Nemours Children's KidsCope: Your Child's Behavioral Health

All kids can feel worried, anxious or stressed sometimes. But anxiety disorders may happen when these worries prevent kids from participating in their daily lives, and cause changes in behavior, sleep, eating and/or mood.

Learn More

• Anxiety Disorders
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Separation Anxiety

Information to Share With Your Child’s Teachers

• Anxiety Disorders Special Needs Factsheet
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Special Needs Factsheet
• Panic Attacks Special Needs Factsheet
• Selective Mutism Special Needs Factsheet
• Social Anxiety Special Needs Factsheet

It’s normal for kids to feel sad, irritated, or to be in bad moods from time to time. But it may be time to consider whether they’re showing symptoms of a mood disorder like depression when negative feelings and thoughts linger for several weeks, result in thoughts of harming themselves, and/or keep them from participating in daily activities.

Learn More About Mood Disorders

• Bipolar Disorder
• Depression
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Information to Share With Your Child’s Teachers

• Bipolar Disorder Special Needs Factsheet
• Depression Special Needs Factsheet

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among school-age youth. And children with behavioral health problems like depression are at a higher risk for suicide. But suicide can often be prevented. Knowing the risk factors and signs can be a lifesaver.

Learn More About Suicide and Self-Harm

• Cutting
• Helping Teens Who Cut
• Teen Suicide
  

Information to Share With Your Child’s Teachers

• Cutting Special Needs Factsheet

Most people experience a posttraumatic stress response right after something scary or stressful happens. But it's also very common for people of all ages to keep experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) for up to four weeks after the scary or stressful event has ended.

PTSS may include:

• Big emotional changes (like seeming more irritable, scared, worried or upset)
• Avoiding or intensely focusing on the event
• Changes in behavior (like arguing more, seeming more alert than normal, or changes in eating or sleeping habits)

Research has found that kids are very resilient (that is, they're often able to bounce back after stressful situations). With support from their families in working through the event, most kids return to their "normal" self in about four  to six weeks. 

Learn More

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Information to Share With Your Child’s Teachers

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Special Needs Factsheet

Different kinds of behavioral health providers (like counselors, therapists and social workers) can provide therapy. They can help you and your child understand and cope with feelings, thoughts and behaviors. They may also help assess and diagnose behavioral health conditions.

You may also need to meet with a psychiatrist and/or a psychologist. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can provide therapy and prescribe medications, if needed. A psychologist, who can also provide therapy, has a doctoral degree in clinical psychology or another specialty like counseling or education. Psychologists are also trained in performing behavioral health evaluations. That may include talking to you and your child, and doing psychological testing and evaluations.

You may need to meet with providers more than once before they can figure out what’s going on and work with you and/or your child to come up with a care plan that might work best for your child.

Learn More

• Taking Your Child to a Therapist
  

• Monitoring Your Child's Media Use
  
• Screen Time Guidelines for Teens
• Sexting: What Parents Need to Know
• Internet Safety
• Teaching Kids to Be Smart About Social Media

• Sleep and Your Teen
• Kids and Sleep
• Nightmares
• Night Terrors
• Sleepwalking
• Bedwetting
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea

When your child has a behavioral health issue or emergency, you are your child’s strongest advocate — you know your child best. But it can be hard to figure out where to start looking for help. That’s why we created this guide for parents like you, as well as for health care professionals. Although this guide isn’t a complete list of all resources in the area*, it can serve as a quick reference if you’re looking for crisis and outpatient behavioral health therapy providers for kids and teens in Delaware and southeast Pennsylvania.

The agencies in this guide have providers trained in a collection of treatment and prevention methods, called “evidence-based practices.” That means the therapy they use is based on evidence gathered from scientific studies, evaluations and approaches shown, over time, to work best.

As you start your journey to get help for your family, know that you don’t have to go through this alone. We all need support during challenging times.

*This list provides community resources that may be available to you. The agencies are not affiliated with or endorsed by Nemours Children's.