Dr Sheetal Kirpekar 

I am a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with over a decade of experience working in mental health. I am a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) and on the Specialist Register for Child Psychiatry.
My clinical foundations were built at Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Royal London Hospital, and East London and South Essex NHS Foundation Trusts, where I worked with children and young people across a wide range of presentations, including complex cases requiring careful, sensitive judgement.

My training included some of the UK’s most respected centres for children’s mental health, including Great Ormond Street’s nationally recognised Social Communication Disorders Clinic, one of the UK’s leading services for assessing high-functioning autism, and its specialist Attachment and Trauma team, supporting children who have experienced abuse, neglect, and trauma.

I am now based in London, having spent several years working in New York within a high-volume, multi-state telepsychiatry service. This work exposed me to a broad range of clinical presentations and included advising other clinicians on complex and high-risk cases. During this time, I also trained in Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) at Columbia University with one of its main developers and worked on adapting the model for scalable use in resource-limited settings. IPT is an approach I draw on directly in my work with young people and families.
My time in the US gave me close insight into differences in medication management and the use of novel treatments across healthcare systems. I remain firmly guided by UK NICE guidelines, alongside bringing an awareness of emerging treatments, evolving evidence, and international clinical guidelines, which makes my approach more nuanced.

I believe good psychiatric care begins with truly listening to the child, the parents, and to the people around them. I work closely with families and schools to build a full picture of each child’s world before thinking about treatment. I see diagnosis as a way of making sense of a child’s experiences, unlocking the right support, and helping them understand and build on who they are.

I work with children and young people presenting with:
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• ADHD
• Depression
• Anxiety disorders (including social anxiety, separation anxiety, and panic)
• Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• School refusal and avoidance
• Tic disorders, including Tourette’s syndrome