A free 1-page pediatric anxiety and depression workflow for primary care providers. Guides PCPs through identifying somatic and behavioral signs, screening with validated tools, using 60-Second CBT, offering brief interventions, coaching parents, and deciding when to monitor, refer, or escalate.
The Primary Care Mental Health Decision Tree is a free provider tool for pediatric primary care visits where emotional health concerns may show up as stomachaches, headaches, sleep changes, school refusal, irritability, withdrawal, mood shifts, or appetite changes. It gives PCPs a simple 6-step workflow for early identification, screening, brief intervention, parent coaching, and referral decisions.
This free tool is a preview of the Pediatric Anxiety & Depression module inside the Sticky Brain Studio Clinical Provider Series course. The full course includes training on pediatric ADHD, pediatric anxiety/depression, and disparities in clinical judgment, plus toolkits, scripts, slides, participant materials, and reference cards.
Want the full provider toolkit? The Pediatric Anxiety & Depression PCP Toolkit expands this decision tree with early identification guidance, somatic presentations, screening tools, 60-Second CBT, exposure lite, behavioral activation, parent coaching scripts, regulation skills, and referral guidance.
FREE PCP ANXIETY + DEPRESSION WORKFLOW
This decision tree helps providers identify pediatric anxiety and depression patterns, screen appropriately, offer brief CBT-informed support, coach caregivers, and determine follow-up or referral needs.
A quick path from “something seems off” to the next right clinical step
Step 1: Identify
Helps providers recognize somatic complaints, behavioral changes, school concerns, mood shifts, and sleep or appetite changes.
Step 2: Screen
Prompts use of validated tools such as PHQ-9A, GAD-7, SCARED, or PROMIS, followed by clinical conversation.
Step 3: 60-Second CBT
Uses the Feel · Signal · Check · Act framework to help children name feelings, identify the brain’s message, test accuracy, and choose one action.
Step 4: Micro-Intervention
Guides providers toward Exposure Lite for anxiety and behavioral activation for depression.
Step 5: Coach Parents
Prompts caregivers to validate feelings, encourage approach over avoidance, and praise effort rather than perfection.
Step 6: Follow-Up Plan
Helps sort mild, moderate, severe, and urgent presentations into monitoring, therapy referral, continued support, or crisis evaluation.
This decision tree is a psychoeducational provider resource and is not a substitute for clinical training, diagnostic evaluation, psychotherapy, crisis assessment, safety planning, medical judgment, or individualized consultation. Providers should use clinical judgment, follow local policies, and refer or escalate care when risk, severity, impairment, or diagnostic complexity is present.