Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
psychiatric care built around the developing mind
Adolescence is not a smaller version of adulthood. The adolescent brain is still under construction, and the conditions that emerge during these years take shape within that development, not apart from it. Care that works for adolescents must be developmentally attuned, family-informed, and grounded in evidence specific to this age group.
Rooted in Science. Designed for Resilience.
Who We Serve
A Dedicated Service Line
At Arzilence, child and adolescent psychiatry is not an add-on to adult care. It is a dedicated service line led by a fellowship-trained psychiatrist who is dual board certified in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, built on the same principles that define everything we do: thorough evaluation, integrated treatment, and education as a clinical tool.
Our program is designed for adolescents ages 13 and older and young adults navigating the following:
- 1Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): clinical evaluation and treatment of its psychiatric comorbidities
- 2Anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and panic
- 3Depressive disorders, including presentations that have not responded to prior treatment
- 4Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- 5ADHD and executive function challenges
- 6School refusal, academic decline, and difficulty with transitions
- 7The overlap between emerging identity, family dynamics, and psychiatric symptoms
We recognize that many families arrive after months or years of uncertainty, partial answers, or treatments that helped somewhat but not enough. That is precisely the kind of complexity this program was built for.
Evaluation
How We Evaluate
Every patient begins with a comprehensive evaluation, typically 60 to 90 minutes, and often extending across more than one session when the clinical picture warrants it. There are no abbreviated intakes and no rushed conclusions.
Time with the Adolescent
Individual time with the young person is a goal of every evaluation, arranged as clinically appropriate. Adolescents do not always have the words, or the insight, to name what they are experiencing, and part of the psychiatrist's work is helping them find both.
The Family's Perspective
Parents and caregivers see patterns across years that no single appointment can capture. Their observations are clinical data, and their involvement strengthens both the evaluation and the treatment that follows.
Developmental and Educational History
How symptoms have evolved across school settings, friendships, and family life often clarifies what a symptom checklist cannot. Prior evaluations are always part of the picture; school records and teacher observations are incorporated on an as-needed basis, not as a standard requirement of every evaluation.
Careful Differential Diagnosis
Irritability can reflect depression, anxiety, ADHD, trauma, or another emerging psychiatric condition. Inattention can reflect ADHD, sleep deprivation, anxiety, or something else entirely. Diagnostic precision is the foundation of everything that follows, and we treat it that way.
Treatment
What Treatment Looks Like
Treatment at Arzilence is built around integration. The same psychiatrist who conducts the evaluation provides ongoing care, ensuring that the formulation developed at the outset continues to inform every clinical decision that follows.
Core Model
Integrated Care
Psychotherapy and medication management are integrated within the same psychiatric treatment relationship. Follow-up visits are designed to incorporate meaningful therapeutic work alongside medication management, based on each patient’s clinical needs.
For some patients, the psychiatrist serves as the primary therapist as well as the prescribing clinician, with visits often occurring every one to two weeks. Other patients may already have, or prefer to work with, a separate therapist. In those cases, psychiatric care can include medication management, therapeutic work during visits, and, when appropriate and with the patient’s consent, coordination with their therapist.
These approaches are not mutually exclusive. Patients may continue working with another therapist while also engaging in psychotherapy with their psychiatrist when the work is complementary and the treatment roles are clearly defined.
Psychotherapy
Treatment draws on structured, evidence-supported approaches matched to the presentation. For adolescent depression, the evidence is clear that combining psychotherapy with medication outperforms either alone.
Pharmacology
When medication is indicated, we use agents with established clinical evidence in adolescents, dosed and monitored according to current guidelines. Many treatments used in child and adolescent psychiatry are supported by strong clinical evidence and experience even when formal approval in this age group is limited. Families receive clear education about what a medication can and cannot do, and that conversation is inseparable from the prescription itself.
Family
Parents are partners in treatment. We keep families informed and involved while respecting the adolescent's growing autonomy and the confidentiality that makes honest treatment possible.
Program Focus Area
Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evaluation and Care
Anxiety, depression, ADHD, and sleep disturbance are significantly more common in adolescents with autism than in the general population, and treating these co-occurring conditions is where psychiatric care makes its most direct impact. When autism spectrum disorder has not been previously identified, a clinical evaluation can raise a high level of suspicion and guide referral for formal neuropsychological testing, including the ADOS-2, which remains the gold standard for diagnostic confirmation.
Our role is to evaluate and treat the psychiatric and behavioral challenges that accompany autism, support families in understanding the clinical picture, and coordinate with the specialists and services that address the core features of the condition. We do not provide Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) or other intensive behavioral therapies targeting the core features of ASD, which are delivered by certified ABA specialists. We also do not offer crisis services; presentations involving severe aggression or self-injurious behavior require a higher level of care than outpatient psychiatry can provide.
Learn More →Coming Fall 2026
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Arzilence is launching transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) services in fall 2026. TMS is FDA-cleared as an adjunct treatment for major depressive disorder in adolescents ages 15 to 21 who have not responded adequately to antidepressant medication. TMS is delivered alongside, not instead of, medication and psychotherapy, extending a well-established adult treatment into the age group where depression so often first takes hold, within the same practice and the same treatment relationship.
Care that works for adolescents must be developmentally attuned, family-informed, and grounded in evidence specific to this age group.
Jared L. Reichenberg, MD
Director, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Dr. Reichenberg is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, and holds a faculty appointment at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School.
He completed his psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Brown University. Over more than five years as an attending psychiatrist, he cared for young people across the full spectrum of acuity, from outpatient evaluation to partial hospitalization and inpatient care. He has held teaching roles at Brown University, working with psychiatry residents, fellows, and medical students.
His clinical work centers on adolescents and the evaluation and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (with particular focus on the psychiatric comorbidities that accompany it), anxiety, and depressive disorders, with close attention to the families surrounding each patient. He primarily treats adolescents ages 13 and older and young adults, and sees other adults selectively.
Begin Here
Whether you are a parent seeking care for your adolescent or a young adult seeking care for yourself, care begins with a new patient inquiry, the first step toward scheduling an initial evaluation.
Request an EvaluationOur Model
Evaluation Structure
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an individualized clinical evaluation. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for guidance specific to your or your child's situation.
Ready to Begin?
Comprehensive child and adolescent psychiatric evaluations in Warwick, Rhode Island.