Researchers

The Menninger Child & Family Program is leading an international research consortium that includes Baylor College of Medicine, University College London/the Anna Freud Centre and the Yale Child Study Center. This combination of renowned institutions and clinical and intellectual talent is unrivalled. Research is focused on understanding the mechanisms that make resilience, healing and effective adaptation possible.

New research projects unite the high technology of human neuroimaging with Menninger's expertise and comprehensive collection of research data in the behavioral sciences. This partnership of research psychiatry and behavioral sciences is moving toward greater understanding of physical and genetic factors of complex or recurring psychiatric and brain disorders.

The Menninger researchers include:

Efrain Bleiberg, MD, Senior Staff Psychiatrist, Professionals in Crisis Program and Adolescent Treatment Program, The Menninger Clinic; Vice Chair, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Alicia Townsend Friedman Chair in Psychiatry and Developmental Psychopathology, Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Bleiberg is nationally recognized as a leader in child and adolescent psychiatry. He oversees Menninger research and is a member of administrative leaders of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Board certified in adult and child and adolescent psychiatry, Dr. Bleiberg has in-depth clinical expertise in personality and conduct disorders, trauma, and consequences of maltreatment of children and adolescents. He also has a keen interest in developmental psychopathology. Dr. Bleiberg integrates treatment methods, utilizing psychodynamic, pharmacological, and family systems approaches.

He has written extensively about serious and complex symptoms of children and adolescents. His book, Treating Personality Disorders in Children and Adolescents: A Relational Approach, was published in the fall of 2001 by Guilford Press.

Dr. Bleiberg earned his medical degree from the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico. In 1977, he came to Menninger where he completed residencies in general and child and adolescent psychiatry. Later, he completed training in adult and child psychoanalysis at the Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis. Dr. Bleiberg joined the Menninger clinical staff, serving in numerous leadership positions: dean of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry & Mental Health Services, chief of staff, training and supervising psychoanalyst for the Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis, and vice president for Child and Adolescent Services. From 1997-1999, he served as President of The Menninger Clinic.

Dr. Bleiberg is a Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, a member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and a Diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He also serves on the editorial board of the Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic.



Peter Fonagy, PhD, Director, Child and Family Program, The Menninger Clinic; Freud Memorial Professor of Psychoanalysis; Director of the Sub-Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University College London; and Director of Research at the Anna Freud Centre, London

He is a clinical psychologist and a training and supervising analyst in the British Psycho-Analytical Society in child and adult analysis. His psychoanalytic interests center around issues of borderline psychopathology and early attachment relationships. He has written about early development and modifications of technique with violent and self-harming borderline individuals.

In his work he attempts to combine empirical research with psychoanalytic theory. His empirical research interests include the study of the outcome of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and the impact of early parent-child relationship on personality development.

He holds several administrative positions which include chairing the Research Committee of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) and membership in the Executive Council of the World Association of Infant Mental Health and the International Psychoanalytical Association. He is on the editorial board of a number of major journals including the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Psychological Issues, and The Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic.

He has published over 200 chapters and articles and has authored or edited several books. His most recent books include co-authorship of Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self. "What works for Whom: A Critical Review of Psychotherapy Research" (1996, Guilford Press) and "Psychoanalysis on the Move: The Work of Joseph Sandler" (Routledge, 1999). He is also the editor of "An Open Door Review of Outcome Studies in Psychoanalysis," a report prepared for the Research Committee of the International Psychoanalytic Association.



Stuart W. Twemlow, MD, Senior Psychiatrist, Team Leader, Hope Adult Program, Menninger Clinic; Director of the Peaceful Schools and Communities Project of The Child and Family Program, The Menninger Clinic; Professor of Psychiatry of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine; and Faculty Member, Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute

Board certified in adult psychiatry, Dr. Twemlow’s clinical expertise and interest currently are focused on the application of mentalizing to reduce power struggles and improve the quality of human relationships. In helping patients in the Hope Program, Dr. Twemlow uses a multidisciplinary team with a psychodynamic/rehabilitation intensive group therapy-focused model to emphasize patient strengths and realistic outcomes.

Dr. Twemlow has received grants from cities, private foundations and federal agencies supporting his work on the Peaceful Schools and Communities Project. As a result of his effort, the project is becoming a national model for reducing bullying.

