Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist

Child and adolescent psychiatry helps your child overcome the mental health challenges that can have a crushing impact on their school success, social development, and home life. Aruna Tummala, MD, at Trinergy Center for Integrative Psychiatry has extensive experience treating the unique mental health problems of children and teens. Dr. Tummala uses a customized combination of Western, functional, and Ayurvedic medicine. If your child needs guidance and support, you can schedule an in-person or telepsychiatry appointment. Call the office in New Berlin, Wisconsin, or book online today.

What conditions do child and adolescent psychiatrists treat?

Mental health disorders begin earlier than you may realize. Developmental disabilities usually begin before birth and the signs often appear before they enter school. Additionally, half of all serious mental illnesses begin before age 14.

Dr. Tummala cares for children aged four and older, diagnosing and treating conditions such as:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Bipolar disorder
• Conduct disorder
• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Oppositional defiant disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Children with one mental health condition often have a second disorder, making it harder to understand and manage their challenges.

What warning signs indicate the need for child and adolescent psychiatry?

You should consider consulting Dr. Tummala any time your child's behaviors or emotions occur frequently, diminish their success at school, disrupt family life, or seem out of proportion to the situation or their age.

Your child may need help when they:

• Often seem anxious or worried
• Refuse to go to school
• Frequently seem hyperactive
• Have uncontrollable meltdowns
• Seem depressed or sad
• Sleep more or less than usual
• Lose interest in their favorite activities
• Withdraw from friends and family
• Engage in self-harming behaviors
• Have frequent nightmares
• Become disobedient or oppositional
• Become verbally or physically aggressive
• Talk about suicide

You may also notice that their school performance suddenly declines from its usual level.

What child and adolescent psychiatry services are available?

Child and adolescent mental health disorders arise from a complex interaction of variables. Genetic tendencies, systemic inflammation, and environmental influences such as their diet and exposure to toxins all contribute to psychological problems.

Though prescription medications ease symptoms, they can't heal the many issues influencing your child's mental health. That's why Dr. Tummala performs a thorough psychological and "root cause" evaluation.

During a root cause evaluation, she looks at the gut-brain axis, microbiome, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, and the health of your child's immune system. 

After identifying all the underlying physical issues that affect your child's mental (and physical) health, and diagnosing their mental health disorder, she creates individualized integrative treatments.

A few examples of include:

• Talk therapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Nutritional supplements
• Dietary counseling
• Stress management
• Ayurvedic herbal medicine
• Parent education and support
• Alpha-Stim® cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES)
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)

Dr. Tummala prescribes psychiatric medications when needed, but always in the smallest effective dose and for a limited time to minimize side effects.

If your child or adolescent needs exceptional psychiatric care, call the Trinergy Center for Integrative Psychiatry or book an appointment online today.