04/17/2023
I am a Brooklyn, New York-based pediatrician, seeing children for almost 20 years. After a long career in general pediatrics, I recently made a choice to shift my focus and create a practice dedicated to children’s mental and behavioral health.
What I cherished most in general pediatrics was the opportunity to watch my patients grow—from the very smallest newborns to adolescents. I have seen children get sick and then better, be nervous about starting daycare and then grow to love it, have a hard time falling asleep on their own and then become comfortable with it, turn from very picky eaters into adventurous ones, have a hard time settling into Pre-K and then learn to follow the class rules and thrive at school. And at times, I have seen children remain anxious, hyperactive, and have persistent learning and behavioral challenges. Because of this, I have come to view the need to address common conditions like anxiety, depression, school problems, ADHD, etc. as a part of primary care, completing its scope as opposed to being outside of it. Unfortunately, the reality of primary care does not allow the time and attention to properly manage these conditions. My new practice is dedicated to meeting this need.
My approach to pediatric psychiatry is influenced by the experience of a general pediatrician. I appreciate the wide breadth of normal developmental variation and many physical manifestations of behavioral and mental illness. Additionally, I bring with me the primary care-learned need to support the parents as well as the child, and to value their feelings, fears, reservations, opinions, hopes, and goals.
