As a former patient, I remain deeply critical of aspects of the institution and the broader Texas healthcare environment. I also find it notable that the clinic relocated to Texas in 2003, the same year major tort reforms made malpractice cases more difficult for patients to win. The way I was admitted many years ago would be considered far below the standards of best practice in more patient oriented states. If you are aggrieved in any way, they tell you to speak to a Patient Advocate who I experienced as not advocating for me, but protecting the institution in my talks with them. I did not get a promised call back or email back. I personally consider the Menninger Clinic a profit driven disgrace to the mental healthcare field. read more

I was a client in March 2020 on the Adolescent unit. Some of the staff were great, but my overall quality of care was pretty bad. They had me do testing and came back with "Borderline Personality Disorder with Histrionic Traits". I was 15 at the time, and diagnostically, you cannot diagnose anyone under the age of 18 at full accuracy. Every single doctor and psychiatrist I have seen that heard the diagnosis has been both baffled and insulted on my behalf as it wasn't BPD, I'm Autistic. I was misdiagnosed at a facility that charged my parents an honestly insulting amount of money, and they couldn't even do the thing they said they'd do right. I don't think anyone under the age of 18 should attend this place, and if you plan on going for diagnostics, go literally ANYWHERE else. the only good part about this place was the food. read more

I don't usually write reviews, but Menninger really changed a lot for me so I felt like I should say something real. The Bridge Program especially stood out. It's not one of those places that just runs you through a system you can tell they actually care about what happens to you after you leave. Toyin and Amir made a huge difference in my experience. They're the kind of people who don't just listen to respond, they actually hear you and meet you where you're at. There were moments I didn't even feel like opening up, but they knew how to create a space where it didn't feel forced or fake. That's rare. What I appreciated most is that nothing felt performative. The conversations were real, the support was real, and the guidance actually stuck with me outside of the program. I walked in not really knowing what to expect, and left with way more clarity and structure than I had before. If you're on the fence about Menninger or the Bridge Program, just know there are people there who genuinely care and want to see you win. Toyin and Amir are a big part of that. read more

This place saved my life. Went through deep depression and their combo of medical and mental health staff provided a safe environment to start getting better. They provided instruction on understanding the cognitive therapy of our thinking patterns and how we could work to change them. I learned things about myself that were obvious in hindsight but I had not recognized in myself. The food is really great for every meal, and the staff are excellent. It's not a place anyone ever wants to be at, but if you need it, it can change your life. It certainly changed mine. read more

Best mental health care ever! Got me on right meds after 25 years of struggling to find something that works. Therapy is out of this world!

I will first of all say I adored my staff and care team- though this was not universal I truly lucked out. I admitted myself to the compass program for young adults after a severe depressive episode. All was going well until two weeks in I was abruptly told the program was being dissolved and turned into an adult acute care unit. None of the staff knew. None of the nurses knew. Two of my peers arrived ONE DAY before the compass program was dissolved believing they had signed up for a four to six week treatment. It was devastating. Suddenly an influx of high needs unstable patients arrived to a site wildly unprepared. Overnight the environment changed. New extreme restrictions were put in place by upper management (15 minute window for hygiene product use supervised, no access to outdoors, no free access to water without supervision). I feel cheated out of my care. Upper management was callous and unseemly rude- we as patients tried voicing our disapproval and were met with a smug attitude of "suck it up or leave". As someone who also suffers from PTSD, suddenly sharing space with patients who were violent and volatile actively set me back. They are destroying what made this facility great and burning out their staff in the process. Not to mention, there were multiple cases of sexual harassment reported that got swept under the rug. Do not trust website or admissions, the level of freedom and trust listed there no longer exists. The short staffing is a genuine crisis that upper management does not care to fix and I can foresee a mass exit of nurses soon based off of what I heard directly. Currently on the website it still lists the compass program as an option for care. What a joke. In conclusion, though they are blessed with great care teams I cannot in good faith recommend a facility that fails to provide basic care information and treats both the staff and patients without dignity. Look elsewhere for care. read more

I was voluntarily admitted to the Menninger Clinic for a planned 30-day stay during a period of acute life stress. This was not court-ordered. I drove myself to the facility and admitted myself. While the institution has a strong reputation on paper, my actual experience was deeply concerning and, in my view, inconsistent with therapeutic care. The environment felt highly controlled and punitive rather than supportive. Personal belongings were confiscated, and nighttime "checks" every 15 minutes severely disrupted sleep. Over time, the sleep deprivation itself became destabilizing and made me feel worse, not better. When I later expressed that I wanted to leave early because the environment was negatively affecting me, the response escalated sharply. I was told by a psychiatrist that if I insisted on leaving or did not "straighten up," they could arrange for me to be involuntarily committed and removed by police through external channels. As a voluntary patient, this was frightening and felt coercive. I ultimately stayed because I did not feel safe exercising my right to leave. Shortly after payment for the stay was complete, the tone changed and discharge was suddenly approved, which left me confused about the earlier resistance to my departure. I was also troubled by the discharge diagnosis I received. It did not align with my long-term functioning before or after the stay, nor with my ability to maintain a demanding professional career. To my knowledge, the diagnosis was influenced by third-party information provided to staff that was inaccurate. No subsequent clinician has supported that diagnosis. I am now in the process of formally requesting my records to better understand how clinical decisions were made. I cannot speak for others' experiences, but mine felt more like a carceral system focused on risk management and liability than a place of healing. I would strongly encourage anyone considering admission -- especially voluntary admission -- to ask detailed questions about patient rights, sleep protocols, and the process for leaving if the environment proves harmful. This was an expensive experience that I regret and would not repeat. read more

