Pediatric Behavioral Health

If your child is experiencing emotional or behavioral challenges that prevent them from fully engaging with daily life — at home, at school, or in the community — our pediatric behavioral health team is here to support you.

At the Corewell Health Ted Lindsay Foundation HOPE Center, we offer assessments, diagnosis, and a variety of therapy options, with special attention and sensitivity to your child’s unique strengths, weaknesses, and emotional needs. Our integrated approach ensures each child receives personalized care in a supportive and healing environment.

Collaborative team

Experts in pediatric psychiatry and psychology join with developmental and behavioral pediatricians, educators, and social workers to deliver evidence-based treatment tailored to your child’s (and your family’s) unique needs.

Family-centered approach

Our teams work closely with parents and caregivers to create personalized care plans for your child that promote resilience, confidence, and overall well-being. We also provide training and educational resources to help you support your children and manage their behavior at home.

Highly trained clinicians

Our experts specialize in evaluating and treating mental health concerns that keep your child from full participation in everyday activities. Several of our clinicians are dual-licensed as both psychologists and board-certified behavior analysts, which gives them broad experience to treat a range of conditions. We address issues related to emotional and behavioral regulation, tantrums, life skills like feeding and toileting, social skills, sleep disorders, and more.

We provide treatment for a wide range of behavioral health concerns, including:

Anxiety disorders

These conditions cause frequent episodes of intense nervousness, worry, fear, or panic in response to everyday situations.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Children with ADHD have persistent, significant difficulty with one or more of the following: inattention (such as paying attention to instructions or staying organized), hyperactivity (such as not being able to sit still), or impulse control (such as regularly interrupting others or not being able to wait their turn).

Autism spectrum disorder

This condition affects how children understand and experience the world and other people. Common signs can include difficulty with communication and social interactions, strong focus on specific interests, repetitive behaviors, rigid need for routines, and differences in sensory processing.

Depression disorders

These disorders cause persistent, chronic sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, boredom, or similar thoughts and feelings that interfere with daily life. Signs of depression in children might include irritability and anger, avoiding social interactions or activities they used to enjoy, and poor academic performance.

Developmental delays

Failure to develop certain physical, cognitive, or social interaction abilities by the same age as most of their peers can increase a child’s risk of mental and behavioral health struggles.

Other pediatric behavioral health disorders

If your child is dealing with any other symptoms that affect their mental or behavioral health, such as persistent defiance, aggression, mood swings, or eating disorders, we can help.

Our team offers a wide range of services for children and adolescents with behavioral health needs. These services include:

Psychiatric evaluation

In order to diagnose a mental or behavioral health disorder, our team will conduct a thorough evaluation. Because every child has unique symptoms, behaviors, and life situations, this evaluation process may look slightly different depending on the circumstances. The evaluation may include:

• Biopsychosocial history, which looks at the biological (including physical health), psychological, and social factors that may be driving your child’s feelings and behaviors
• Mental status exam to assess your child’s current emotional and psychological function
• School record review to evaluate your child’s academic performance and social behavior, if you provide your consent for us to review these materials or speak with school staff

Behavioral consultation

This is a series of two to six sessions between the parent/caregiver and a mental health professional. The goal is to assess and provide guidance on behavioral or emotional concerns about the child.

Focused ABA parent training

This program is designed to help parents of children with autism quickly learn to apply key strategies to support their child at home. This might include tips on creating and sticking to routines, managing tantrums, and encouraging productive communication.

Focused behavior therapy

This is a short-term therapeutic approach to helping children manage specific behavioral or emotional challenges. It is often recommended for children dealing with anxiety, aggression, or attention difficulties.

Intensive Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) services for autism

This evidence-based therapy is designed for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We first focus on identifying a child's strengths and building essential skills, then on reducing undesirable behaviors.

Medication management

Our team will evaluate whether specific medications might improve your child’s symptoms, prescribe an appropriate dosage, monitor their results over time, and make adjustments as needed.

Social skills groups

Supportive group therapy sessions allow kids to develop social interaction skills and self-confidence in a structured setting. Kids engage in age-appropriate activities that build skills like joint attention and problem solving, managing anger, starting conversations, taking turns, understanding emotions and body language, and more. Social skills groups are available for children between 6 and 17 years old.

Corewell Health has equipped school- and college-based teams with rapid response protocols, lists of resources, and assessment tools that can be activated whenever a student is experiencing a mental health crisis or expressing thoughts of suicide. These protocols were developed in collaboration with local schools.

To start a conversation about how your high school or college can implement a “Blue Envelope” partnership with Corewell Health, email schoolblueenvelope@corewellhealth.org.

Get immediate, confidential help. Many resources are available:

• Call 988 to connect to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and speak 1-on-1 with a trained counselor
• Text TALK to 741741 to receive support from a trained counselor via text message
• Use the 988 Lifeline Chat to begin a chat with a trained counselor
• Call 911 if emergency services are required