Clinical Services & Programs

Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric illnesses for children, adolescents, and adults. High levels of anxiety can affect every aspect of a person's daily life. Anxiety can prevent a person from meeting their daily goals, establishing and maintaining relationships, maximizing their potential at school or work, and fulfilling their dreams. Anxiety presents differently across the course of normal human development and requires specialized approaches at each stage. Anxiety disorders also frequently occur along with other disorders including tic disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mood disorders including depression, and substance use disorders.

Effective and established evidence-based treatments do exist for the treatment of anxiety and related disorders. Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry has leaders in the field of anxiety and related disorders across the lifespan and we can provide the most state-of-the-art and developmentally appropriate treatments for anxiety. Our faculty specialize in treating anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder (formerly social phobia), separation anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and selective mutism. We also specialize in treating related disorders including tic disorders, Tourette's disorder, depression, bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We specialize in evidence-based treatments including pharmacotherapies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP), Habit Reversal Therapy (HRT), and Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT).

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders of childhood. Typically, most symptoms appear early in life and can continue throughout adolescence and adulthood. The symptoms of ADHD — inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity — are present to some extent in most children; however, when these symptoms are developmentally inappropriate, pervasive and persistent they can interfere with relationships, school, and work.

There is no single test to diagnose ADHD, and many other disorders — including anxiety disorders, depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and learning disorders — can have similar symptoms. Recognizing and treating ADHD early can lead to better outcomes for children and their families, with reduction in functional impairment later in life.

The Weill Cornell Specialty Center has faculty who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. A comprehensive evaluation is performed, including a careful history and a clinical assessment of the individuals academic, social and emotional functioning, and developmental level. We specialize in evidence-based treatments, pharmacotherapy, behavioral therapy, and parent education and support.  At the Center, treatment of ADHD is tailored to the unique needs of each individual child and family.

Although ADHD is one of the most common disorders of childhood and adolescence, studies show that a majority of people diagnosed with ADHD continue to struggle with persistent functional impairments into adulthood. Left untreated, symptoms are typically associated with notable occupational and social difficulties, including substance abuse, delinquency, anxiety, depression and academic/job-related problems.    These symptoms often respond well to focused medication and psychotherapy strategies, similar to those found effective for younger age groups. Consultation with a specialist can help clarify diagnosis and the adult patient's individual treatment needs.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects social communication and behavior. Although autism can be diagnosed at any age, it is considered as a “developmental disorder” because symptoms generally appear during the first two years of life. Autism is also known as “spectrum” disorder because of heterogeneity across individuals in the patterns and severity of symptoms and other skills such as linage and cognitive functioning. Individuals with ASD have impairment in social communication and interaction, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors.

ASD can be diagnosed in children as young as 12 months.   Diagnosis follows a series of diagnostic interviews, observations, and standardized assessments.  This information is used to determine (a) the individual’s strengths and challenges, (b) diagnostic clarification, and (c) to generate individualized recommendations that will guide the development of individualized interventions.

Mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorders, can affect every aspect of an individual's life, including school, work, relationships with family and friends, ability to parent, and ability to enjoy life. In a child, mood disorder symptoms can often interfere with normative social development and academic achievement, and can place entire families in a state of crisis. With accurate diagnosis and treatment, however, many of these concerns can be minimized or prevented.

Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry has experts in the diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders who offer comprehensive evaluations and individualized treatments. Treatment planning tailors cutting-edge therapeutic modalities to the individual patient. Treatments are both evidence based and holistic. Biological treatments may range from psychopharmacology to neurostimulation, while psychotherapy treatments may include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.

An eating disorder is marked by a disturbance in eating behavior together with psychological distress or impairment. This could include extreme food restriction, overeating or abnormal compensatory behaviors following food ingestion together with significant distress or concern about body weight or shape. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common of these conditions, which in severe cases can be life-threatening. Eating disorders can affect people of all ages, racial/ethnic backgrounds, body weights, and genders; however,  women and girls are more likely than males to develop an eating disorder, with an estimated 5 to 7 percent of U.S. females affected during their lifetimes. The conditions frequently appear during adolescence or young adulthood, and frequently co-exist with other psychiatric disorders such as depression, substance abuse or anxiety. Individuals with eating disorders can suffer from numerous other physical health complications, such as heart conditions or kidney failure, which can lead to death.

