Online Child & Teen Psychiatry for Lakeland, FL residents

No. A formal autism diagnostic evaluation uses structured instruments and is typically done by a developmental pediatrician, a psychologist trained in those tools, or a multidisciplinary team. We will tell you if that is what your child needs and help point you in the right direction. We do treat the anxiety, irritability, sleep problems, and attention difficulties that often accompany a developmental diagnosis.

A psychiatric evaluation is a clinical interview that establishes a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Psychological testing uses standardized instruments to measure cognitive ability, achievement, and specific learning difficulties, and produces detailed written documentation. They answer different questions and are sometimes both worth doing.

It is available at our Lakeland office at 832 South Florida Avenue, along with in-person talk therapy. Psychiatric visits for Polk County families run by video, with the Wesley Chapel office used for any in-person psychiatric appointment.

About 45 minutes and roughly 42 miles from the center of Lakeland by I-4 W and I-75 N, measured outside rush hour in November 2026. Plan on longer at rush hour, and longer again from the eastern side of Polk: about 65 minutes from Winter Haven and about 75 from Haines City. For child and teen psychiatry the trip is the exception rather than the routine. Evaluations and follow-ups run by secure video, and if a visit needs to be face to face, the care team tells you before you book it.

Frequently, yes. Children on the spectrum often have co-occurring anxiety, attention difficulties, irritability, or sleep problems that respond to psychiatric treatment. We work alongside whoever made the original diagnosis and alongside speech, occupational, and behavioral therapy rather than replacing them.

When it is clinically supportable, yes. A letter can state a diagnosis, how long a child has been in treatment, and what accommodations we recommend. Whether the school opens a 504 plan or an IEP evaluation is decided by the school under its own procedures.

The honest answer lives on Margot Krahn's Zocdoc calendar, which shows her real new-patient video openings for this week and next rather than a number we would have to keep updating. If you would rather a person look for you, send the request form and a care coordinator usually calls back within one business day. Since the first visit is by video, a Polk County family does not have to fit a 45-minute drive around it. If your child is not safe right now, call 911 or call or text 988 instead of waiting.

We work with many major commercial plans and offer self-pay options. Coverage varies by plan and service. Our team will confirm with you.

Call 911 first if a life is in danger right now; for anything short of that, call or text 988 at any hour. Polk County's youth Mobile Response Team is run by Peace River Center, and a 988 counselor can help bring it in. For an emergency room, Lakeland Regional Health's George W. Jenkins Children's Emergency Department is, according to the hospital, the county's only dedicated children's ER. These services are separate from Ascend Mind and Body. Let the care team know afterward so the next video visit can start from what happened.

Call your child's school and ask for its Section 504 Contact, which is the first step Polk County Public Schools gives parents. The district needs your written permission before it evaluates, and you will be invited to the Section 504 Team meeting that decides eligibility. Ask the team what it wants from a clinician. When it is clinically supportable, Margot Krahn, PMHNP-BC, can put the diagnosis, how long your child has been in treatment and the accommodations she recommends in writing. The school makes the final decision under its own process.

Yes. The visit works from any private spot in Florida, so a child who spends afternoons with grandparents in Bartow or Winter Haven can join from there on a phone, tablet or laptop. Pick a room where your child can talk without being overheard, and plan for a parent or guardian to be available, since parents are part of a child's visit. A grandparent's house in eastern Polk is also a long way from Wesley Chapel, about 60 minutes from Bartow and 65 from Winter Haven outside rush hour, which is one more reason video is the default.

Margot Krahn, PMHNP-BC, sees children and teens from 5 through 17, by video from anywhere in Polk County. A four-year-old is too young for her, but not too young for testing: Dr. Richard M. Marshall, Ed.D., Ph.D., a psychologist, evaluates children from age 1, including neurodevelopmental assessments, at the Lakeland office or by telehealth. A parent or guardian joins a child's first visit. At 18 a young adult can continue with Margot, who also treats adults, as long as they are in Florida for each visit.

No. She is a board-certified psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP-BC) and a Florida-licensed APRN with 12 years in practice. She evaluates children and teens, makes diagnoses and manages treatment, including medication when it is appropriate. A psychiatrist is a physician; Margot is a nurse practitioner who does much of the same day-to-day work. Dr. Richard M. Marshall, Ed.D., Ph.D., is a psychologist; he does testing and does not prescribe. For a Polk family that split is practical: treatment with Margot by video, and testing with Dr. Marshall when a learning or developmental question needs measuring.