First patients can work with the Gersten Center directly, outside of our office. This would address concerns like ADHD, autism, depression and anxiety. Testing takes place during 4-5 appointments over a course of 6-8 weeks.
Thanks to the proximity of our behavioral therapists, all the Kids First providers work closely with them to determine when a child in our practice may benefit from therapy. Therapy sessions take place weekly over a long term period and are covered by most insurance and PPOs. We refer those patients that use All Kids to a therapist outside of our practice.
Drs. Chatterjee and McCutcheon typically meet with children under age 9 along with their parents and separately for children who are older. Either way, both therapists work closely with parents and even schools, when it’s appropriate and the family agrees. Intervention includes weekly appointments and sometimes a long-term commitment.
Dr. McCutcheon also provides family therapy at the Kids First office, where entire families meet together to work through dynamics and communications.
Our partnership with the Gersten Center is the first time that the Center has worked within a pediatric location. Dr. Chatterjee shares that she “personally enjoys being in the location because wherever there is a concern when we want to consult with a doctor we just walk over. It’s really nice to be able to do that and vice versa. They can hop over and ask if they have a kid who may have a behavioral issue which makes this proximity a huge advantage.”
In cases where medication is part of the treatment for a child, we schedule regular follow up visits with our Kids First providers to ensure that dosages are adjusted to achieve optimal improvement based on the family’s goals, and to closely monitor for any potential side effects.
To make an appointment with either doctor at the Kids First location, call Kids First at 847-676-5394.