Heard, Seen, Validated: How Best to Engage Child and Adolescent Patients

Stephen Mateka, DO, the new child and adolescent psychiatry section editor for Psychiatric Times, sat down with us to share his thoughts on the most pressing issues in the field.

"We must make sure our patients feel seen, heard, and validated," said Mateka. "By talking to a youth rather than talking at them, being transparent with your thought process and decision-making, and providing evidence to back it up, it makes it so much more likely that you will get a youth to invest in their treatment."

Mateka cites (1) access to care and (2) psychoeducation of parents, caregivers, and guardians to adequately and consistently meet the behavioral and emotinal needs of children, as the top issues in child and adolescent psychiatry.

He believes clinicians should 'know their audience' when speaking with youth, and is excited to address this topic further as section editor. Speaking to youth patients as a person rather than just a child is crucial, he shared. Holding back information or 'walking on eggshells' due to fear of how a child will react is not indicative of a healthy patient-clinician relationship in child and adolescent psychiatry.

"It is up to the patient to decide whether or not your words have power and value," said Mateka. "To me, the very first step is making sure we have a rapport with our patients and to treat them with respect."

You can read more from Mateka here: Psychiatric Times Welcomes New Section Editor.

Dr Mateka is the medical director of psychiatry for Inspira Health and serves as cochair of psychiatry. He is the president of the New Jersey Psychiatric Association (NJPA) and serves on the Inpatient/Partial Hospitalization/Residential Committee and Public Resources Committee for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Mateka is also psychiatrist adviser for PerformCare, where he works closely with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families and Children’s System of Care.