Who does The Menninger Clinic treat?


Norma Clarke, MD Psychiatrist The Menninger Clinic	Richard Yohr Director of Admissions The Menninger Clinic

The Menninger Clinic has developed a national and international reputation for the treatment of psychiatric illness, with a majority of our patients traveling from other states and countries for treatment.

The Clinic provides hospital-based specialty care for patients age 12 and older who are recalcitrant or experiencing refractory illness. It is common for incoming patients to have experienced multiple treatment interventions, including inpatient care, psychopharmacological management, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and years of outpatient therapy.

Patients receive an intermediate level of care, ranging in length from several weeks, which is typical for adult patients, to several months, an expected stay for adolescents in our Adolescent Treatment Program.

What type of treatment does Menninger provide?
Treatment modalities at Menninger include individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, educational testing, psychopharmacology, psychological testing and evaluation, eye movement desensitization & reprocessing (EMDR) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training. Menninger operates from various theoretical orientations, including cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic perspectives.

Menninger offers treatment for a wide range of psychiatric illnesses, including anxiety disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and social phobias; mood disorders—major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder; schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders; and personality disorders. The Clinic offers treatment for chemical abuse and dependency as well.

Each Menninger program offers treatment for patients with dual-diagnosis disorders and can provide a safe medical detox for those with chemical abuse and dependency issues.

Specialty programs at Menninger include Hope, for adults with mental illness that has become unmanageable or unresponsive to outpatient treatment; Professionals in Crisis, for professionals who are struggling with psychiatric illness and/or chemical dependency; The Compass Program, which serves young adults ages 18-30, having difficulty making the transition from adolescence to adulthood; the Eating Disorders Program; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Treatment Center and the Adolescent Treatment Program, for ages 12-18. The Eating Disorders and OCD Programs also provide treatment for adolescents.

Psychiatric assessments are also available for licensed professionals referred by third parties, such as licensing boards, physician health programs and hospital administrators, can be done over five days on an inpatient basis.

Each program and service maintains its own unique approach and clinical staff work together as necessary to give the patient and family a tailored treatment plan, focusing on both complex and co-morbid illnesses.

While hospitalized, patients may require evaluation and treatment in multiple areas. Specialists within Menninger, as well as outside the hospital, are consulted during treatment. For example, many of the adolescents treated at Menninger require some level of learning disability testing and consultation,which is provided by a learning disability specialist.

What is the admissions process?
The admissions process begins with a call to the Admissions Department, where trained staff, assisted by the Admissions medical director, begin obtaining
information to determine whether admission to Menninger is appropriate.

Initial contacts to Menninger are made by a variety of individuals, including family members, potential patients and referring clinicians. An Admissions coordinator speaks directly with the caller to begin gathering relevant information. The Admissions coordinator takes the time necessary to listen and understand the patient’s situation, while asking questions to determine whether treatment at Menninger is appropriate.

Prior to a patient’s arrival at The Clinic, the following information is gathered by telephone, and, if appropriate, plans for admission are established. Each item is required before admission to ensure the patient’s clinical history and current treatment needs are known. This allows Admission coordinators to place patients in the most appropriate Menninger programs and to ensure the cost of treatment is manageable for patients and their families.

A phone assessment is completed with the potential patient or the parent(s) of a potential adolescent patient.
Contact is made with referral sources, including at least one of the potential patient’s current outpatient clinicians, and with the hospital if they are hospitalized at the time of the request for services at Menninger.
Pertinent records of past treatment episodes are gathered.
Insurance and potential benefits are verified to determine how these resources will factor into the overall financial plan. Treatment records help facilitate the admissions process and provide the clinical treatment team with the patient’s relevant treatment history and background information. Treatment records requested by Admission coordinators may include diagnostic information, past psychiatric consultations and evaluations, medical records pertaining to physical health and condition, and medical records from past outpatient treatments and hospital stays. The Clinic participates as a provider in several major insurance networks. Prior to admission, the Admissions coordinator gathers insurance and benefits information, weaving this information into a financial contract between The Menninger Clinic and the person(s) responsible for the cost of treatment. If there are insurance benefits for treatment at Menninger, The Clinic will attempt to secure authorization and certification and file timely claims to the insurance company through our billing service.

