Compass Young Adult Program

Program Leaders

Flynn O'Malley, PhD
Director, Compass Young Adult Program, Associate Professor, Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. O’Malley has more than 26 years of experience at The Menninger Clinic. Throughout his career at Menninger, Dr. O’Malley has held a number of administrative posts and directed various clinical programs. Most recently, he was clinical director for the Adolescent Treatment Program.

Since he joined Menninger in 1981, Dr. O’Malley has been significantly involved in the diagnosis and treatment of troubled young people. He specializes in trauma, anxiety and depression; developmental and behavioral issues; suicide and self-harm prevention and treatment; sexual and gender issues; and diagnosis and treatment of complex psychiatric disorders.

As director for the Compass Program, he has overall responsibility for the clinical, programmatic and administrative aspects of the program. In addition, he provides such services as group and individual therapy, counsultations and psychological evaluations.

A teacher as well as a clinician, he was a faculty member of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry & Mental Health Sciences for 18 years. In 1993, he was honored as the John H. Scudder Supervisor. In 2001, Dr. O’Malley was awarded the Barbara Davis Spencer Professorship. He continues to provide supervision and teaching for professionals in training at the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine.

The author of a number of professional papers and a frequent presenter at professional conferences, Dr. O’Malley’s current interests include the process of mentalizing and its role in identifying and treating core issues, the psychotherapy of young people and other issues in specialty inpatient diagnosis and treatment. Recent papers include “Contemporary Issues in the Psychiatric Treatment of Disturbed Adolescents” (2004) and “Mentalizing in the Psychotherapy of a Disturbed Adolescent Girl” (2003).

Dr. O’Malley completed his postdoctoral psychology fellowship at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Galveston, Texas. He received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of New Mexico. He is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology in clinical psychology.