I had high hopes for this clinic, given its reputation as a "top 10" facility. For most of my stay, I made real progress and achieved over two months of sobriety. Unfortunately, on the penultimate day, I was deeply insulted by a poorly worded, complex diagnosis that devastated me emotionally. I had trusted them completely, and hearing that label felt like a betrayal. Since leaving the program, multiple unaffiliated clinicians, including those who've treated me psychologically for years, have unanimously disagreed with the clinic's diagnosis, even when explained the complexity of the terminology. In any case, my experience at this clinic to slow down my drinking, ultimately shattered my self-esteem, led me to abandon school, months from being a doctor, and fueled a self-hating relapse. [Unrelated: Some nurses were excellent, but others and several front desk staff in the adult unit were rude and dismissive, especially at night: unacceptable for a facility claiming compassion and professionalism. Some care a ton! Some don't care at all.] The incident involving the end of my stay erased my progress, and I relapsed immediately after discharge. It felt like my addiction wanted to kill me, but at least it wasn't trying to hurt me. Recently, my general practitioner has helped me make real progress again, something this "world-class" clinic failed to achieve, despite costing hundreds of thousands of dollars more than checking in with my GP. I hope management takes this feedback seriously so no one else endures what I did. Addiction is a mental health disorder. It makes people vulnerable. Sensitivity is critical in that clinical setting. read more

Be careful with the Professionals Program. It failed my spouse big time. They did not listen to input from me-the person who knew him for almost 20 years and lived with him and saw his decline in work and life. And as I watched him deteriorate after being discharged, I desperately reached out to his providers there, and got nothing. This was the 'last ditch effort' and it failed. read more

My name is Eric Pinkins and I am former NFL player staying in Menninger. My time here has been horrible and I have been harassed since the moment I got here. They like to take advantage of their authority and make you feel like your a criminal for only doing the basic needs like asking for your medicine. They make excuses and take longer than usual to accommodate your request at the expense of ruining your mental equanimity; and blame you for being the bad guy when all your doing is asking for your medication like everyone else. When I received my medication finally; one of the nurses (Charnita) took over 5 minutes to give me my medication making excuses just to irritate me while accommodating other patients in a timely manner. After she gave me my medication, she said nothing to me and shut the shutters without acknowledging me after I told her thank you. They like to single you out when you speak your mind and use false imprisonment to take privileges away like going on outings with the rest of the patients. Even in practitioner meetings when you speak your mind in groups; they get an attitude and say you can't say basically anything without offending other patients when they are open to my suggestions. And when you speak up on some of the topics they make you feel like an outcast in the group by rolling their eyes without acknowledging your statement for better clarity to help you with you personal problem. When your in your room, the employees (Toya) just barge in your room without your permission like it's their right while your still getting dressed telling you, you have random meetings that you were never notified, ruining my peace and giving me anxiety like I am doing something wrong. The other day, another practitioner threatened to call the authorities, lying saying patients were reporting me when I asked every patient in the bridge unit if I was a problem and they all said no. Made me feel like I was being cornered by the staff and they were using their authority against me because I was a patient. When you are being accused of doing something wrong everyday when your just trying t get the same treatment as every other patient, it seems more of a predigest attack. Also, when the nurses know they are in the wrong in regards to your situation, they don't even want to give you their name knowing that this will lead to a lawsuit. I experienced that today and this is my first attempt to get these employees fired for treating me different than everybody else and giving me psychological damage, making me feel like I am being a criminal just for expressing my needs as a patient in the Bridge outpatient program. The employees here are lazy and just doing their job to get by and earn a check. When I called a nurse "Shawty" she got offended and tried to used that against me and report me when a employee the other day called my "Lil Bro" when I am a 34 year old grown man. This is a particular point I am making on how they like to use their authority against patients to corner them and send patients to inpatient programs for no reason. Please get these employees fired or they will make the Menninger brand and everything Menninger stand for go down in a civil lawsuit for making patients feel like criminals when I am just trying to get the help I need before entering the real world. read more

