As the only health system in the state 100% dedicated to kids, Connecticut Children’s specializes in the unique mental health needs of children, teens and young adults.
Our experts work together to provide the support your child and family needs. That includes closely coordinating our services with one another, as well as your child’s other pediatric specialists.
Multidisciplinary Care
Is Your Child in Crisis?
If your child is in crisis, or a danger to themselves or others, call 911. In Connecticut, you can also call 211 for emergency or crisis intervention. For free, confidential support from the National Suicide Prevention Life Line, call 1.800.273.8255 or text “HOME” to 741741.
Services We Offer
Consultation & Liaison Inpatient Services
Sometimes, a patient who’s been admitted to Connecticut Children's Emergency Department or medical floors has a mental health need that should be addressed right away. They might need support adjusting to a serious injury or new chronic illness, help dealing with a diagnosis that impacts their thinking or mental health, or treatment for a psychiatric condition.
Our mental health team provides all of this support as an inpatient consultation service.
Emergency Services
When a child, teen or young adult visits Connecticut Children's Emergency Department in a crisis, our mental health experts are available to stabilize and support them. Our psychiatrists and social workers provide consultation services that include crisis intervention, psychiatric evaluations, treatment strategies, and referrals to community providers.
Transitions Clinic
Some patients come to Connecticut Children's Emergency Department with critical mental health disorders and can only be safely discharged if they have immediate access to a psychiatric provider. However, it may take a little time to connect with community-based providers.
Connecticut Children's Transitions Clinic provides short-term support during that critical time. Immediately following a patient’s discharge from the Emergency Department, we offer individual and family therapy, medication management, and care coordination. We also help patients connect to the providers and services they need long-term, while ensuring that they don’t experience a gap in care during a critical time for their mental health.
Medical Coping Clinic
The Medical Coping Clinic is designed to support children, teens and families managing a chronic illness at Connecticut Children’s. This clinic is led by the Division of Pediatric Psychology, in collaboration with our other mental health experts.
Our team is specially trained to help your family manage both the medical and psychological impact of illness on your child. This includes how chronic illness may affect your child’s mood, behavior, education, and relationships, as well as how they adjust to their diagnosis and follow their care plan. Sometimes children and families adjust quickly, after only a few visits, but in other cases, adjusting to the challenges of living with a chronic disease takes more time. The Medical Coping Clinic is equipped to manage both situations.
We offer this support both in person and by Video Visit, including individual, group and family sessions.
Mental and Medical Wellness Program
The Mental and Medical Wellness Program is designed for patients and families who need some additional support to manage their medical and mental health. This unique intensive program is available three days a week, three hours a day.
This clinic is led by the Division of Pediatric Psychology, in collaboration with Connecticut Children's other mental health experts. It also includes specialists from the divisions of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy.
The program is available to existing Connecticut Children's patients, both in person and by Video Visit.
Center for Care Coordination
At Connecticut Children’s Center for Care Coordination, we understand how overwhelming and challenging it is to connect to providers and navigate resources in your community after leaving the hospital. Our multi-disciplinary support team is available to help you navigate supports and ensure you know where to turn when things feel hard.
We can help your family connect to concrete resources, including medical, mental health, educational, and basic need supports.
Medical Psychiatric Integrated Care Unit
The inpatient unit was thoughtfully designed to accommodate 12 patients with complex medical and psychiatric needs. All rooms are private with individual bathrooms, and we have dedicated rooms that are large enough to accommodate assistive devices.
Learn More