Our Services

Developmental Psychiatry

Director: Carmen Lopez-Arvizu, MD

Development Psychiatry offers comprehensive diagnostic evaluations and treatment for children and adolescents with developmental problems and disorders of emotion such as anxiety and depression, thinking and behavior such as inattention and disruptive behaviors, including those with specific neurodevelopmental disabilities who do not fit neatly into other highly specialized programs at Kennedy Krieger. Our clinical team includes child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric social workers experienced in the management of developmental disabilities and psychiatric conditions across the lifespan.

Neuropsychiatry

Director: Jay Salpekar, MD, FANPA

Neurology has an especially close relationship with psychiatry, as both disciplines focus on the function of a single organ, the brain. Research has found that people with neurological disease are at high risk for complications of emotion, behavior, cognition and consciousness. Individuals with neurological disorders such as epilepsy, stroke and dementia are highly likely to experience symptoms of inattention, depression or anxiety, in addition to cognitive difficulties. Children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders such as Down syndrome or cerebral palsy, may also experience emotional, behavioral and psychiatric symptoms as part of their underlying condition.

Our clinical team focuses on the management of young people with primary diseases associated with pathology in the brain, including epilepsy, cerebral palsy, neuroinflammatory disorders, and neurodegenerative disorders. Our clinicians collaborate with neurologists, psychiatrists, neurodevelopmental pediatricians, neuropsychologists, palliative care doctors, physical medicine specialists and other clinicians worldwide.

OCD and Tourette Syndrome

Co-Directors: Marco A. Grados, MD, MPH and Joseph F. McGuire, MD

About one in five children experience tics at some point. For most children, the tics do not require additional treatment and will disappear on their own. However, for those children with tics that severely impact their lives, treatment is needed. Tic disorders are more common in males than in females.

In addition to tics, about 85 percent of Tourette syndrome patients have at least one coexisting neuropsychological condition, the most common being attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, depression, disruptive behaviors and learning difficulties.

Our program provides medical evaluations and the most recent treatment options designed to improve overall health and quality of life for patients, with a focus on OCD, Tourette’s Disorder and other tic disorders, and related conditions such as trichotillomania and misophonia. We offer an interdisciplinary patient care from the leading experts in the fields of pediatric and adult neurology, psychiatry and neurophysiology. 

Medical Psychiatry

Director: Souraya Torbey, MD

Medical psychiatry is a subspecialty in the field of psychiatry that focuses on the connection between mental and physical disorders. It includes psychiatric treatment for patients, as well as consultation to psychiatrists and non-psychiatrist healthcare providers that help them understand patients'  reactions to illness. Providers in medical psychiatry can recommend psychological care based on a patients' reaction.

The medical psychiatry team at Kennedy Krieger offers a comprehensive approach to the emotional, cognitive and behavioral needs of the patient. It is part of the interdisciplinary care provided to young people with functional somatic symptoms and disorders, chronic pain and general medical conditions not directly affecting the brain such as diabetes mellitus with comorbid emotional and behavioral challenges.

Psychotherapy Services

Directors: Joseph McGuire, PhD (Psychology) and Patricia Shepley, MSW (Social Work)

Our clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers provide individual, family, and group psychotherapy. Services are coordinated with the psychiatry and nursing teams to provide comprehensive mental health care for each patient and family.

What to Expect:

Patients and families will complete a brief call with our Clinical Services Coordinators Team to gather initial information that will help get them connected with the appropriate therapeutic services. After determining the best program(s) to provide care, a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation will be scheduled with one of our clinicians. This evaluation focuses on understanding the specific challenges that led patients and families to seek care and identifies strength-based approaches—which will all serve to guide each patient’s and family’s therapeutic care plan.

Following this initial evaluation, patients and/or families will be matched with a therapist who will provide the type of therapy that fits their needs. While this is often the initial clinician who completed the evaluation, other therapists can also provide care based on the specific therapy that would be beneficial for patients and families.

Types of therapy offered:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Comprehensive Behavior Therapy for Tics (CBIT)
• Chicago Parenting Program
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
• Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP)
• Family Therapy
• Motivational Interviewing (MI)
• Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT)
• Supportive Therapy

Groups:

• Social skills and condition specific groups
• Parenting groups
• Multi-family groups

We offer on-going training to our therapists to ensure that we have a full complement of therapies to provide to our patients and their families.

Therapy is provided both in-person and by telehealth. Patients who receive telehealth will be assessed for its effectiveness and may be asked to receive in-person services. Most groups are provided through telehealth.

Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)

Director: Souraya Torbey, MD

Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), formerly known as conversion disorder, is a common condition characterized by neurological symptoms that are not caused by an underlying neurological injury or medical condition but by dysfunctions in the normal functioning of the body.

In FND, the brain "misfires" and sends incorrect signals to the body. The exact cause of FND is not fully understood, although research indicates that it involves brain areas that respond to threats and emergencies. Symptoms of FND may appear suddenly, without an obvious trigger, or following a stressful event or emotional or physical trauma.

Individuals with this disorder experience physical and sensory issues such as paralysis, numbness, or seizures. It is important to note that children with FND are not faking their symptoms; rather, the symptoms are a reflex response that can be alleviated with appropriate treatment. The problems are not caused by underlying medical conditions but by issues in the normal functioning of the body. These symptoms can significantly impact important aspects of a child's life, such as school performance and family life.

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