I took my 16 yr. here in February 2026 during a very bad time for her. She was depressed and having panic attacks. I had read many reviews, and I was so uneasy about it but after a referral and being a last resort to have her admitted to any hospital. I chose this place. You hear stories of mistreatment from mental hospitals. This place was amazing! Going through the intake / mental assessment for her was done over the phone and then in person and was very professional and they truly seem to care. Once she was admitted, I was kept informed via email and phone calls and included with her treatment plan and medication plan. She had two psychiatrists and a therapist during her stay. The care team was great, and all the nurses were awesome. They had one on one and lots of peer groups for the teens and a Calander of stuff for them to learn coping skills for when they are discharged. if your teen is willing to get help and make the effort this place will help them. I am so happy that I chose Menninger in Houston. It truly helped her. She is now doing outpatient closer to home. but is using the skills she learned at Menninger. read more

they suck . The worst experience of our lives . ALL ABOUT THE MONEY and even then They drop the ball and absolutely no follow up my wife was there twice. And a lot of free time without the possibility To do anything and very little time with a one on one therapy . I payed cash of course And seems to me that's all they care about. save your money They don't take insurance because they negotiate prices and individuals can't . read more

Superb. Life saving. Strong team. Not perfect, but very responsive to any issues that arose. Enormous gratitude for their healing. Very comfortable compassionate respectful setting. read more

For 3 months we have tried to get our youngest son admitted to the world famous Menninger clinic. I should have read these reviews before I wasted months of my time. THIS CLINIC IS NOT FOR SICK PATIENTS. THIS CLINICs TARGET PATIENT IS A RIVER OAKS and/OR BELLAIRE WIFE who need a weeklong "break from life" and or are fundraising candidates, and NOT your sick family member with a complex diagnosis you are desperate to get help for. Sydney Torres, the joke of admissions director who cannot be bothered to appropriately handle any admission other than the demographic described above, should be fired, immediately. AVOID THIS "HOSPITAL" as it is anything but. READ THE REVIEWS STARTING WITH NEWEST FIRST, and sort in order and you will see negative after negative review--extremely accurate assessment of this imposter of an acute treatment facility. read more

This was a traumatizing place as an adolescent. I was treated on the old Kansas campus. We were all over medicated zombies. I was given 3 new diagnosis, after a half hour session with the dr., and put on 6 meds. Upper, downers, in between-ers. I was high as you could be for about 9 months. At first I gained 30 pounds, then they added Ritalin to get me back down 45 pounds. My family thought I looked "great" because I was thin again and would put on makeup and do my hair for hours due to the adhd meds and klonopin. I was so confused what "tools" they were providing us for leaving. Groups centered around being confrontational with people, making them cry. I would black out for periods due to the tranquilizers. School was a joke. I was handed an algebra book and told to work through the chapters by myself. There was no focus on physical fitness, which is something essential to my routine ad an adult to stay mentally healthy. We couldn't go outside unless with staff. The only time we could was the 5 minute walk to the cafeteria and a "gym" class once a week where you could walk around the gym floor. No crafts or art therapy. Just testing different "methods" on me and only letting me talk to my mom once a week on a recorded line. My dad came to visit and they wouldn't let him in. He flew thousands of miles and was only allowed to walk with me and have dinner near the campus. Since you can't have nail clippers (locked up) or shoelaces, the release was a joke. You walk out having lived indoors with people trapping you into answers, so contemptuous of who I was as a person. Suddenly expected to give myself meds 3 times a day, of which I was told NO SIDE EFFECTS, UT told I was supposed to take them for the rest of my life. Told that due to my diagnosis and "required" meds, I should never have children. ​​​ read more

Menninger saved my life. I came after experiencing severe, escalating suicidality & disabling, bedridden depression & escalating self harm (often daily). I'd had 3 serious suicide attempts over the last few years, & honestly, things felt very dark for a lot of the 2 months I spent at Menninger in their Adult Inpatient program. Working through trauma & realizing the ways you have to change things, trying to change things,& getting pushback from inside yourself is HARD. But. Even though I felt really distressed for the last three weeks there & a week post discharge, the difference in how I'm functioning & handling things is night & day. I have never been anywhere close to this stable in my life. I only think about suicide in passing these days (after a lifetime of daily ideation), & I've stopped self-harming altogether (practically a miracle). I'm managing very difficult things getting reestablished at work, things that, in the past, would have completely derailed me & led to self-destructive behavior. None of that has happened. All because of the incredible staff & patients at Menninger. I worked with a closely coordinated multidisciplinary team, who really took me & my concerns seriously & listened to what I thought I needed as well as sharing their expert feedback. The therapist I saw three times a week, Dr. John Rucker, PhD, was outstanding, insightful, patient, & kind. In both the mentalizing classes he taught & in our individual therapy introduced me to a skill that I'd never realized was so missing & so key to regulating my emotional experience. The groups were terrific. There were lots of approaches & perspectives with an overall emphasis on DBT, psychodynamic, and mentalization based therapy approaches, with everything from Advanced DBT groups to process groups on suicidality, to trauma psychoeducation to skills for understanding & coping with shame, to regular meetings to meet on our wellness & relapse prevention plans & safety plans. I got to do music therapy & individual psych rehab therapy, & there were lots of activities to do between groups (though it did get a little slow on the weekend). & the nursing staff were overall really great. There was always someone to talk to if you needed to, & the other patients were really supportive, which was a really important part of the overall experience. Midway through my stay, I got thorough psych testing and assessment & got a thorough feedback session on identified patterns & things I could work on, which went far beyond diagnosis & DSM checkbox criteria into much deeper observations & what were the things going wrong beneath the surface that made it so hard to function in these DSM defined ways. It was incredibly insightful (& a little painful, I'll admit), & unbelievably helpful and hope-inspiring - like now I have an idea of what to work on & what will help me with that! My only two complaints were that they don't have any expertise in DID, which is my primary diagnosis (& has been expertly diagnosed), & were unable to understand in what way my symptoms meant I had DID; they could only understand it through the lens of my other diagnoses, complex PTSD & BPD. While it was very frustrating that they didn't get the DID, they nevertheless honed in on what was going wrong for me & helped me enormously with it. The second complaint was about the discharge process. I'm autistic, so I have a lot of trouble with transitions & start off pretty rigid in my ideas, & need time to feel safe enough to soften & open up to other possibilities. Unfortunately, I think my rigidity & fear when we started discharge planning made them give up on me & assume that I wouldn't accept anymore help or that I would do it all myself - I'm not sure which. Either way, they sort of gave up on doing any discharge planning & let me do it all myself, which wasn't great for me. I could have used more help & it would have been nice if they were flexible enough to work with me & understand my rigidity was about needing time to process & my fears. I ended up discharging with no care set up - not even an appointment with my therapist, let alone any additional care. I ended being fine, & figuring out how to get the support I need, but the discharge & reintegration into the community processes did not have to be as painful as they were. Just the same, I remain profoundly grateful to Menninger for both providing the care I needed, & pointing me in the right direction to find the continuing care I need to keep building on the growth I experienced while there. This was a life-changing experience & though I was pretty angry when I discharged because of that process, once I had time to cool down & realize I was ok, it became clear to me - becomes clearer every day - how much Menninger changed my life for the better...and likely will continue to. Thanks, Dr. Hurdiss, Dr. Sanches, Dr. Rucker, Dr. Neff, Claire, Jami, & all the other staff who all helped change my life so dramatically. read more

