Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in Roanoke, VA
Dr. White provides thoughtful psychiatric care for children, teens, adults, and families.
When a child, teen, or adult is struggling emotionally or behaviorally, it can be difficult to know what kind of help is needed.
Sometimes therapy is the right place to start. Sometimes a psychiatric evaluation can provide helpful information and additional treatment options. And sometimes the most effective approach includes both therapy and psychiatric care.
At Mindful Mountain Wellness Center, we provide psychiatric evaluation and medication management as part of a comprehensive approach to mental health care.
Our psychiatric services are individualized to the person—not simply focused on a diagnosis or a prescription.
What is Psychiatry?
Psychiatry is a medical specialty focused on understanding and treating mental health conditions and the ways they affect a person's emotions, thoughts, behavior, relationships, and daily functioning.
A psychiatric evaluation looks at the whole picture. This may include symptoms, developmental history, medical history, medications, family history, relationships, school or work functioning, and other factors that may be affecting mental health.
Depending on the individual's needs, treatment may include medication, therapy, lifestyle changes, referrals, or a combination of approaches.
Our goal is to help you understand what may be contributing to the challenges you're experiencing and identify appropriate treatment options.
Psychiatry for Children & Teens
Children and adolescents are not simply smaller adults.
Their brains, bodies, relationships, and emotional skills are continuing to develop. Mental health symptoms can also look different at different developmental stages.
Our psychiatric care considers the child's or teen's developmental stage, individual strengths, family relationships, environment, and overall history when evaluating mental health concerns.
We may work with children and adolescents experiencing concerns related to:
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Anxiety
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Depression and mood concerns
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Emotional dysregulation
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Behavioral challenges
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Trauma-related symptoms
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ADHD and related concerns
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Neurodivergence
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Family and relationship difficulties
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Significant changes in mood or behavior
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Other emotional or behavioral concerns
We also recognize that children and teens exist within families. Parents and caregivers are an important part of understanding the child's history and supporting treatment.
Working With Parents & Families
When caring for children and adolescents, parents and caregivers are an important part of the treatment process.
We may gather information from caregivers, discuss treatment recommendations, provide education, and help families understand how to support their child's mental health.
We also recognize that families have their own questions and concerns about psychiatric treatment and medication.
Our goal is to provide clear information and create space for families to make informed decisions about care.
What to Expect
A thoughtful evaluation begins with understanding the whole picture.
For children and adolescents, the psychiatric evaluation takes place over two sessions. This structure gives us an opportunity to gather important background information from caregivers while also creating a comfortable, trusting space for your child to meet with the psychiatrist.
Session One: Caregiver Interview
The first session is for the parents or caregivers without the child present.
This allows caregivers to openly share their concerns, observations, developmental history, medical and mental health history, family history, school experiences, and other information that may be important to understanding the child's current needs.
Beginning with caregivers also helps protect the child's sense of safety and dignity. Children should not have to sit in a room while adults discuss sensitive concerns or difficult behaviors about them. Gathering this information privately allows caregivers to speak openly while helping prevent the child from feeling labeled, criticized, or defined by their challenges.
Session Two: Meeting With Your Child
The second session is focused on getting to know your child.
The psychiatrist will spend time developing rapport, learning about your child's experience in their own words, and observing how they communicate and engage. The conversation and activities are adapted to the child's developmental level and individual needs.
Our goal is for your child to experience the appointment as a safe and respectful opportunity to be heard—not as a meeting where they are simply told what is wrong with them.
This second session also gives the psychiatrist an opportunity to better understand your child's strengths, perspective, emotions, and experiences.
After the Evaluation
After gathering information from both caregivers and the child, the psychiatrist will consider the full picture and discuss clinical impressions and recommendations with the family.
Depending on the individual's needs, recommendations may include:
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Therapy
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Medication evaluation or management
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Additional assessment
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Family support
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Coordination with other providers
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Other appropriate services or resources
A psychiatric evaluation does not automatically mean medication will be recommended. The goal is to understand what is happening and determine what type of support may be most appropriate.
Why We Use This Approach
We believe children deserve to be treated with respect and to have their own voice in their mental health care.
Starting with a private caregiver interview allows parents to provide important background information without placing the child in the position of hearing adults discuss sensitive concerns about them. Then, by meeting with the child separately, the psychiatrist can focus on building rapport, listening to the child's perspective, and developing a relationship based on trust.
This two-session approach helps us see the whole picture while keeping the child's emotional safety and dignity at the center of the evaluation.