A look inside the Menninger Admissions Department
Every call and case handled by the Menninger Admissions Department is unique to the potential patient’s situation. The following scenario represents a complex case, describing The Clinic’s admissions process from the initial phone call.

The wife of a nationally prominent CEO called Menninger to inquire about services for her 48-year-old husband. She reported that he had recently been hospitalized for depression at an acute hospital for a short time. He had responded well initially, but had begun talking of ending his life.

Previous treatment information was provided to the Admissions coordinator who received the call and documents to release information were signed so work on a possible admission to Menninger could begin immediately.

In talking further with the CEO’s outpatient clinician, his spouse and other extended family members, the Admissions coordinator discovered that the CEO had, for some time, experienced professional stress and burnout at work and severe depression. He had more recently begun daily use of alcohol. Looking deeper, the CEO admitted that he believed his life—both professionally and personally—was in shambles, and thoughts of dying were beginning to dominate his thinking.

In reviewing his treatment history, it became clear the CEO had suffered several major depressive episodes, which had impaired his professional life and precluded him from regular attendance at work. Telephone discussions with his wife revealed her concern that her husband might not agree to an extended hospital stay at Menninger, as he had reluctantly agreed to be hospitalized before.

With this disclosed, the Admissions coordinator called the CEO to gain his perspective. In talking with the CEO, it was evident that he struggled with severe and chronic depression and some chemical abuse, which had possibly led to dependence at this point. While on the phone, he agreed to fax a signed “release of information” document, granting permission to speak with the physician at the CEO’s current acute hospital. This information helped provide the most up-to-date clinical understanding of the patient.

After several discussions with the CEO, the acute hospital physician, the outpatient clinician and family members, the medical director and Admissions coordinator determined the Menninger Professionals in Crisis Program was a good fit. This program could provide the CEO with further evaluation and treatment for both the chemical abuse and severe depression that had been severely impacting his life.

The Admissions coordinator remained in contact with family members, the outpatient clinician and the CEO as he stabilized further and was ready to be transferred to Menninger.

The CEO continued to be reluctant about treatment, but with ongoing contact between the Admissions coordinator and family members, the CEO received the support he needed to enter treatment. Upon checking insurance benefits and factoring these into the overall financial plan, the Admissions coordinator was able to set up the financial arrangements for treatment.

After being stabilized, the CEO was transferred to Menninger and began specialized treatment. Following treatment, he was ready to resume his professional life, devoid of his compulsion to use alcohol, and better able to cope with depressive episodes that were likely to present themselves again in the future.

What can patients expect upon admission?
Once admitted, a patient is assigned a treatment team consisting of a primary clinician (who may be a psychologist or social worker), a psychiatrist and a primary nurse. Individual therapy is prescribed for those patients whose clinical needs may benefit from this treatment modality. Treatment team members carry out key responsibilities and collaborate with the patient.

The primary clinician manages and coordinates all aspects of treatment, including the development of the treatment plan (through discharge planning) and work with family members, as well as focusing on the dynamic issues involved in the treatment of patients.
Pharmacological and medical issues are addressed by the team psychiatrist.
An initial evaluation is provided within the first 24 hours of admission by a psychiatrist, internal medicine doctor, nurse and primary clinician. This serves to identify the most pressing or core issues for each patient.
An individualized treatment plan is designed for each patient based on the initial evaluation. The treatment plan typically contains both program-specific and hospital-wide groups and activities, pharmacological management, chemical dependency groups within the 12-step approach, DBT skills training, EMDR and many other disorder-specific groups. When indicated, specialists in trauma, eating disorders, and cognitive-behavioral therapies become involved, depending on a patient’s unique needs.
Patients actively participate in the decision-making about their treatment. A patient’s progress is reviewed in weekly team meetings, and the treatment plan is adjusted according to progress made.

The Menninger approach to treatment
The Menninger approach is consistent with the bio-psychosocial model of psychiatry, meaning all possible factors contributing to the patient’s illness are considered and interventions are offered in multiple areas. The interventions are provided in a thoughtful and carefully coordinated manner, which leads to the maximum possible benefit for patients.

For more information
Admission coordinators are available daily from 8 am to 10 pm Central Standard Time.

1-800-351-9058, ext. 5140

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