Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Supporting Emotional Health, Confidence, and Healthy Development
Personalized psychiatric care for children and adolescents ages 5–18, with particular expertise in high-achieving students, competitive athletes, and families navigating the demands of high-performance life.
At Seaside Psychiatry, we provide thoughtful, relationship-centered Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in Encinitas and throughout California via secure telehealth. Our approach is intentionally personal, developmentally informed, and designed around the individual child and family.
Dr. Nadia Nassar Kuhn, MD, founder and medical director of Seaside Psychiatry, is a Child, Adolescent & Adult Psychiatrist with specialized fellowship training in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at UC San Diego. Her approach recognizes the complex intersection of emotional health, development, academic achievement, performance, and family dynamics.
Dr. Nisha Patel, MD, also provides Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Seaside Psychiatry, bringing additional expertise in integrative care, parenting support, and life transitions.
We intentionally keep our caseload small, allowing every patient to develop a lasting relationship with a physician who genuinely knows them—and providing the continuity, depth, and personal attention that define the Seaside experience.
The Seaside Experience
A different approach to child and adolescent psychiatry—intentionally personal, deeply attentive, and designed around your family.
Time to Understand
Extended evaluations allow us to understand your child's development, temperament, strengths, relationships, and environment—not simply a list of symptoms.
One Physician, Ongoing Relationship
Your child sees the same psychiatrist over time, creating continuity as their needs evolve through childhood and adolescence.
Built for High-Performance Lives
We understand the pressures facing academically driven students, competitive athletes, gifted learners, and high-achieving families—and the importance of supporting both well-being and sustainable performance.
Care for the Whole Family
Parents are important partners in care. We provide practical guidance while respecting the growing independence of adolescents.
Calm, Private, and Discreet
Our intentionally small practice provides a quiet, professional environment where children, teens, and parents can feel comfortable and heard.
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Designed Around Your Family
Children and teenagers today may be navigating demanding academic environments, competitive athletics, social pressures, technology, family transitions, and increasing expectations for achievement. A child's difficulties do not always look like a psychiatric disorder. Anxiety may appear as perfectionism. ADHD may look like inconsistency or underachievement despite high intelligence. Burnout may look like irritability or withdrawal. Sleep difficulties can affect mood, attention, and academic performance.
Our evaluations look beyond symptoms to understand the whole child—including temperament, development, family relationships, school environment, strengths, challenges, and goals. Care may include psychiatric evaluation, psychotherapy, medication management, parent guidance, executive functioning strategies, and coordination with other professionals when appropriate.
Families We Often Support
While we welcome families from all backgrounds, Seaside Psychiatry frequently works with children and adolescents who are:
- Highly motivated or academically driven
- Enrolled in rigorous academic programs
- Competitive student athletes
- Gifted or twice-exceptional learners
- Experiencing perfectionism or performance pressure
- Balancing demanding extracurricular or leadership commitments
- Bright, sensitive, or emotionally intense
- Struggling with anxiety, ADHD, burnout, or executive functioning
Our goal is to help young people thrive without sacrificing their mental health, relationships, or sense of self.
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry for Ages 5–18
We provide comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and treatment for emotional, behavioral, and developmental concerns, including:
- Anxiety and excessive worry
- ADHD and executive functioning difficulties
- Depression and mood disorders
- Emotional dysregulation
- School stress and performance anxiety
- Perfectionism
- OCD
- Sleep difficulties
- Trauma, grief, and life transitions
- Social and emotional challenges
- Adolescent identity and developmental concerns
Every evaluation considers the whole child—including developmental stage, temperament, family relationships, school environment, strengths, and overall functioning.
Treatment may include psychotherapy, medication management, parent guidance, executive functioning strategies, lifestyle and sleep support, and collaboration with other professionals when appropriate.
Supporting High-Achieving Students & Student Athletes
High achievement can bring unique psychological demands. Students may be balancing rigorous academics, competitive athletics, leadership roles, extracurricular commitments, and increasing expectations while navigating adolescence.
