Dr. Igor Galynker, MD, PhD, director of the Family Center often recounts the story of how the idea for the Family Center took shape. 

“In 2003, I met a woman whose husband had bipolar disorder,” recounts Dr. Galynker. “She asked her husband’s psychiatrist what was happening, and the psychiatrist said ‘I can’t tell you anything about your husband. Go get your own psychiatrist.’ She did. And each of the four children had their own therapist. And they had a family therapist. Now there were seven mental health professionals…all not talking to each other.”

This real clinical encounter is what ultimately led Dr. Galynker to create the Family Center. Historically, silence has been the norm between mental health clinicians and their patients’ families. Our Center is working to change this dynamic by facilitating open communication and providing treatment for patients and family members within the therapeutic space.

We have seen first hand that integrating family support and open communication into treatment reduces hospitalizations, facilitates treatment compliance, dramatically improves our patients’ outcomes, as well as overall creates healthier family dynamics. 

Every family we meet has different needs, and as such, our treatment is tailored to address each family’s unique situation. Depending on the needs of the family, our team may recommend medication management, individual psychotherapy for the patient, supportive therapy for the treatment partner(s), family therapy, psychological testing, psychoeducation, as well as a number of other treatment modalities. 

A note on confidentiality

We believe that open communication between mental health clinicians, patients, and patients’ families is imperative in managing acute illness episodes and ensuring successful treatment outcomes. As such, clinicians in the Family Center maintain communication with treatment partners around patients’ treatment compliance, symptomatic changes in patient’s condition, as well as any risk of harm to self or others. 

Strict confidentiality applies to all other personal issues discussed between patients and their treatment team.