TO PARENTS: In order to gain admittance for a troubled teen here, you have to get through the assessment process. As many parents struggling to find help can relate, a troubled teen can come with all sorts of baggage. Unfortunately, I have learned in the case of Menninger, you may have to be less than truthful during the assessment interview to even have a shot. Here is my advice to parents looking to get help for their troubled teen here: 1. Position your troubled teen as "a lost angel" that needs guidance. (Your teen can be troubled....but not that troubled) 2. Answer NO to all questions regarding aggression, verbal altercations, running away, substance abuse, bad grades, previous treatment center etc. Think of it as a private school interview and answer NO to anything you think could prevent your child getting in. 3. DO NOT share any clinical notes from previous treatments. Only provide the discharge papers with medication and aftercare plan. Any noted setbacks in detailed clinical notes will be used to deny admittance. 4. Remember, the intake assessment is NOT to help your child, it is designed to weed your child out of treatment options. You will be tempted to tell everything because you are desperate for help but sadly, during the intake assessment process your teen can be troubled....but not that troubled. Hold back accordingly. Although this information was not available to me, I hope this helps other parents struggling to find treatment for their teens. read more

I have been to several mental hospitals and this one is ABSOLUTELY the BEST. Caring, compassionate, empathetic team of doctors, social workers, therapists, nurses, cafeteria workers, really ALL team members. Amazing gym. Amazing cafeteria - delicious food, salad and desserts. Salt water pool. Beautiful grounds. Extremely clean and impeccable facility overall. Excellent courses. Lots of one on one time with your treatment team. Easy to follow schedule. Thankfully they take health insurance. Highly, highly recommend. read more

Disgustingly horrible counselors. Very inappropriate especially the male counselors. Scream at you about how manipulative you are and are sexually inappropriate. I had to leave within a week to go somewhere that was actually a hospital. read more

This place does good work. But the patient has to put in the time and effort. Most of the staff was very good. Yes, it is pricey . And no, I'm not from River Oaks ! A lot of these reviews bashing Menninger? Theres no magic wand! You gotta put in the work. Go to your groups and work or stay in your room and waste an opportunity...up to you. read more

Everything you're reading is spot on. This place is an utter scam. Multiple visits and nothing but money grabbers with no insurance coverage. The food is pretty good but for $14k/week it should be caviar & lobster. Doctors were constantly changing and we had several misdiagnosis. Insurance covered programs are much better and they have an incentive to get the patients better quickly due to insurance coverage. Bellaire behavioral is far superior and much more cost effective. Menninger is a pharmacy breeding ground to test new meds & pay the Docs. TOTAL SCAM! We had much better experiences with Wilderness Therapy & Therapeutic Boarding School for extended treatment. read more

This place is lauded as one of the top psychiatric facilities in the US. Point blank it does not live up to its name. Their administration is systematically infiltrated with people who have no concern for compassion, attention to detail, or amelioration in their craft. I came here at the repeated praise of 2 of my providers and I wish I had not listened to them. I came to Menninger to resolve trauma, but instead they created more. I strongly advise anyone who has the resources to attend this program, to seek further opinions and options. Written with sincerity, in the hopes that further patients, being innately vulnerable as a setting like this requires, protect themselves from the incompetency and callous behavior of Menninger. read more

