Services

    Music City Peds is a pediatric developmental & behavioral medicine subspecialty practice. What does this mean???

    This field of pediatric medicine is rare, and Music City Peds is unique even within this field. 

    As pediatric nurse practitioners, our education and training specifically focuses on pediatric health first and foremost. Therefore, we have extensive experience in addressing some of the most common developmental or behavioral concerns that affect children and adolescents.

    With this as our foundation, we further studied and trained in some of the more complex areas of pediatric development and behavior, including developmental delays, developmental and intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety and depressive disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, genetic syndromes, and learning disabilities.

    Developmental pediatric practices differ from each other in a few key ways. Some developmental pediatric practices operate as NICU follow-up clinics (usually when paired with a hospital that has a NICU and access to several disciplines of medicine). Many provide developmental assessment services (ex: autism evaluations) without follow up care. Most do not also specialize in the “behavioral medicine” aspect of care like we do.

    “Behavioral medicine”, “mental health care”, and “psychiatry” are terms that are often used interchangeably. While we are NOT psychiatric nurse practitioners and do not have vast training in the expansive category of psychiatric disorders, we DO have significant expertise in treating certain mental health disorders.

    Music City Peds: Developmental & Behavioral Medicine is was intentionally named to describe our focus not only on pediatric development but also on our knowledge and treatment of pediatric behaviors that may range from normal tantrums or defiance to behaviors that stem from underlying mood disorders (like anxiety, depression, or OCD) or developmental issues (ex: aggression, irritability, or self-injurious behaviors that stem from autism or intellectual disability).

    We believe that you deserve to see a clinician who is an expert in meeting your needs. Read below to find out what we DO and what we DON’T do at Music City Peds

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    At Music City Peds, we provide assessments, diagnostic evaluations AND follow up care.

    Follow up care may include the following:

    • prescribing and managing medications for emotional-behavioral needs
    • parent coaching and education (about diagnosis, discipline methods, etc.)
    • coping and social skill coaching
    • referrals to recommended therapists or specialists
    • collaboration with school personnel and teaching parents about educational advocacy
    • genetic testing or pharmaco-genomic testing
    • monitoring and surveillance of developmental and behavioral health over time to ensure optimal treatment
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    What we DO:

    • developmental assessments for children ages 18 months and older for concerns about language, communication, social interaction, or global delays (motor AND language OR cognitive).

    • diagnostic evaluations for autism spectrum disorders (including gold standard ADOS-2 testing) 

    • genetic testing to determine if there is a known reason for autism or developmental delays

    • prescribing medications to treat emotional-behavioral needs of children with autism or developmental/intellectual disabilities or genetic syndromes

    • referring clients to appropriate therapists to work on development and behavior

    • follow up appointments to monitor progress and to educate parents on evidence-based treatment and recommended strategies to use at home

    • diagnostic evaluations for ADHD or other school-related behavioral concerns

    • treatment of ADHD, including prescribing medications

    • assessments and diagnostic evaluations of behavioral or mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, or OCD

    • treatment of depression, anxiety, or OCD, including prescribing medications

    Many times, caregivers have concerns about specific things they observe at home, and they just need an expert to evaluate and provide recommendations and support. Sometimes, there is not a definitive diagnostic explanation for why a child is struggling, but we can still help. A main part of how we can assist at Music City Peds is to investigate your concerns and provide insight and recommendations, regardless of a diagnosis or label.

    What we DON’T do:

    • We do NOT offer primary care services or well child care. Our clients should also have a pediatrician or primary care provider whom we collaborate with!
    • We do NOT practice psychiatry, though we overlap in many of the conditions we treat (as explained above). Please see list of concerns below that we defer to psychiatry.
    • We do NOT provide psychological-educational testing to diagnose cognitive impairment or specific learning disabilities. We defer to a psychologist if this is necessary.
    • We do NOT evaluate primary or isolated motor delays or impairment and typically defer to neurology for this assessment.

    IF you have any of the following concerns, Music City Peds is not the best suited to assess or treat, and we will defer to a psychiatric provider who is best equipped to help you.

    • Suicide attempt in past
    • Multiple (more than 1) inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations in past
    • Ongoing primary concern of self-harm (ex: cutting) or suicidal thoughts
    • Concern about bipolar disorder specifically
    • Primary concern about potential eating disorder
    • Primary or prominent concern is substance abuse or excessive use
    • Past or current psychosis (hallucinations, delusions)
    • Clients whose current treatment includes mood stabilizers (Lamictal, Depakote, Trileptal) or many failed past trials of antidepressant medications