Menninger Child and Family Program

Menninger's research strategies are developed through the Menninger Child & Family Program and in collaboration with an international research consortium that combines the expertise of The Menninger Clinic, the Yale Child Study Center, the Anna Freud Centre and at University College London. Projects are designed to develop a better understanding of the mind in order to more effectively treat mental disorders. Menninger treatment is informed by brain and behavior research that draws upon the expertise of clinicians and researchers who work hand-in-hand with colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine, a major medical center that houses neuroscience researchers and such cutting-edge scientific tools as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The Menninger Child & Family Program is the central collection point for Menninger research projects. The program is made up of the researchers and clinicians themselves and the data they collect under the guidance of child psychiatrist Efrain Bleiberg, MD, who heads Menninger's overall research efforts and Peter Fonagy, PhD, director of the Menninger Child & Family Program.

"At the Child & Family Program our emphasis is on understanding the psychological development of children and devising and evaluating interventions that could protect them from neglect, abuse, and violence, and its tragic, lifelong effects," Dr. Fonagy said.

Menninger is uniquely qualified to carry out this work. Our strengths include:

• 79 years experience working with troubled children and families that combines respect for both the biological and psychosocial determinants of mental disorder;
• A unique expertise in the treatment of severe personality disorders frequently linked to trauma or maltreatment;
• A history of working cooperatively with parent groups, schools, mental health clinics, social service agencies, law enforcement agencies, courts, and communities whose members are pleased to cooperate with Child & Family Program research;
• An openness to exploration and integration that has made Menninger the great institution it is today;
• An exceptional skill base in mental health research from a research team of experienced and respected psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychoanalysts, and psychiatric social workers;
• Readily constructed collaborative relationships with many of the foremost hospitals, research centers, and social service agencies of the United States.

The study of mentalizing is the centerpiece of Menninger's current research.

Menninger is a leading psychiatric hospital dedicated to
treating individuals with mood, personality, anxiety and
addictive disorders, teaching mental health professionals
and advancing mental healthcare through research.

The Menninger Clinic | 800-351-9058 | 713-275-5000 | Houston, Texas
Affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and
The Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center
Home | Privacy Practices | Sitemap | Copyright 2011 The Menninger Clinic