My stay at Menninger about 5 years ago precipitated a near-lethal suicide attempt about a week after I left. The way I was treated there, particularly by my attending psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Albanese, and my social worker Lynn, (neither of whom appear to be working there anymore) was so traumatic that I lost any hope that my severe bipolar disorder could improve. They showed no compassion, empathy, or caring towards me. In fact, they were overtly hostile towards me. Menninger markets itself as providing cutting edge psychiatric treatment for whatever psychiatric disorder ails you, even if you haven't responded to treatment in the past by other providers. In fact, Menninger's focus is the diagnosis of "characterological disorders." Their theoretical framework and thus diagnostic approach is heavily psychoanalytic. They're not too concerned about actual treatment. Which makes sense because 1 or 2 months is hardly enough time to "fix" your "character." What this boils down to is that their attitude is: if you haven't responded to treatment for your psychiatric disorder so far, it must be because of your "character" - i.e. your as-yet-undiagnosed (which they will provide for a huge fee) personality disorder. From a certain perspective, this is essentially saying to patients: "The reason that you're not getting better is because you have an abnormal and maladaptive personality. You, yourself, is the reason that you're not getting better. Not due to any shortcomings of the treatment provided to you by your previous doctors, or the lack of good treatment options available." When I was staying in the PIC unit, every single female on the unit (except one) was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Every male (except one) was diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. And those were their primary diagnosis. Not bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, eating disorder, addiction, OCD - all of which were represented by my co-patients. All the patients are encouraged in many group meetings to talk about their problems, so people readily shared the diagnosis they received at great financial cost. $2,000 per day when I was there. The average length of stay is between 30-60 days: that's $60,000 - $120,000 per stay. No, they don't accept insurance. After the culmination of 4-8 weeks of diagnosing, most patients were then discharged to further prolonged residential or rehab treatment programs. When you read on Menninger's website for their outcome studies, keep in mind that any improvement after a Menninger stay may be almost totally based on the follow-up treatment, not directly due to their Menninger stay. And note that they send post-stay surveys to MOST (not all) patients. In fact, I never received a follow-up survey. But then, they probably already knew that I had tried to kill myself shortly after I left there. When I tried to sue Menninger, the multiple Houston attorneys I contacted basically told me that the judicial system was so heavily favorable to doctors and hospitals in Texas that it didn't make financial sense for them to take my case. Google for the Houston Chronicle article about a patient who successfully completed a suicide while AT Menninger. There's another patient who managed to escape during an outing and apparently attempted suicide. Those actually became lawsuits. The leniency that Texas gives to the medical system is shocking and is discussed in the Houston Chronicle article. It's the reason that there's not more information about how Menninger fails its patients - information that would help someone decide if Menninger is right for them or not. read more

I was on the ATP unit as a patient just last year for medication stabilization. I was strongly medicated at Menninger to the point where I was heavily sedated for 18+ hours a day, which completely defeated the purpose of me being there. Many of my peers were also put on this sedative, hydroxyzine, and were suffering similar effects. read more

KEEP LOOKING...DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!!! This clinic is a joke especially their "Financial Assistance Program" if you could even call it that!! If you can not afford $1,400/day, plus professional fees for 2 to 3 weeks for an Adolescent Treatment Program looks elsewhere. If you are not in poverty don't even bother with applying for Menninger's "Financial Assistance Program" you will be denied! Menninger is in business for the rich not to help anyone else. They have made this very clear!! read more

My husband died by suicide just hours after he was discharged from a five week stay at the Menninger Clinic in November 2020. He had entered a major depressive episode a few months earlier but hadn't really attempted suicide previously. I don't know much about his time at Menninger. I've tried calling Menninger several times to see what they can tell me. They never call me back. I'm sure there are lots of reasons that they can't/won't talk to me but they still send letters to my house asking for donations (ugh). I'm sure this place helps some people but it only made my husband's condition worse. read more

My grandson who is 18 years old had consented to treatment at the Menninger Hospital. He tested negative for Covid and his insurance was to pay the $2250 per day stay (not non profit). His mother drove from Austin Texas to Houston and had already submitted the full criteria for admissions. The male nurse who attended him noticed a minor cough, and kept questioning this kid if he wanted to be admitted even though the kid had initially agreed. The nurse would not admit my grandson for mental treatment. BOO to you Menninger. I hope my grandson stays alive. My daughter took him to a walk in clinic in Houston and they defined he had an upper respiratory infection. She said they spent hours at the Clinic to get him admitted for the drug related mental illness he suffers from. But this multi million dollar 501 3(c) who collects thousands from donations could not admit one 18 year old who consented to treatment. REALLY. Houston wake up? read more

