If you are concerned about your child’s emotions or behavior, you are not alone. Many families deal with anxiety, depression, mood changes, school stress, or conflicts at home. The first step—reaching out—can feel intimidating. But it can also bring relief. Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) faculty, staff, and trainees support children's behavioral health using a developmental, family-centered approach.
In a new video produced by Yale School of Medicine, five YCSC experts highlight services that help families. They also talk about the center's three linked missions—clinical care, research, and education. This is captured by the theme “discovery inspires care,” meaning that research and training are translated into practical support for families.
When families seek help
“Families come to us when they’re often at their most vulnerable, and we can offer our care, our empathy, and our expertise,” says Yann Poncin, MD. Some families notice sudden changes, like increased worry, sadness, irritability, or trouble sleeping. Others have been struggling for a long time and feel stuck.
Some children—and their family members—are hesitant at first. They might feel anxious, embarrassed, or unsure what will happen. It can help to remember that support is often a process, not a single conversation. Clinicians aim to meet kids where they are, developmentally and emotionally. “The developmental perspective is at the core of the Child Study Center,” YCSC Chair Linda Mayes, MD, emphasizes.
What happens in a first visit
A first appointment with YCSC clinical services is usually focused on listening and understanding what the child and family are experiencing. This includes what is going well and what feels hard. Clinicians often look beyond a single moment to see the bigger picture.
“We can’t just look at a snapshot of what is happening,” says Thomas Fernandez, MD. Instead, clinicians consider when and where something of concern happens. That information helps to understand and support families, along with taking a developmental approach. Fernandez adds, “We know that a child is not just a small adult.” That means that needs often change as a child grows.
What families can do at home
Parents and caregivers do not need to have all the answers to be supportive. What families do every day—routines, support, and relationships—can make a difference over time. Tara Davila, LCSW, also links these factors in a young child's life to later well-being. “We know that children grow into how they are as adults,” she says, and that can be traced back to some of the experiences they have in childhood.
When children are struggling, many families understandably focus on problems. It can also help to keep sight of bigger goals. “Much of our work is getting a child back on a typical developmental course, although no one is perfectly typical, which is a good thing,” says Poncin.
And what does “doing better” look like in daily life? Poncin points to concrete markers. “Being able to go to school, feeling competent in one’s life in certain domains, making friends and having friendships, feeling a love and a secure attachment in one’s life,” he says.
Partnering with schools
Child mental health is shaped by daily life—home, school, and the people who surround them. “The community is where children live,” says Mayes at the start of the video. She continues, “That’s where children grow ... in the context of being with the adults all around them. Their schools, their pediatricians, their churches, their communities.”
School is one of the main places where children learn, socialize, and manage stress. Support may include coordination across the settings a child moves through each day—especially home and school.
Treatment options and what progress looks like
In YCSC programs, the family is not an add-on—they are part of the plan. As Fernandez explains, “The mission of the Child Study Center is to help children and families. And really what that means is to try to have each child achieve their fullest potential and to have their family as a team member in that process.”
Services also reflect the idea that children’s needs differ by age and development. “The behaviors that might be normal or expected in a 5-year-old might become a problem in a 12-year-old,” says Fernandez. That’s one reason clinicians consider context and timing.
For some children—such as adolescents on the autism spectrum—support can include skill-building in groups shaped by what the teens themselves want to practice. Julie Wolf, PhD, describes a social group that she runs with teens on the autism spectrum. She asks the teens directly what they hope to get out of the experience. Wolf says the goal is to make it relevant. “We want ... to help them navigate the social world in a way that’s meaningful and important to them, not just what we think is important,” she says.
A message of hope
Many families worry they waited too long or that asking for help means they failed. The message of the video is the opposite: Families are central, and support is grounded in respect. In fact, Poncin says that YCSC clinicians learn from families. “They teach us,” he says.
The excerpts in the video also frame their work as a long-term investment. “What the center is about is bringing children and families to the forefront and making clear that investing in children is actually investing in all of our well-being,” says Mayes.