About the Treatment Team: Adolescent Mood Disorders Unit

Each adolescent is assigned a highly specialized, compassionate treatment team. Each treatment team works together towards the goal of helping your child stabilize so they can safely move to a less-intensive level of care.

Our treatment teams are composed of:

• Medical director—a child and adolescent psychiatrist who oversees all child and adolescent services at Sheppard Pratt.

• Service chief—a child and adolescent psychiatrist who serves as the clinical leader of treatment and services on the unit.

• Attending psychiatrist—a child and adolescent psychiatrist who works directly with the service chief in providing care to patients.

• Unit manager—a nurse who is responsible for program development, milieu activities, and day-to-day function of the program.

• Social worker—who is your primary contact and liaison. The social worker attends daily treatment team meetings and will keep you informed about your child’s clinical progress. The social worker will work with you to obtain a family history in order to get a holistic view of your child. In addition, they will host a family meeting prior to discharge to help you assist your child with integrating back to the home, school, and community setting. The social worker will also prepare a comprehensive discharge plan for when your child is ready to return to the community.

• Music therapist—who helps adolescents make progress in their emotional and mental wellbeing through the use of listening to and creating music.

• Art therapist—who uses art and art-making to help adolescents process and learn to cope with their emotions.

• Psychiatric nurses—who help teens with their daily activities, managing their symptoms, and any medical concerns. Psychiatric nurses are also responsible for dispensing medication.

• Mental health workers—who are trained staff members that help run therapeutic groups and work directly with the clinical treatment team.