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Child Development and Behavioral Health

Delivering high quality, family-focused diagnostic and treatment services for children with psychiatric, developmental and behavioral illnesses.

The mission of the Division of Child Development and Behavioral Health is to serve our patients with the finest clinical care supported by the research and educational resources of a leading academic institution. The Division was created in September, 2005 when the Department of Pediatrics formally merged its Child Development Unit (CDU), whose pediatricians and psychologists treat developmental and behavioral disorders, with the Durham Community Guidance Clinic (CGC), where doctors and therapists have been providing psychiatric care and substance abuse treatment to Durham County children and adolescents since 1947. This joint effort continues to be the delivery of high quality diagnostic and treatment services for children and their families with psychiatric, developmental and behavioral illnesses in cooperation with other medical care providers, school systems, and social service agencies.

The Division faculty and staff include a child psychiatrist, developmental pediatrician, child psychologists, physician assistant, child psychiatric social workers and licensed substance abuse counselors. Division faculty members participate in NIH, NICHD, National Fragile X Foundation, NIDA and SAMHSA funded clinical research in the areas of suicide prevention, fragile X genetic counseling and phenotype/genotype clinical correlation studies, interventions in Down syndrome and Pompe disease, pain and quality of life in children with chronic medical conditions, and effective outpatient adolescent and young adult substance use treatments. These efforts occur in collaboration with other Duke University Medical Center research groups, including the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Division of Medical Genetics.

In few other areas of pediatrics is child advocacy so fundamental to the work done by every clinical provider in Child Development and Behavioral Health. To this end, Division faculty members have taken leadership roles in program development and service delivery systems at the local, state, and national level in professional organizations and on advisory panels focused on promoting the emotional, behavioral, intellectual, and developmental well being of youth.

Treatments

The Division provides comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services for a wide range of pediatric developmental, behavioral and psychiatric illnesses, including substance abuse. Diagnostic services include:

  • outpatient neuropsychiatric testing
  • neurodevelopmental and psycho-educational testing
  • psychiatric and substance abuse evaluations

The Division also provides psychiatric consultation to Duke Children’s Hospital inpatients, Duke Children’s Health Center outpatients, Durham Public Schools, and community health centers. State-of-the-art treatment services include psychopharmacological (psychotropic medication) management, cognitive-behavioral and family therapies, an intensive outpatient substance use treatment and recovery program and genetic counseling. Among the most common problems referred to Division clinicians are autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), adjustment problems, alcohol and illicit substance abuse, anxiety, bipolar disorder, defiant behavior, depression, Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, learning disorders, pervasive developmental disorders and psychosis. A special fragile X multidisciplinary clinic within the Division is staffed by a developmental pediatrician, a clinical child psychologist, and a genetic counselor, with access to a parent advocate for family support.

New patients from ages 3 to 18 are accepted. Substance use treatment services are available for patients from ages 13-21. Service to families with limited income remains a priority for the Division.

Physicians and Staff

Physicians

Name Areas of Special Interest
Rachel A. Bowman, PhD Diagnostic evaluations and psychological testing for children ages toddler through 18 years with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, positive behavior support and applied behavior analysis; behavioral assessments and interventions for families with children with autism spectrum disorders, other developmental disabilities
Richard E. D'Alli, MD, MEd, ScM Pediatric psychiatry evaluations, medication management of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders including autism, telemedicine, production of continuing medical education media and webinars, teaching
Ave M. Lachiewicz, MD Assessment and management of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and fragile X syndrome; assessment of families with fragile X syndrome and other forms of hereditary mental retardation
Gail A. Spiridigliozzi, PhD School-aged children with developmental and learning issues, including learning disabilities, mental retardation, fragile X syndrome, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism; academically gifted children
Purnima Valdez, MD Assessment and management of toddlers, children, and adolescents with developmental and behavioral disorders, including speech and language delay, learning disabilities, general developmental delay, autism spectrum disorders, Asperger's syndrome, disruptive behavior disorders, and ADHD

Staff

NameRole
James I. Dolan, LCSW Child and adolescent psychotherapy, family therapy
Donna Eash, LCSW Child and adolescent psychotherapy, adolescent substance abuse treatment
John Godwin, LCSW Emergency psychiatric assessment
Sarah Hope Fulkerson, LCSW Child and adolescent psychotherapy, family therapy
Anna Van Dis, LCSW Emergency psychiatric assessment, child and adolescent psychotherapy
Roxanne Ellington, LCAS Adolescent substance abuse treatment
Garland Sauls, LCAS Adolescent substance abuse treatment
Allison Taylor, PA Child and adolescent mental health, medication management

Clinic Hours and Location

Durham Child Development and Behavioral Health Clinic
402 Trent Drive
Durham, NC 27710
Tel: 919-668-5559
Hours: Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 5:30 pm

Substance Use Intensive Outpatient Program operates Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Appointments and Contact Information

To serve our patients and referring physicians, faculty physicians covering pediatric psychiatry are always on call to answer questions and provide consultation.

  • For a new appointment, please call 919-668-5559.
  • For a return appointment, please call 919-668-5559.
  • To schedule an appointment online, log on to the HealthView Portal.
  • For urgent calls during business hours, call the divisional office at 919-668-5559.
  • For urgent calls after business hours, on weekends, or on holidays, please call 919-684-8111 and ask the operator to page the child psychiatrist on call.
  • For physicians requesting consultations or making referrals, please call the divisional office at 919-668-5559 or the Duke Consultation and Referral Center at 800-MED-DUKE (800-633-3853).