Clinical Services
Outpatient and Inpatient Clinical Services
Children’s Behavioral Health – Ireland Center provides a full range of behavioral and mental health care for children and adolescents. Our expert medical team addresses the needs of every child from ages 3 through 18-years old and as early as age 2 for Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). We are dedicated to being your partner in helping your child to be confident, successful, happy and healthy.
Our specialized programs provide the following beneficial services:
- Diagnostic Evaluations
- Individual, family and group therapy
- Parent counseling and educational programs:
- CARES (PDF) (Caregiver Advocacy, Resources, Education & Support) Program - provides caregivers with the information, resources and support they need to understand and cope with their child's challenges.
- PAGES (PDF) (Parent and Guardian Educational Support) Group - offers a supportive parent education group for caregivers with children who have difficult behavior (including ADHD symptoms).
- ACE (PDF) (Autism Caregiver Empowerment) Workshops- provides training and collaboration opportunities to help empower parents and caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Outpatient Services
Children’s Behavioral Health – Ireland Center specializes in providing evidence-based care for children and adolescents. Depending on your child’s needs, we offer the appropriate outpatient treatment provided by one or more members of our expert medical staff including a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a therapist and/or psychiatric nurse practitioner.
Your child’s outpatient treatment may include one of more of the following:
Therapy
Our therapy program is staffed with a team of psychologists, licensed counselors and licensed social workers. Your child’s needs are thoroughly assessed and matched with a skilled professional to provide the best care possible. Individual, group and family therapies are focused on evidence-based treatments. Specialty clinics include Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), the Anxiety Clinic and the Autism Treatment Clinic.
Medication Evaluation and Management
Our team of licensed psychiatrists and dynamic nurses understand that the decision to consider medication for your child is an important one. Our physicians will work with you to help you understand the treatment options that are available for your child and receive the best guidance plan for them.
Psychological Assessment and Testing
Assessment and testing are useful in developing a diagnostic framework that can guide treatment as well as developing recommendations at home and school for your child. Psychological and neuropsychological assessment and testing is used to address cognitive and behavior problems by pinpointing strengths and needs in a systematic and standardized manner. Children are often referred for this type of testing to assess intellectual or emotional functioning and styles of learning and information processing.
Inpatient Services
Children’s of Alabama’s Behavioral Health inpatient services are designed for short-term care for children who may have complex issues. Our specialized program identifies your child’s needs based on an extensive assessment and ongoing care that is led by one of our outstanding child psychiatrists.
Throughout your child’s hospital stay, members of our multi-disciplinary team take the time to meet with you to discuss the best treatment available. The team consists of an extensive staff of experts that includes nurses, educators, occupational therapists, social workers, child-life providers, clinical psychologists, and therapists specializing in recreational, art and music. If needed, additional pediatric specialists may also be consulted to ensure your child receives the care necessary to meet both physical and emotional needs.
In addition, we offer a variety of therapeutic groups and activities throughout the day that focus on everyday skills such as coping, as well as social and self-expression.
Our goal is to provide you and your child with a safe environment that focuses on evidence-based care. We work with you to develop a plan for services to maintain and build upon the progress you have experienced at home, at school and within your community.
We believe family support is essential in helping a child become healthy. It is vital that a caregiver remains involved in every aspect of a child’s treatment, including additional psychological testing consultation that may be required to help with diagnostic clarification and treatment planning.
Once your child is ready for discharge from our inpatient care, we work with you to help stabilize their behavior, as well as teaching them ways to manage behavior and emotions in a healthy manner.
Consultation and Liaison for All Inpatient Medical Care
To provide the best possible care to our patients at Children’s, our pediatric psychology team is available for consultations and collaborations with other departmental doctors during an inpatient medical stay. Our focus is to help children deal with acute and chronic physical illness and the emotional stress that sometimes accompanies a health issue. We seek to assist the child and family in adjusting to changes that may come with physical illness, better adhere to treatment recommendations, control pain and deal with emotions such as anxiety or sadness.
For more information or assistance on any of these services, please refer to PIRC (Psychiatric Intake Response Center).
