Behavioral Health Specialist

What is behavioral health?

Behavioral health focuses on the intersection of mental, emotional, and physical health and how these factors influence your behavior. Mental health conditions and physical illness are connected, and both affect the way you, or your child, interacts with the world.

Behavioral health issues can have lasting effects, but the team at Gruene Lake Medical can treat and manage these conditions, helping you and your family lead healthy and fulfilling lives. 

What are common behavioral health conditions?

While behavioral health issues can emerge and persist in adulthood, doctors often diagnose these conditions in children. Dr. Boecker and her team treat and diagnose:

ADHD

ADHD is a prevalent behavioral health issue that interferes with your ability to pay attention and sit still. Children with ADHD can present primarily hyperactive symptoms, predominantly inattentive symptoms, or a combination of both. 

When a child has mostly inattentive symptoms, they're often diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder (ADD).

Some of the common signs of ADHD include:

• Problems paying attention to tasks, conversations, or lessons
• Poor organization and time management
• Frequently losing homework, shoes, books, or other items
• Running and playing at inappropriate times
• Extreme fidgeting
• Trouble taking turns
• Interrupting or blurting out answers

If your child displays these behaviors, it doesn't mean they have ADHD. If their behavior is persistent or interferes with their well-being, you should make an appointment. 

Oppositional defiant disorder

Oppositional defiant disorder causes persistent anger, irritability, arguing, and overall defiance toward you or other authority figures. While all children can display stubbornness and push their boundaries, oppositional defiant disorder can be extremely disruptive and interfere with social development.

Autism spectrum disorder

Autism includes a broad range of conditions that interfere with a child's social skills, speech and language, nonverbal communication, and other behaviors. Autism disorders range in severity and usually start to emerge at 2-3 years old. 

When should I talk to a doctor about my child's behavior?

You know your child best, but it's sometimes hard to tell if your child is going through a phase or instead showing signs of a behavioral health issue. 

As a general rule, you should make an appointment at Gruene Lake Medical if your child's abnormal or disruptive behavior is persistent or interferes with their health, academic performance, or overall family life.

The team at Gruene Lake Medical provides expert diagnosis and customized treatment plans to help your child thrive. Call the office or make an appointment online for personalized behavioral health care.