Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s psychiatry program provides a continuum of mental health care across inpatient, outpatient, intensive and emergency settings. The team offers diagnostic evaluation and treatment, including psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, as well as evidence-based interventions to help children, adolescents and their families overcome behavioral health issues. The program treats a full range of conditions, including but not limited to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, psychosis, tic disorders and challenges related to co-occurring conditions. CHOC’s Cherese Mari Laulhere Mental Health Inpatient Center provided inpatient psychiatric care for more than 700 children in fiscal year 2023. It is the only inpatient facility in the county to treat patients younger than 10 years old. In an effort to integrate behavioral and physical health care, CHOC mental health clinicians treated more than 4,000 patients in primary care settings during the same one-year period. CHOC’s Mental Health Crisis Clinic offers immediate stabilization for youth experiencing suicidal ideation and has served more than 200 patients since its launch in late 2022. Knowing medical conditions like epilepsy, cancer, diabetes or a rare disease can affect a children’s mental health, pediatric psychologists are part of inpatient and outpatient treatment programs, thus ensuring patients and families can turn to specialized psychologists while receiving care anywhere at CHOC.
