Esse Health Pediatrics will help your child and your family cope with the stresses of life.

Being a kid can be stressful. When a child or teen becomes overwhelmed, behavioral problems, anxiety, or depression can develop and affect the well-being of the child and their family.

Our pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioners take care of the whole child. To identify a potential issue before it becomes a serious problem, Esse Health Pediatricians include emotional and mental health care in the following ways:

Screening

• We check young children for developmental and behavioral problems during well child checks with screening tools that can help find delays or concerns early.
• We screen all preteens and teens for anxiety and depression, as well as other mental health concerns, during their well child checks.

Treatment

• In many cases, solutions for childhood behavioral problems (tantrums, biting, toilet training refusal, etc.) will be handled by your Esse Health pediatrician.
• Esse Health pediatricians manage the initial treatment of preteens and teens with anxiety or depression who need medicine.
• Esse Health pediatricians treat patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Resources

• When counseling or therapy is needed, Esse Health Pediatrics may connect you with Esse Health’s child psychiatrist or another mental health provider.
• Esse Health has a partnership with St. Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute - a local mental health service organization. This partnership can get many of our patients the care they need smoothly and quickly.
• Depending on the concern, Esse Health can connect your child to other community resources for additional support (First Steps, educational supports, etc.)

If your child is struggling, Esse Health pediatricians have put together the following resources:

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

For non-life threatening circumstances, consider scheduling a visit with your child’s pediatrician. Our doctors regularly screen for social and emotional issues and, depending on the need, can refer you to our staff child psychiatrist, Dr. Katie Wilson.

Listen to an episode of our podcast Pediatric Housecalls, where Dr. Terrill and Dr. Peter Putnam discuss teen depression and how parents can help identify the signs and get help.

Read our blog posts that address issues about depression in children:
Helping Teens with Depression: A Guide for Parents
Successful Strategies Your Child Needs to Regulate Emotions

Youth Risk Behavior Safety

Our own Dr. Kristen Terrill discusses signs and symptoms and when you need to get help from your pediatrician.