Functional Medicine for Children, Adolescents & Young Adults
Young people are not simply smaller adults, and their healthcare should reflect the extraordinary physical, neurological, emotional, and social changes occurring from childhood through young adulthood.
My functional medicine practice is therefore intentionally focused on children, adolescents, and young adults.
Functional medicine asks a broader question than “What diagnosis explains this symptom?” It also asks “What factors may be influencing this person's health, and which of those factors can meaningfully and safely be changed?”
A functional medicine assessment may consider nutrition, sleep, physical activity, stress, medications, family and medical history, gastrointestinal health, environmental exposures, laboratory findings, and other aspects of a young person's daily life. Rather than automatically ordering extensive panels of specialty tests or recommending large numbers of supplements, testing and treatment should have a clear clinical rationale and should change what we actually do.
Recommendations may include changes to nutrition, sleep, movement, routines, stress management, mindfulness practices, or other aspects of health behavior. Laboratory evaluation and nutritional supplementation may be considered when clinically appropriate. Functional medicine is designed to complement a young person's pediatric, primary, psychiatric, and specialty care — not replace it.
Who: Children, adolescents, and young adults
Where: New York, New Jersey, Arizona, and Minnesota
A Collaborative Approach to Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Care
Good integrative care requires knowing when to broaden the lens and when conventional medicine already has the better answer. My goal is not to replace your child's pediatrician, adolescent medicine specialist, psychiatrist, therapist, dermatologist, gastroenterologist, or other healthcare professionals.
Instead, functional medicine provides additional time and a structured way to look across different aspects of a young person's health, identify potentially modifiable contributors, and develop realistic interventions that fit into family life.
Parents are important partners in this process, but children and teenagers deserve a voice in their own healthcare as well. Recommendations are therefore tailored not only to a diagnosis but also to age, developmental stage, preferences, family circumstances, and what a young person can realistically sustain.
Finding the Right Path Forward
The right starting point depends on your age, location, concerns, and what you hope to accomplish. New York patients of any age may receive acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, while functional medicine is reserved for children, adolescents, and young adults in New York, New Jersey, Arizona, and Minnesota.
For some young patients in New York, these approaches may overlap. A child, teenager, or young adult might receive functional medicine care alongside acupuncture or Chinese medicine when appropriate. In other situations, one service is all that is needed.
Whatever the approach, the underlying philosophy remains consistent: listen carefully, look at the whole person, use interventions thoughtfully, and integrate rather than compete with good medical care.
Some conditions I treat are…
ADHD, Anxiety, Depression & OCD
Mental and physical health are deeply interconnected, particularly during childhood and adolescence. I work with children, teenagers, and young adults with ADHD, anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who are interested in exploring how their broader health may support their established mental healthcare. The umbrella of OCD also includes PANS/PANDAS.
That might mean examining sleep, nutrition, physical activity, medication effects, iron or other nutritional deficiencies when clinically indicated, gastrointestinal symptoms, stress, daily routines, and other factors capable of influencing concentration, energy, mood, and overall functioning.
This distinction is important: functional medicine is not presented as a replacement for evidence-based psychiatric care. ADHD may require behavioral interventions and medication; anxiety and depression may require psychotherapy and/or medication; and evidence-based treatment for OCD commonly includes cognitive behavioral therapy with exposure and response prevention (ERP), sometimes combined with pharmacotherapy. I seek to work alongside those treatments.
Mindfulness may also be incorporated when developmentally and clinically appropriate. The goal is not simply to tell a young person to “relax,” but to help develop practical skills for noticing thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and stress responses with greater awareness.
Fatigue, Sleep & Persistent Symptoms
When a young person is persistently tired, sleeping poorly, or simply doesn't feel like themselves, the cause is not always captured by a single diagnosis. I take a systematic look at sleep patterns, nutrition, physical activity, medications, stress and mental health, menstrual health when relevant, and potential medical contributors to fatigue or reduced functioning. When appropriate, this may include targeted evaluation for nutritional deficiencies, anemia, thyroid disease, sleep disorders, or other underlying conditions. The goal is not to attribute unexplained symptoms to a vague “imbalance,” but to identify modifiable factors, recognize when further medical evaluation is needed, and help children, adolescents, and young adults function and feel better in their everyday lives.
Gastrointestinal Health
Digestive symptoms can have an outsized effect on a young person's everyday life. Abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, reflux, bloating, altered appetite, and other gastrointestinal concerns can affect school attendance, sleep, mood, physical activity, and a child's relationship with food.
Our approach considers diet and nutritional adequacy alongside medical history, medications, bowel patterns, sleep, stress, and other potential contributors. When symptoms warrant conventional evaluation—particularly persistent pain, gastrointestinal bleeding, weight loss, growth concerns, recurrent vomiting, or other warning signs—we encourage appropriate evaluation by a pediatrician or gastroenterologist rather than attributing symptoms to vaguely defined food sensitivities or “gut imbalance.”
For children with established gastrointestinal diagnoses, functional medicine can provide a complementary framework for considering nutrition, lifestyle, symptom management, and overall well-being alongside gastroenterology care.
Dermatological Concerns
Skin health often reflects a complicated interaction among genetics, the immune system, environment, skin care, medications, and everyday behaviors. I work with young people experiencing concerns such as eczema, acne, and other recurrent or chronic dermatological symptoms.
A functional medicine assessment may consider skin-care practices, nutrition, allergies when clinically relevant, environmental exposures, stress, sleep, medications, and established medical diagnoses. Treatment is intended to complement appropriate pediatric and dermatologic care rather than replace it.
Because skin conditions can have a substantial psychosocial impact during adolescence and young adulthood, we also consider how symptoms affect confidence, social experiences, stress, and quality of life, not simply what the skin looks like.
Let’s Work Together
If you're interested in working with me, complete the form with a few details about your situation. I'll review your message and get back to you within 48 hours.
Please note — the practice is closed to new patients until late fall 2026. Send a message now to be added to the waiting list.
Insurance & Reimbursement
I am an out-of-network provider and do not bill insurance companies directly. After your visit, I can provide a superbill containing the information needed to submit a claim for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Coverage and reimbursement vary by insurance plan, so I encourage patients and caregivers to contact their insurance company before beginning care to understand their out-of-network benefits, deductible, reimbursement rates, and any requirements for submitting claims.
Payment is due at the time of service, regardless of whether your insurance plan ultimately reimburses you for any portion of the cost.