Mood and Anxiety Program

The Mood and Anxiety Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is dedicated to serving the needs of adolescents with a primary diagnosis of a mood or anxiety disorder.

Our multidisciplinary team includes psychiatrists, nurses, medical assistants, counselors, social workers and psychologists.

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Services We Provide

Outpatient Counseling Services

The outpatient counseling program uses evidence-based treatment practices to increase the strengths, coping skills and resources available to adolescents aged 12-17 who are suffering from a primary diagnosis of a Mood or Anxiety disorder. The program aims to build the skills necessary to aid in the recovery process by working individually with clients on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Services are provided by Master’s level clinicians specializing in mood and anxiety symptoms and will typically include diagnostic assessments, treatment planning, individual counseling, care coordination and consultation, requiring attendance for about 1 hour per week.

Psychiatry Services

The Mood and Anxiety Program offers psychiatric services for the purpose of medication management provided by a team of medical professionals. The psychiatrist will collect a comprehensive psychiatric diagnostic assessment including previous treatments, hospitalization and medications to provide the best treatment options for your child and prescribe medication as necessary. Follow up services for medication management will be provided to monitor symptoms and medication efficacy. Once symptoms have stabilized appointments with the psychiatry team may be every 1-3 months. The MAP program is an integrated treatment program allowing for collaboration between the psychiatrists, nurses and therapists.

DBT Program

The Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) program is a cognitive behavioral treatment that was originally designed to treat chronically suicidal patients but has evolved to show effectiveness in treating a wide range of mental health disorders. The DBT program requires participation in both group and individual counseling requiring about 3 hours of attendance per week. The program serves adolescents aged 13-18 who typically struggle with emotional regulation, interpersonal relationships, self-harm behaviors or suicidal ideation.

Intensive Outpatient Services

The Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is a time-limited skill-based treatment for individuals aged 13-17 whose mood and anxiety symptoms require an intermediate level of care between traditional outpatient and inpatient care. The IOP program involves 3-hour group sessions held in the evenings 3 days/week as well as individual and family sessions. Clients will have access to a mix of group and individual counseling, family services, psychiatric services and medication management services as well as crisis services. Two different IOP programs are offered: one for mood regulation and the other for anxiety and avoidance symptoms.

Anxiety and Avoidance Program

The Anxiety and Avoidance Program is a group-based treatment for 5-8 people at a time. Group members learn skills to fight anxiety. Those include how to handle problems, have a calm and focused mental state, and handle social situations that create distress.