Fellowship-trained child and adolescent psychiatrists. Ninety-minute evaluations. Currently accepting new patients.
Washington Interventional Psychiatry provides psychiatric evaluation and medication management for children and adolescents across Washington, DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia, in person and by telehealth.
Children and adolescents at WIP are treated by psychiatrists with fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry — physicians who completed medical school, adult psychiatry residency, and an additional two-year subspecialty fellowship in the psychiatric care of young people.
Dr. Caroline Cregan completed her psychiatry residency at Georgetown University Hospital and her child and adolescent fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center. Her clinical focus is elementary-age children. She holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has served on a mobile mental health crisis team for children in Washington, DC, and provides ongoing consultation to schools, including a level 5 school program serving students from 1st through 12th grade.
Dr. Marc Dalton completed his general psychiatry residency at the Medical University of South Carolina and his child and adolescent fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and holds a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins. He is board-certified in both general and child and adolescent psychiatry, with more than twenty years in practice. His clinical focus is LGBTQ+ youth — including young people navigating gender identity and transition — and psychiatric care for minority youth. He has trained the DC Metropolitan Police Department in crisis intervention and de-escalation.
Dr. Patricia Frischtak attended medical school at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and completed her adult psychiatry residency at the Mayo Clinic and her child and adolescent fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she remained on staff and held a teaching appointment at Harvard Medical School. She has incorporated pharmacogenetic testing into her prescribing since 2011 — a tool suited to the deliberate, individualized medication decisions that child psychiatry requires. She treats patients in English and Portuguese.
Dr. Christopher Raczynski, co-founder of WIP, completed his adult psychiatry residency and fellowships in child and forensic psychiatry at Yale University. He serves on the Washington, DC Board of Medicine. He is currently not accepting new patients.
Dr. Ashvin Sood completed his adult psychiatry residency at NYU and his child and adolescent fellowship at Columbia and Cornell. His clinical focus is ADHD in children and adolescents — evaluation, medication management, and parent management training. He is published in Pediatric Clinics of North America on assessing social media use in child psychiatric interviews, and co-created Psychchild, a free resource helping parents and clinicians understand the social media platforms and video games teenagers actually use.
Care for patients under 18 at WIP is psychiatric evaluation and medication management, coordinated with your child’s therapist, pediatrician, and school.
Interventional treatments are not part of routine child and adolescent care at WIP. In limited cases — TMS for depression in adolescents 15 and older, an FDA-cleared indication — an interventional option may be discussed with the family after a full evaluation.
Medication decisions for young patients are made slowly and deliberately. We start low, adjust gradually, and monitor closely for effect and side effects. No medication is started without the understanding and agreement of both the parents and the child.
A child psychiatric evaluation is different from an adult one. You are not just interviewing the child.
Initial evaluations at WIP run 90 to 120 minutes. We gather information from the people who see your child in different settings — parents, teachers, guidance counselors, therapists — because a complete picture requires more than one vantage point.
Children are given a say in the process. They choose whether to speak with the psychiatrist before or after their parents. Questions are matched to the child’s age and development.
The evaluation produces a diagnostic formulation and a specific plan: what we recommend, why, and what we will watch for.
Care for patients under 18 at WIP is psychiatric evaluation and medication management, coordinated with your child’s therapist, pediatrician, and school.
Interventional treatments are not part of routine child and adolescent care at WIP. In limited cases — TMS for depression in adolescents 15 and older, an FDA-cleared indication — an interventional option may be discussed with the family after a full evaluation.
Medication decisions for young patients are made slowly and deliberately. We start low, adjust gradually, and monitor closely for effect and side effects. No medication is started without the understanding and agreement of both the parents and the child.
During clinic hours, a staff member is available to speak with directly. Refills, pharmacy problems, and prior authorizations are handled by a person, not a portal. School letters and coordination with pediatricians and therapists are part of the work, not an add-on.
ADHD and attention concerns. Anxiety disorders. Depression and mood disorders. OCD. Behavioral and emotional dysregulation. School refusal and academic decline. Trauma-related conditions.
“Dr. [Cregan] was awesome. She was very thorough in her assessment, and thoughtful and sensitive in how she asked questions. I would definitely recommend!”
— Candice, April 2026
What ages do you see? Ages 3 through 17. Patients 18 and older are seen by our adult psychiatrists — often the same practice, which matters at the transition.
How soon can we get an appointment? New patient evaluations are typically available within 7 days.
Do you prescribe medication at the first visit? Sometimes, when the evaluation supports it and the family agrees. More often the first visit produces a diagnosis and a plan, and medication decisions follow careful discussion.
Do you work with my child’s therapist and school? Yes. Coordination with therapists, pediatricians, and schools is standard practice, not an exception.
Is this covered by insurance? WIP is a private-pay practice. We partner with Reimbursify to help families file for out-of-network reimbursement, and our staff assists with prior authorizations and paperwork.
My child is in crisis. Is this the right place? If your child is in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. For urgent but non-emergency concerns, call us — a person answers during clinic hours.
If you are concerned about your child’s mood, behavior, attention, or safety, the first step is a thorough evaluation — 90 to 120 minutes with a fellowship-trained child and adolescent psychiatrist, drawing on input from you, your child, and their school.
Five child psychiatrists. No waitlist. Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia — in person or by telehealth.