I basically signed up for a Yelp account just to write this review because I am so appreciative of the Menninger Clinic and another Yelp review helped me choose this place. The Menninger Clinic is wonderful option for those seeking help with mental health challenges. It has literally saved my brother's life. Mental health issues run in the family and we were slow to understand them, resulting in the suicide of another family member. Through the Menninger Clinic, we were able to get a diagnosis and set my brother on a path to healing and hope. It was so useful for our family, that I recommended it to my best friend for her son's care. After years of confusion with other mental health professionals, the Menninger Clinic also brought them the clarity they needed to understand his mental health challenges and start moving forward. This has been life changing for both families. For those struggling with mental health issues, I can strongly recommend the week-long diagnostic program. In our instances, it all started with properly defining the problem which the Menninger Clinic was able to do with their extensive week-long outpatient assessment program. I will be forever grateful. read more

BEWARE OF THE MONEY GRAB. I am sure that Menninger has done some good work, based on reputation and some of the other reviews. However, I do not think that the quality of care received comes even close to justifying $2k/day. Our teenager was admitted on a Friday for stabilization; by Sunday the kiddo called and asked us why no one had helped. Turns out, there was no therapy available over the weekend. Again--$2k per day?? So we paid $4k for our kiddo to sit in a room for the first 2 days? Also, they are very disorganized. It was hard to figure out who was responsible for what, since there are so many points of contact and no one explains it to you. All in all, kiddo was there for 13 days and was more or less stabilized, but we are seeking to continue treatment elsewhere. PS- Several mental health professionals we have spoken with over the past few days tell us that they do not refer to Menninger, allegedly because they use interns to do work that more experienced professionals should be doing. read more

I was a patient between Jan.-Feb. 2018 I was treated with nothing less than compassion, kindness, empathy, respect, honesty.... My questions always answered, daily group sessions, 1 to 1 meetings and counseling with my team of physicians, social workers and unit staff. My time at Menninger was life changing in the best possible way. read more

Menninger Clinic is amazing. Coming to it as a skeptic of any treatment provider's actually ability to help me change the destructive path I was on, I say this with all honesty: Menninger rocks. The care and insight that they bring to the table is unmatched. I came in suicidal and broken and dependent on all sorts of destructive behaviors to survive, and I left in one piece, positive about life and the world, and excited for my role in it. They helped me put all of the broken pieces of my life back together again, and showed me how life could be worth it. I was on the Compass Young Adults unit, and the milieu therapy of being surrounded by my peers, and giving and receiving feedback/support, was just as helpful as the therapy provided by the experts and the day-to-day care provided by the nurses and MHAs. It's such a well-balanced, well-structured program, and add to that how beautiful the new facility is... well, let's just say, Menninger is first place in the business of saving lives. Five stars, and highly recommended. Take a chance, give life a chance, and give Menninger the chance to help you put your pieces back together again. It's worth it. read more

I regret ever sending our child to The Menninger Clinic Adolescent Program. During our teen's 2-week stay, there were some common themes for all patients. 1. Soon after admission and before a diagnosis, the social worker recommends the teen needs to go to a Wilderness Program or Therapeutic Boarding School. Of course, your teen's stay should be extended until the recommended facility has availability. (Hmm, if Menninger is so great, why does the patient need to go elsewhere? Are Wilderness Programs appropriate for patients on psychiatric medications frequently prescribed at Menninger?) 2. School was for show. When I asked teens about schoolwork, each one had an identical response, "I am focusing on my treatment." 3. Almost all teens were heavily medicated, typically with one of three go-to medications, to the point of becoming "zombie-like" which resulted in sleeping through school and therapy sessions. In our child's case, concerns about side effects were dismissed. 4. Communication was poor with the Social Worker acting as a gatekeeper. There were care team members whom we never met. 5. Therapists/Social Workers were not available during family visits in the evenings or weekends. When patients became escalated, staff seemed to prefer medication to de-escalation. 6. We were aware of 2 times when incident reports were written, but parents were not notified. Prior to admission, staff made promises that were not kept. On a positive note, some of the psychiatric nurses were good and seemed to care about the patients. However, our child was in worse shape at discharge than when we arrived. In retrospect, I wish that we had chosen an Intensive out patient DBT program. read more

We sent our 13 year old grandaughter to this place, hoping they would help her out. The first 3 days they let her sleep and there after it was her choice to attend or not the therapies. At 1800$/day, is truly a waste of money. They should force those kids to attend the therapies whether they like it or not. Why should they be empowered to do so, what exactly do they do for them if it everything is up to them. read more

Would've been 5 starts if it weren't for two reasons... the out patient doctor Jon Stevens is an absolute prick of a psychiatrist who laughed in my face about my problems. Every session I had with him, I left feeling belittled and bad about myself. He makes insensitive comments that cross the line. Never experienced this from ANY other psychiatrist in my 30 years of life. Also assumed it was "ok" to have a random college student whose either interning under him and just lets her stay in the room without asking if it's ok with me, as I was discussing very sensitive traumatic experiences and symptoms I wasn't very trusting at the time with having a random person in one of my private sessions. That being said I left and never went back. Now I have a considerate psychiatrist who does not brag about his accolades and shove his newest book in your face - he gave me a free copy as a "gift" on him.....Very patronizing. I didn't ask, quite frankly when you're paying for an appointment like this and it's about your mental health you don't want your time wasted on his braggart ways. It's not about him.I pay HUNDREDS for one session. This type of treatment deserves to be reported. Also the compass unit needs WORK. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent receiving care, and you can't properly sanitize and upgrade your laundry machines? They aren't leans throughly and have inches of gunk inside that have ruined my shorts and countless others on my unit. I complained to nurse and lead director and nothing was done. The upside was some nurses aka nurse Peggy (I think) very sweet lady with glasses . She was so kind and empathetic. Unlike my experience with Dr Stevens read more