An international lecturer on the physical and psychological aspects of violence, Dr. Twemlow also is a prolific writer. His 150 publications include his book, Creating a Peaceful School Learning Environment: A Program for Elementary Schools, with Frank Sacco, PhD, and his son, Stephen Twemlow. In addition, he has co-edited a collection of articles on analytic work with violence in the community: Analysts in the Trenches: Streets, Schools, War Zones.

A recognized expert in the field, Dr. Twemlow has served on the Academic Advisory Council of the United States Presidential Campaign Against Youth Violence, consulted with the prime minister of Jamaica on problems of peace and violence and advised the FBI on threat assessment and school violence. He also has consulted with several cities on workplace climate, school climate and threat assessment, as well as mediated disputes for cities. He has completed a successful project to reduce violence and improve the quality of life in a mid-sized community in Jamaica.

Dr. Twemlow co-wrote, With the Eyes of the Mind, a book on out-of-body and near-death experiences, with Glen Gabbard, MD. He is founding editor of The International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. In addition, Dr. Twemlow shares the duties of editor-in-chief of the journal with Nadia Ramzy, PhD.

Dr. Twemlow earned his medical degree in his home country, New Zealand. He immigrated to the United States in 1970 and completed his residency in general psychiatry at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka, Kansas. He graduated from the Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis and has held various offices including president of the Topeka Psychoanalytic Society. Dr. Twemlow had a private practice in psychoanalysis and psychiatry for more than 30 years, with a special interest in problems in organizations and social systems.



Jon G. Allen, PhD, Helen Malsin Palley Chair in Mental Health Research; Professor of Psychiatry in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine; Senior Staff Psychologist and Director of Psychology, The Menninger Clinic

Dr. Allen conducts psychotherapy, diagnostic psychological testing, consultations, psychoeducational programs, and research, specializing in trauma-related disorders and depression. He has taught and supervised students at the University of Rochester, Northern Illinois University, the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.

He is past editor of the Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, associate editor of the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, a member of the Editorial Board of Psychiatry, and serves as a reviewer for several professional journals and book publishers. Dr. Allen is the author of Coping with Trauma: Hope through Understanding, 2^nd Edition, published in 2005 by American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. and Coping with Depression, to be offered by the same publisher in early 2006. He is also author of Traumatic Relationships and Serious Mental Disorders (John Wiley and Sons) and coauthor of Restoring Hope and Trust: An Illustrated Guide to Mastering Trauma (Sidran Institute). He is coauthor of Borderline Personality Disorder: Tailoring the Therapy to the Patient and coeditor of Diagnosis and Treatment of Dissociative Disorders and Contemporary Treatment of Psychosis: Healing Relationships in the ‘Decade of the Brain.

Dr. Allen has authored and coauthored numerous professional articles and book chapters on trauma-related problems, depression, psychotherapy, hospital treatment, the therapeutic alliance, psychological testing, neuropsychology, and emotion. He is also a jazz pianist and composer.

He received his BA degree in psychology at the University of Connecticut and his Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology at the University of Rochester. Dr. Allen completed postdoctoral training in clinical psychology at The Menninger Clinic.

Collaborating consultants

Mary Target, PhD, a Psychoanalyst and Clinical Psychologist, is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Master's Program in Theoretical Psychoanalytic Studies at University College London. She is Professional Director Designate of the Anna Freud Centre, London, where she is also academic and research organiser of the Doctorate in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. She is associate editor of Routledge's New Library of Psychoanalysis, and joint series editor of the Whurr Series in Psychoanalysis. Her research interests include the measurement of childhood social and emotional development, the outcome of child and adolescent psychotherapies, adult personality functioning and psychopathology, particularly the normal and disturbed manifestations of attachment.

Pasco Fearon, BSc PhD, is a Lecturer and a Statistician in the Sub-department of Clinical Psychology, University College London. His research interests include: attachment processes in infants, children and adults and socio-emotional development.

György Gergely, PhD, has gained international recognition for his studies of the cognitive, psychological and emotional development of infants. He heads the Department of Developmental Research Institute for Psychology at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest.

Linda Mayes, MD, of the Yale Child Study Center is a Developmental Pediatrician and Psychoanalyst and the Arnold Gesell Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry.