Behavioral Health

Pediatric behavioral health at Mosaic

Behavioral health refers to the connection between mental, behavioral, or addictive behaviors and physical and emotional well-being. Some examples include: 

• Adjusting to and enjoying school
• Taking care of their bodies
• Sleeping well
• Making friends
• Coping with changes with home or family
• Responding to stress or worries
• Regulating behavior
• Eating well and being active
• Changing substance use habits
• Making meaning in life
• Improving relationships
• Coping with chronic health conditions

Our team can also help your family address issues and concerns related to anxiety, ADHD, learning disabilities, eating disorders, mood disorders, substance abuse, depression, grief, and suicide care.

Our holistic, integrated approach involves an ongoing collaboration between parents, pediatricians, caregivers and teachers to ensure kids are getting the support they need to be well. It takes a village of caring, loving adults to raise healthy children. We’re happy to be a part of yours.

When to seek help for your child’s behavioral and emotional issues

When your child’s behavior lasts longer than several weeks and is disrupting their ability to function at school, with family, and friends, you may want to consider seeking help. The National Institute of Health offers helpful guidelines for determining if your child needs professional support:

Younger kids may need help if they:

• Have frequent tantrums or are intensely irritable much of the time
• Often talk about fears or worries
• Complain about frequent stomach aches or headaches with no known medical cause
• Are in constant motion and cannot sit quietly (except when they are watching videos or playing video games)
• Sleep too much or too little, have frequent nightmares, or seem sleepy during the day
• Are not interested in playing with other children or have difficulty making friends
• Struggle academically or have experienced a recent decline in grades
• Repeat actions or check things many times out of fear that something bad may happen
• Refuse to eat a wide variety of foods and become very picky
• Need help to make changes to what they eat or how much they move their body
• Have a new diagnosis of a chronic medical condition

Older kids, adolescents, and teens may need help if they:

• Have lost interest in things that they used to enjoy
• Have low energy
• Sleep too much or too little, or seem sleepy throughout the day
• Are spending more and more time alone, and avoid social activities with friends or family
• Fear gaining weight, or diet or exercise excessively
• Engage in self-harm behaviors (e.g., cutting or burning their skin)
• Smoke, drink, or use drugs
• Engage in risky or destructive behavior alone or with friends
• Have thoughts of suicide
• Have periods of highly elevated energy and activity, and require much less sleep than usual
• Say that they think someone is trying to control their mind or that they hear things that other people cannot hear.
• Need to start managing a chronic medical condition more independently
• Have frequent headaches, stomach pain or other complaints of pain that keep them from doing the things they enjoy

If your child is engaging in unsafe behavior or talking about hurting themselves or others, call 911 or take them to the hospital immediately.

Benefits of behavioral health support for kids and families

For some kids, behavioral or emotional difficulties can cause long-lasting problems at school, at home, or with friends. 

Support from a pediatric behavioral health provider can help youth to enjoy their lives fully, learn how to respond in a healthy way to stress and change, make positive changes in their sleeping and eating habits and much more.

Behavioral health resources for parents

Practical tools and advice for parents: Parenting is the toughest (and most rewarding) job there is! Sometimes, it’s hard to know if your child’s behavior and emotional challenges are normal development stages or bigger issues that require professional help.

Contact our pediatricians and behavioral specialists for advice and strategies for any of your parenting concerns or questions – big or small. We’re here to help.

Behavioral Health Classes & Support Groups

We offer classes and support for topics like mindfulness and ADHD to give kids and parents information and tools for creating balanced, healthy lives. Ask your pediatric provider about upcoming Mosaic opportunities to connect and learn.

Additional Resources

• PCBH FAQs: Answers to frequently asked questions about the Primary Care Behavioral Health consultation model
• HealthyChildren.org Emotional Problems: Many resources for understanding children’s temperments from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• Zero to Three Parenting Resources: A collection of popular parenting resources
• Parenting with ACEs: Helpful information for parents who have gone through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) of their own
• Autism Speaks: Website for a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting solutions for the needs of individuals with autism and their families