Behavioral Health
Richmond Pediatrics is here to support you and your child in all aspects of their development and growth.
You and your child’s behavioral health is important to your family’s overall health. We are here to assist your family in evaluating common behavioral health concerns, including postpartum depression and anxiety, challenging behaviors in young children, academic concerns, attention and focus difficulties, and depression and anxiety in teens. 
These concerns are often distressing for your child and your family. We encourage you to start the evaluation by scheduling an appointment with your child’s pediatrician to discuss your concerns. We will do our best to ensure that you can meet with your child’s pediatrician for the initial appointment and any follow-up visits. This consistency provides a familiar, caring guide for you and your child when dealing with complicated emotional and behavioral concerns, as well as gives the pediatrician a greater sense of your child’s overall health and history. Behavioral and emotional concerns are complex and will likely require several appointments, ongoing follow-up, and potentially a referral to a specialist to identify the best treatment course and ensure lasting results. We will ask you and your child to complete some questionnaires to help us better understand the symptoms and concerns that are present.
If you are new to our practice, please make a new patient appointment to establish primary care with a Richmond Pediatrics provider. This appointment allows us to ensure there are no other medical problems influencing the behavioral symptoms you are experiencing. This is also the beginning of working toward better health with a pediatrician your child can learn to trust. We do not accept patients for behavioral health treatment who are receiving their primary care outside of Richmond Pediatrics.
Integrated Behavioral Health
Integrated Behavioral Health is an initiative through the Seattle Children’s Care Network that outlines how we at Richmond Pediatrics can provide more wraparound services to our patients. We have added a Behavioral Health Specialist to our team that is available to our patients to offer assistance in accessing community resources, brief interventions to support continued care in the community, and mental health counseling.
One aspect of Integrated Behavioral Health is Collaborative Care. Collaborative Care is a patient centered care model that involves a team working together in your care. Your team will be specific to your needs, however it will involve you, your doctor, the behavioral health specialist, and a psychiatric consultant. Other team members that could be involved are your family, your school, our referrals coordinator, and community agency representatives. As part of Collaborative Care, we will work together to set goals for your care and develop a treatment plan to help you achieve those goals. We will ask you to do frequent measurements to see if your symptoms are improving to be sure we are progressing toward your goals and to make changes to your treatment plan if your symptoms are not improving. Our team will check in frequently throughout the month with in person visits, phone calls, and emails when appropriate.
If you believe you could benefit from collaborative care, please discuss with your child’s pediatrician to learn more. If your child’s provider agrees that collaborative care could be a good fit for your child’s needs, they will facilitate a referral to our behavioral health specialist. In some cases you will be encouraged to make an intake appointment with the behavioral health specialist following your child’s appointment with their provider, and in other cases our behavioral health specialist will follow up with you to schedule.
Click here for more information regarding Collaborative Care and our Team
Behavioral Health Prescription Guidelines
If your child is being prescribed a medication for behavioral health support, it will be especially important to follow up with your child’s pediatrician for medication refills. Your child’s pediatrician may prescribe medication for ADHD, anxiety, depression, or other behavioral health concerns as needed. These medications are safe and effective, but close supervision is required in order to ensure the medication is effective and side effects are minimal. Staying in close contact with your child’s provider is the best way to support your child’s physical, emotional, and academic well-being.
When starting a medicine or changing doses, we require weekly to monthly visits with your child’s provider to determine the best medication dosing for your child. After the appropriate medication and dose have been established, visits are required at least every three months. We will continue to monitor your progress using questionnaires to help track your symptoms.
For your child’s safety, we will not continue to refill your child’s medication unless appointments are scheduled in a timely manner. In some situations, we may provide a partial prescription refill until your child can be seen. Please allow a minimum of two business days for processing of prescription refills. It is best if your refill request is handled by your child’s provider, and we will make every effort to have this happen. Richmond Pediatrics providers will not refill behavioral health medications managed by a community provider.
Crisis Management Resources
We know that the COVID pandemic, online school, political strife, and any number of personal issues are contributing to a significant rise in anxiety, depression, difficulty focusing, academic struggles, and sleep concerns for our patients. An appointment with your child’s pediatrician is appropriate if you want to talk to your trusted provider about a new concern or a chronic issue, however there are times when your child may need more immediate support. If your child is in crisis, please reach out to the resources below for support.
In Person:
Go to Seattle Children’s Hospital Emergency Department for evaluation:
- 4500 40th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105
- 206-987-8811
- For more information, please visit their website: https://www.seattlechildrens.org/clinics/emergency-department/
If you need a mental health professional to come to your home during a crisis for an evaluation:
• King County Children’s Crisis Outreach Response System: 206-461-3222
• Snohomish County Crisis Line: 425-388-7215
By text:
• Crisis Text Line – Text HOME or HELLO to 741-741
By phone:
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255, or for Spanish 1-888-628-9454
• Washington State Teen Link: 1-866-833-6546