Weill Cornell Medicine has experienced clinicians who treat eating disorders in the outpatient setting.  

Clinical neuropsychology is a specialty within professional psychology that is focused on understanding the connection between the brain and behavior. Clinical neuropsychologists work with patients who have experienced a wide range of acquired and developmental neurobehavioral problems such as: dementias, traumatic brain injuries, strokes, learning disabilities, neurodevelopmental disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders, etc. They use standardized paper-and-pencil and/or computerized tests and procedures to directly examine how the patient is thinking, behaving, and feeling. Through obtaining a better understanding how someone thinks and acts, a neuropsychologist is able to help in differential diagnosis and in making recommendations that will optimize functioning. 

Personality disorders are described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as “an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture”.  Personality disorders are a group of five disorders including Antisocial/Psychopathic, Avoidant, Borderline, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Schizotypal.  These disorders are thought to be long-term and enduring, in contrast to episodic, personality styles that at their core are defined by difficulties in the person's subjective, internal sense of identity, and chronic difficulties in the person’s interpersonal relationships.

The five different styles have many overlapping features and most people have a mixture of those styles, but most importantly, when people personify and live out any of those styles with a certain consistency, inflexibility, and in such a way that causes a certain level of distress in one's emotional and interpersonal life, they meet criteria for a personality disorder.

Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders are psychiatric disorders that impair thinking and perception severely enough that a person loses contact with reality. Positive symptoms include hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations result from a perception in the absence of stimulation by one of the senses: hearing when there is no sound and seeing when there is nothing visible. Delusions occur when a person holds a fixed false belief that defies the need for any evidence. Alternatively, some patients become oblivious to the environment around them, preferring internal sources of stimulation to those that are external. These patients are said to have negative symptoms due their lack of interest in the environment around them, losing motivation to socialize, verbalize, and even think. Cognitive symptoms occur when the impairment in thinking affects memory, attention, and problem-solving. Psychotic disorders should be distinguished from psychotic symptoms, which can occur due to other psychiatric conditions; e.g., mood disorders, delirium, dementia.

 The treatments available for schizophrenia and related conditions have been consistently optimized over time. Well Cornell Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry faculty are leaders in the field of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. The most critical juncture in treatment is typically during the first episode of illness or its earliest phases, when minimizing the duration of untreated psychosis will arrest further progression of the disorder and provide the best outcomes. Not only is remission a possibility, but even recovery from the illness; i.e., recovery of functioning and even gain of new functioning. We provide expert, evidence-based, specialty treatments for conditions that span the entire spectrum: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, catatonia, schizotypal personality disorder, substance/medication-induced psychotic disorder, and psychotic disorder due to another medical condition. Treatment modalities include, among others, psychopharmacology, cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBT-P), psychiatric rehabilitation, and cognitive remediation.

Substance-related and addictive disorders are common, often disabling, and frequently co-occur with other psychiatric and medical disorders. Substance use disorders are typically diagnosed when there is clinically significant impairment or distress and the presence of at least two physical, psychological, or social consequences due to the substance use. The criteria to diagnose a substance use disorder often emphasize a loss of control over the amount and duration of consumption of the substance, as well as the time involved in obtaining, consuming or recovering from the substance. Use of a substance can continue despite impairment in social, occupational, recreational, financial, physical or mental health domains. Symptoms of withdrawal occur following the cessation or reduction of consumption.

Fortunately many effective treatments exist for substance use disorders that can take place in both outpatient and inpatient settings.  These treatments can include: Withdrawal Management, which includes inpatient hospital admissions and outpatient community-based programs;  Rehabilitation in 28-day or other residential treatment facilities; Outpatient counseling or psychotherapy; and Long-term pharmacotherapy, which often applies to opioid use disorder and includes maintenance with methadone, buprenorphine, or extended-release injectable naltrexone.

Our women's program has nationally recognized clinicians providing specialty care that meets the unique needs of women throughout the lifecycle. The women's program has a particular focus on mood disorders related to peripartum period, menstrual cycle, and perimenopause.

Some women may experience a new onset of symptoms associated with pregnancy or menopause, while others with prior mental health concerns benefit from specialized care during these times.

Our faculty work as a team with the patient's primary physician and healthcare providers to coordinate care and ensure smooth delivery of services and comprehensive care. Services may include consultations and ongoing management of medication during pregnancy, lactation, and treatment for infertility.