Dr. Nadia Nassar Kuhn's approach recognizes that mental health and performance are not competing priorities. Care may address:
- Performance and competition anxiety
- Perfectionism and fear of failure
- ADHD and executive functioning
- Academic-athletic balance
- Burnout and chronic stress
- Confidence after injury or setbacks
- Sleep and recovery
- Identity and self-worth beyond achievement
The goal is sustainable performance that supports the whole young person—not achievement at the expense of well-being.
Teen Psychiatry & Parent Guidance
Adolescence requires a balance of independence, connection, structure, and trust. We provide teens with a respectful environment where they can speak openly while keeping parents appropriately involved. Depending on the individual, care may include psychotherapy, medication management, anxiety and performance strategies, executive functioning support, parent coaching, and school or college transition planning.
Parent sessions may also address communication, boundaries, academic pressure, technology, independence, and family dynamics. With appropriate consent, we collaborate with therapists, pediatricians, schools, counselors, and learning specialists when doing so benefits the child.
A Personalized Approach to Treatment
Medication is never automatic. When appropriate, it is considered alongside psychotherapy, behavioral strategies, parent guidance, lifestyle interventions, and other supports. Our practice is intentionally small, allowing your child to develop an ongoing relationship with the same physician rather than moving between providers.
When specialized services are needed beyond our practice—such as neuropsychological testing or intensive behavioral or trauma-focused treatment—we help connect families with trusted professionals and coordinate care when appropriate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a child psychiatrist do?
A child psychiatrist evaluates and treats emotional, behavioral, developmental, and mental health concerns in children and adolescents. At Seaside Psychiatry, we look at the whole child—including development, temperament, family, school, relationships, and strengths—not simply a diagnosis.
Dr. Nadia Nassar Kuhn, MD, founder and medical director of Seaside Psychiatry, is a Child, Adolescent & Adult Psychiatrist with specialized fellowship training in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at UC San Diego.
When should my child see a child psychiatrist?
An evaluation may be helpful when anxiety, ADHD, mood changes, emotional dysregulation, school difficulties, perfectionism, sleep problems, or behavioral changes begin affecting a child's daily life or functioning.
Families do not need to wait for a crisis. An evaluation can provide clarity about what is happening and whether treatment, monitoring, parent guidance, or other support may be appropriate.
Do you work with high-achieving children, teens, and student athletes?
Yes. This is an important part of the population we serve. We frequently work with academically driven students, competitive athletes, gifted and twice-exceptional learners, and young people experiencing perfectionism, performance pressure, anxiety, ADHD, or burnout.
Our goal is to support both mental health and sustainable performance without losing sight of the child's identity, relationships, and long-term development.
What conditions does a child psychiatrist treat?
We provide psychiatric evaluation and treatment for concerns including anxiety, ADHD, depression and mood disorders, emotional dysregulation, OCD, sleep difficulties, school and performance stress, perfectionism, trauma, grief, and developmental or social-emotional challenges.
Treatment is individualized to the child and family.
Does my child need medication for ADHD or anxiety?
Not necessarily. Medication is only one component of psychiatric treatment and may or may not be appropriate.
Depending on the child's needs, care may include psychotherapy, parent guidance, executive functioning strategies, lifestyle and sleep interventions, school collaboration, medication, or a combination of approaches.
How involved are parents in adolescent psychiatric care?
Parents remain important partners while adolescents are given developmentally appropriate privacy and autonomy. The balance depends on the teen's age, maturity, clinical needs, and safety.
With appropriate consent, we may also collaborate with therapists, pediatricians, schools, and other members of the care team.
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in Encinitas
Thoughtful psychiatric care can help children and adolescents feel better, function more effectively, and develop with confidence—without losing sight of who they are beyond their symptoms or achievements. Seaside Psychiatry provides boutique Child & Adolescent Psychiatry for families in Encinitas, Carlsbad, Cardiff, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Carmel Valley, Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, and throughout California via telehealth.
Dr. Nadia Nassar Kuhn and the Seaside Psychiatry team provide personalized, developmentally informed care for children, adolescents, and families who value depth, continuity, and a genuine physician-patient relationship.
We would be honored to partner with your family.
Schedule a Consultation
Services
We Offer
Keep
In Touch
© 2026 Seaside Psychiatry. All rights Reserved. Accessibility Statement - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - HIPAA Notice
Powered by:
