Children's Mental Health Care
Children's Mental Health Care
The child services at Dominion Hospital are one of a kind in the DC metropolitan area. Our staff is specially trained to identify and treat the psychiatric issues facing this young population. Through psychoeducation, play therapy, expressive therapy groups and child psychopharmacology we work with your family to help you understand your child's diagnosis and develop a plan to stabilize and manage your child in a less restrictive environment.
We work through a multi-disciplined treatment team approach consisting of physicians, nursing staff, social workers, expressive therapists, education staff and other specialists. Dominion Hospital's children's mental health services include pediatric inpatient and partial hospitalization. Children's inpatient care provides 24-hour care. The partial hospitalization program is incorporated into the inpatient unit, but allows for the child to go return home for the evening. Partial hospitalization is an option for children who may be able to function at home for short periods of time, but need assessment to identify and treat issues that are not successfully treated in an outpatient setting.
While your child is cared for at Dominion Hospital:
- Our physicians work with you and your child to assess the need for medication and to decide when your child is stable enough to move onto the next level of care.
- Our nursing staff monitors your child while they are at the hospital (either 8 A.M. to 3 P.M. or on a 24-hour basis, depending on the level of care), educating and encouraging them to move forward with their treatment.
- Our social work staff meets with you and your family to identify issues and stressors and to set up a plan for maintaining safety and continued therapy after discharge from the hospital.
- Our expressive therapists introduce a host of complementary therapy techniques including, but not limited to, dance and art therapies to assist your child in identifying alternative forms of expression and communication.
- Our education staff monitor your child in a school atmosphere and also work (with your permission) with your child's student services to set in motion any changes that may need to occur before your child returns to school.