Clinical Research at The Menninger Clinic
Hospital-wide outcomes project
Principal investigator: Dr. Jon Allen
Co-investigators: Drs. Tom Ellis, Chris Fowler, B. Christopher Frueh, Susan Hardesty, John Oldham, Jane Mahoney, Carla Sharp, Rebecca Wagoner
All adults admitted to the Clinic are invited to participate in research to evaluate clinical and process outcomes during the course of their hospitalization and at follow-up after discharge. At admission patients are administered the SCID-I and SCID-II psychiatric interviews, as well as a battery of self-report instruments that provide objective data on clinical symptoms, functioning, interpersonal relationships, treatment progress, and process (working relationships with treatment team members and treatment engagement). After discharge patients are asked to complete a similar battery of self-report measures at 2-weeks, and then every 3-months post-discharge for 18 months. At present we have over 1,600 patients in our database, and data collection is on-going.
Child and family
Principal investigator: Dr. Carla Sharp
Co-investigators: Drs. Efrain Bleiberg, Peter Fonagy
Similar to the adult outcomes project, all children and adolescents admitted to The Clinic are invited to participate in research to evaluate clinical and process outcomes during the course of their hospitalization and at follow-up after discharge. This includes efforts to (a) test measures of social cognition (mentalizing) in adolescence that can then be used to identify specific dysfunctions and deficits of adolescent breakdown and major adolescent psychiatric disorders; and (b) identify the mentalizing markers of emerging personality disorders in adolescent patients compared with healthy adolescents in the short term and over longer periods compared with markers identified among adult patients.
Suicide prevention
Principal investigator: Dr. Tom Ellis
Co-investigators: Drs. Harold Woodson
In this research program we are evaluating the efficacy of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicide (CAMS) system in the treatment of psychiatric inpatients with current or recent suicidal ideation and behavior. We assess whether patients treated with CAMS manifest reduced levels of suicidal ideation, and whether they also experience reduced levels of symptoms associated with suicide risk, particularly depression, hopelessness, and self-hate. We also examine various hypothesized mechanisms of change; chief among these is the therapeutic alliance, which the CAMS approach highlights as a crucial aspect of working effectively with suicidal patients. Additionally, we examine the feasibility of delivering CAMS in an inpatient facility.
Nursing Research
Principal investigator: Dr. Jane Mahoney
This research program has two components (a) an examination of institutional data and practices related to ensuring the safety of psychiatric inpatients, including an examination of measures of seclusion and restraint and strategies to reduce their use; and (b) an evidence-based scholars program to train, mentor, and supervise research projects of nursing trainees, with a goal of teaching them to evaluate and incorporate evidence-based practices in their routine practice.
DSM-5 field trial
Principal investigator: Dr. Efrain Bleiberg
Co-investigators: Dr. Michael Groat
Menninger, in partnership with the Michael E DeBakey Veterans Administration Medical Center are jointly serving as one of 11 sites to conduct Field Trials of DSM-5. This is a large scale national effort funded by the American Psychiatric Association to evaluate the new proposed diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders. Specifically, we are studying major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol use disorders, and mild traumatic brain injury.
Clinical trials research
Principal investigator: Dr. B. Christopher Frueh
This research program focuses clinical trials and mental health service delivery research in a variety of medical and mental health settings to improve treatment for people with depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The research is funded by federal funding agencies like National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ), Veterans Affairs (VA), and Department of Defense (DOD). The overarching goal of this research is to expand knowledge of community violence in rural areas, improve services, and examine the impact of traumatic exposure on a range of relevant mental health, health and economic variables in both veterans with military trauma and civilians with interpersonal violence trauma.
Eating disorders research
Principal investigator: Dr. Rebecca Wagoner
In parallel to the adult outcomes project, all identified adult inpatients with eating disorders are invited to participate in research to evaluate clinical and process outcomes specific to eating disorders during the course of their hospitalization and at follow-up after discharge. These patients participate in a specialty track program designed to address eating disorder symptoms, and the research evaluates the efficacy of this program.
Collaborations
Mentalizing
Human attachment is at the crux of Menninger’s mentalizing research. Healthy attachment advances mentalizing, which serves as a core ingredient for mental health and stems from early parent-child interactions. The absence of quality attachment inhibits the ability to mentalize and so also inhibits our ability to achieve or maintain mental health.
Menninger’s research emphasis on mentalizing and its ubiquity at Menninger as a core treatment focus has been characterized positively by others as “a new paradigm for psychiatry.”
‘Mentalization based treatment’ or MBT is an innovative research-based dynamic therapeutic approach developed in collaboration with a number of clinical sites including Menninger and the Yale Child Study Center in the U.S. and the Anna Freud Centre in England.
Research has been elucidating the importance of mentalization, that is, the capacity to interpret behavior of oneself and others on the basis of mental states, such as desires, feelings, and beliefs.
Mentalizing capacity develops best in secure attachment relationships, based on the child’s experience that the caregiver has his or her mind in mind. For neurobiological reasons, mentalizing capacity is most impaired in children with autism. For psychosocial reasons, mentalizing capacity is also compromised by disruptions in attachment relationships, such as by childhood maltreatment or maternal depression.
In addition, at The Menninger Clinic and elsewhere, clinicians have been applying this research-based knowledge to a wide range of clinical interventions, from child and family therapy to individual psychotherapy with adults, inpatient and partial hospital treatment, and psychoeducation. Clinicians at The Menninger Clinic have been educating patients and their family members about the therapeutic value of mentalizing.
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    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
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