Welcome To Pinecone Mental Health Pediatrics

Hello and welcome!

I would first like to clarify my specialty, so that there are no misunderstandings.........

Unlike Sigmund Freud, I am not a psychiatrist! 

I am a  pediatrician who has discovered a strong passion and skill for the diagnosing and the medication management of a large variety of pediatric mental health conditions (see below). With a surge in the rates of pediatric mental health conditions (especially anxiety and depression) after the COVID "lockdown" of 2020, combined with fundamental changes in primary care (resulting in much shorter appointments), there is an increasing demand for child-adolescent psychiatrists to provide the diagnosis and treatment for these conditions. Unfortunately, the number of practicing child-adolescent psychiatrists has not increased at the same rate as this growing demand for these services. This problem exists across the United States, but it is not surprising that the lack of access to care is much worse in small towns, rural areas, and less populated states. 

It is my hope that my strong passion for providing these services will serve to lessen some of this gap in care, by providing mental health diagnosis and medication treatment for  kids and teens across the state of Texas.

Accepting patients from ages 3-18 years old

(the first appointment must occur before their 18th birthday, and may continue to age 21 yo)

Some of the conditions that I can evaluate, diagnose, & manage the treatment for:

    Depression Disorders: (major depression, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder                                                     (DMDD), Bipolar Disorder (both types I and II), Dysthymia,                    Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PDD)

    Anxiety Disorders: Generalized Anxiety, Separation Anxiety, Panic Disorder,                                                            Social Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Skin-                                                        Picking/Habit Disorders

    Behavioral Issues: Aggression, Elopement, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD),

                                           Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Meltdowns,                                                 Tantrums, School Avoidance. Continued Monitoring and                                                            Adjustment of Atypical Antipsychotic medication treatment.

   Attention Disorders: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) inattentive                                                      type, hyperactive/impulsive type, and combined type                       

   Autism Spectrum Disorder: Levels I, II, and III, and coexisting conditions  

   Movement Disorders/Other Neurodivergent Disorders: Tourette's Syndrome,                                                                    Chronic Motor Tics, Chronic Vocal Tics, Drug-induced                                                                  Movement Disorders  

     What Services are NOT offered at PMHP? As a pediatrician, I do not perform play therapy, talk therapy, ABA therapy, or "psych testing."        

*A Word About "Psych Testing"

Pediatricians and Child-Adolescent Psychiatrists are Medical Doctors who are specifically trained in medical school (and beyond) to ask a lot of questions about the child's history, and to be able to make an accurate, reliable diagnosis for many disorders without the need for any additional testing (including Psych testing).

This means that the overwhelming majority of children and adolescents

DO NOT NEED to have this expensive and time-consuming testing in order to receive an accurate diagnosis and to start treatment!! *

*This statement represents the majority consensus of board-certified child-adolescent psychiatrists.

Neuropsych testing is usually obtained in order to evaluate for specific conditions such as intellectual disability.