Menninger saved my life. In the recent years I've made 2 suicide attempts (1 of which I had to be medically hospitalized for) and been psychiatrically hospitalized 6 times (each time for 17 days -- 5150 + 5250). In the months immediately prior to leaving for Texas I was spending approximately 22 hours a day in bed with the shades drawn. All of that is no more. I was at Menninger from April through July of 2015. This review is for their Compass program. Menninger is small: 120 beds, but also large: the clinic sits on 50 acres. They divide patients into 5 units, each of which is in it's own building. The buildings are arranged in a half circle facing the main building, which houses administrative and doctors' offices, the cafeteria, and the gym. The units are ATP (adolescent treatment program), Compass (adults 18-30), Hope (adults over 30), CPASS (comprehensive psychiatric assessment and stabilization service), and PIC (professionals in crisis). I don't know about the other units, but Compass had about 25 patients. The good: 1. ECT with Dr. Justin Coffey. Amazing. This more than anything else I credit with turning my life around. Every session is conducted at Central Houston Surgical Center, about a 30 minute drive away from Menninger (Mark, the transporter, is really nice). You usually get it 3 times a week, anywhere from 6 to 12 sessions, but maybe more, maybe less. The nurses and anesthesiologists at CHSC are wonderful. And Dr. Coffey is extremely good at his job. 2. My attending, Dr. Jonathan Stevens: incredibly brilliant, also quite caring. Very good listener, thinks very carefully, thinks outside the box. My outpatient psychiatrist really likes him too. Kind of looks like Jerry Seinfeld. 3. About 20 hour-long groups a week, more if you are on the addictions track or eating disorders track. Most are skills and psychoeducation, but there are 2 sessions of small group therapy every week. Small group consists of around 5 patients and 2 facilitators, 1 psychologist and 1 social worker. 4. 2 or 3 sessions of individual therapy per week, depending on your needs. All the psychologists have PhDs, or maybe there are a couple PsyDs. 5. Every day there is an opportunity to go to the gym and/or the swimming pool (I think the pool is only open seasonally). We get to work out for about 50 minutes. The gym is fairly well equipped. There are other leisure activities like arts and crafts and stuff. 6. Private rooms, and each room has it's own bathroom. 7. 3 outings on Friday and Saturday, but you have to have been attending groups and participating in leisure activities to be eligible to go on the outings. We went to museums, malls, Whole Foods, movies, etc. 8. Special group for LGBT. Felt very accepted there. 9. RNs are 99% good. Special mention for Bethany and Schuyler (pronounced SKY-lar). They don't skimp on staffing - there are enough RNs to take care of everybody and get everybody their medicine. The bad: 1. My social worker, Elizabeth A.: doesn't listen, labels you with diseases and symptoms you don't have. 2. 90% of their patients are recommended to go to a "step-down," aka long-term residential care. About 80% go. Is that because 90% of patients really need such care? My team gave my family the choice: I could go to the step-down they recommended for me, or I could go to a California State Hospital (around 90% of patients at CA State Hospitals are violent offenders), or I could go to a homeless shelter. Need I say more? 3. If you are doing badly and are a danger to yourself or others, or they think you are, you are put on a one-to-one, and that costs an extra $200 per shift, or $600 a day. 4. The cost. Granted, I was there longer than most, but this is going to cost me over 6 figures. The ECT is really expensive too. Plus the one-to-ones, which I got a lot of. And my insurance sucks. So, this type of program sadly isn't accessible to all people. Of all my psych hospitalizations, some have been helpful, some not so much. I'd say Menninger was the best of all of them. I think I've finally gotten off the hospital merry-go-round. read more

Everyone has their own opinions and own experiences and this is a reflection of ours at Menninger. Without a doubt, going to Menninger saved my 18 year old daughter's life and set her on a course of continued improvement with her mental health. Two years later, we continue to have a happy daughter who is successfully living independently and is a full-time college student set to graduate on time. Our daughter left college in the middle of her freshman year and went to Menninger for eight weeks. She went there ready to work hard, open to individual and group therapy, and took full advantage of all of the programming that was offered. My husband and I participated in the weekly family therapy sessions and we committed for one of us to go out and visit her every two weeks for the weekend. Upon discharge continued treatment in some form is almost always recommended. If someone is coming to Menninger for help, they most likely have had issues they have been dealing with for months if not years. To think it is all solved 100% in 6-8 weeks is probably not realistic. However, to get the acute symptoms under control, diagnosis corrected , meds adjusted, intensive individual and group therapy, peer support from individuals going through the similar situation and to have several weeks out of social media and the rat race to purely focus on getting better, at least for our daughter, it was life saving. Maybe other people don't need all of that but our daughter did and she got all of it. The nursing staff was amazing. The food was good in the cafeteria. The facility and grounds are very nice. It does not feel like a hospital. To give context from the other reviews why patients are given a number, it is for confidentiality reasons. Menninger is a well established and highly reputable facility where people from all over the country come to for treatment. To protect people's privacy, when checking in at the security gate and front desk, you give a number instead of a name. It by no means is to strip anyone of their identity but rather to respect their right for confidentiality. Obviously some people on here have had a different experience than we did. I can only give our family's perspective and all I know is that my daughter is alive, happy and productive as a direct result of all of the hard she put into while being at Menninger. She was affected by her time there so much so that she is adding a double major to her course load to become a psych nurse so that one day she can give back to others who walk in somewhere broken like she was and walk out ready to face the world head on. read more

