Our Mission:

Through the use of health promotion, prevention, and intelligent intervention we strive to use the Family Based Approach with a long term goal of helping the well remain illness free, preventing at risk children from developing psychiatric illness and intervening comprehensively on behalf of the children and families challenged by emotional or behavioral disorders.

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Please View our Mission Video to Learn More

Director, Steven Schlozman, MD


 

 

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Education

As a department, we are immersed in education at every learner level. Our faculty teach at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels, at the Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont and within the Psychiatry Residency and Child Psychiatry fellowship. We play a key role in educating those interested in taking care of children and families.

 

 

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Patient Care

Providers at the Pediatric Psychiatry Clinic promote the Vermont Family Based Approach (VFBA) to best take care of our patients and their families. With our proximity to the community, we strive to make partnerships and support community members working with children and families across Vermont and upstate New York. Our providers also participate in the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry & Psychology Consult Service (CAPPCON) at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and the Vermont Child Psychiatry Access Program.

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Research

Our research aims focus on improving the health and wellbeing of the developing child. Faculty research programs include child dysregulation and irritability and the risk and resilience of children and adolescents. We partner with the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families (RCCYF), the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP), and the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit (CNRU). Within the research community, we also partner with individual investigators that align with our research focuses.



Highlighted news from the Child Psychiatry department:

Shah Explains SAD in WVNY-TV Story

November 27, 2024 by Lucy Gardner Carson

(NOVEMBER 27, 2024) Dhruv Shah, D.O., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Larner College of Medicine, discusses seasonal affective disorder in a WVNY-TV story.

Dhruv Shah, D.O., is a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine.

(NOVEMBER 27, 2024) Dhruv Shah, D.O., a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, discusses seasonal affective disorder in a WVNY-TV story.

According to research done by the National Institutes of Mental Health, almost 1 in 10 New Englanders suffer from symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a mood disorder condition that happens to vary with the seasonal changes.

Shah says the symptoms are similar to those of major depressive or other mood disorders. “Many people go with this disease undiagnosed or unrecognized.” He advises us to think of SAD as an opportunity to focus on things that could be good for your wellness year-round. “Focusing on exercise, having good sleep, maybe waking up with good sunlight exposure,” he suggests.

He also highlights light therapy, vitamin D supplementation, and medications as possible avenues to explore with seasonal affective disorder—but stresses that these things should be done with a trained, competent provider. “Your primary care clinician would be a great person to connect with to figure out how much this is affecting you.”

Read full story at WVNY-TV