The Menninger Clinic is a state of the art mental health facility based in Houston, TX. I spent three weeks there recently and am currently a patient in their outpatient clinic. They have helped me get on the road to recovery battling BPD. My treatment team, led by Dr. Patrick Thomas, MD, PhD is first rate. He is uniquely qualified and does anything but push meds. Menninger conducts a full genetic screening before prescribing any meds so that there is a science behind the recommendations. They have group therapy sessions of all sorts from DBT, MBT and CBT. They treat co-morbid conditions like drug and alcohol abuse with grace and dignity. Menninger doesn't take insurance but the old adage of you get what you pay for is spot on. It was the best money I ever spent as I know am living a functional life due to the treatment that I received during my time as an inpatient at the PIC (professionals in crisis program) and now the outpatient program. Their facility is first rate, they have a personal trainer, the food is actually terrific for an institutional setting. The only complaint that I have is that the weekends are super slow and that they could use more programming but if you or a loved on are suffering from Bi-Polar, BPD, issues with addictions or any other mental illness and have been unable to be cured as in "really cured" run, don't walk to The Menninger Clinic. You may well end up spending 75K+ but isn't your life worth that? Thank you Dr. Thomas, Dr. O'Neill, Dr. Albanese, Dr. Bombel, and everyone there including the incredible nursing staff, Reggie, Steve, Eric, Richard, Francis (Mr. Taa taa taa) and everyone else who are dedicated to serving their patients with the most patience even when the patients are a pain the ass as I was (at least in the beginning) but they got me through it. read more

I don't recommend Menninger Adolescent Treatment Program for several reasons. First, communication with family is poor starting at admission when an admissions officer (of unknown credentials) didn't tell parents who the child's admitting team would be. Communication from the team psychiatrist was also quite poor, both with parents and our child's outpatient psychiatrist. In our case, our child's outpatient psychiatrist called 7 days in a row before the Menninger psychiatrist would speak with her. The Menninger psychologist made no contact with us the parents whatsoever. Next, despite exorbitant out of pocket fees, no treatment or medication adjustments were made until day 10 after we repeatedly made requests of the psychiatrist. Thirdly, as others have said on various review sites, the discharge planning consisted of being emailed websites for educational consultants (to whom a parent would pay thousands more) in order to arrange a residential treatment stay and being given four random websites for residential treatment facilities not even capable of meeting our child's complex mental health needs. Menninger ATP seemed like nothing more than a very expensive 4 week stay meant to "package" your child for their next institution. It's fairly clear that the "executive summary," which contained diagnoses and treatment recommendations and wasn't discussed with parents until week 4, was merely a professional sounding summary of all the information we as parents gave them in the first place. If you have a child with complex psychiatric needs, do not waste your time or money here. If, on the other hand, you have endless financial means and are looking for a holding space while you investigate your child's wilderness program or residential treatment facility, then this organization will meet your expectations. By the way, I am a physician at an academic tertiary care center and not only provide patient care but also teach medical students and residents. Menninger is a case study in how NOT to deliver care. On a positive note, I can say that the nurses seemed attentive to our concerns, even taking it upon themselves to obtain important vital sign monitoring at our request when the order hadn't even been placed by the team physicians. As an addendum: Our child's social worker should be recognized for her efforts to communicate with us even after our child's discharge. Unfortunately, despite her good intentions, the referrals she gave us for continued care were for places we as parents had already investigated which weren't equipped to handle our child's combination of diagnoses. read more

Where do I begin to explain the Compass Program at the Menninger Clinic? My child was in the program. It is awful! For only $1700 a day you or your loved one can experience this awful program. Let me make this straight, $1700 is the minimum amount of money you will pay per day. Should your child need extra support they will happily charge you additional money for 'one to one care'. 'One to one care' means that a big strong healthcare worker follows your child everywhere to protect their safety. The extra charges are added to your bill without your knowledge. When your child is on 'one to one care', they are not allowed to leave the Compass building. My child was on 'one to one care' an insisted that going to the gym would have made my child feel better. Yet if your child is on 'one to one care' they are not allowed to go to the gym which is outside the Compass building. My question is 'why not'? We are paying extra money for one-on-one care. Exercise is proven to help with your mood. Why can't the big strong health care worker take your child to the gym? Why does the child need to be locked up in the Compass Room with a health care worker watching them continuously? Now let's talk about the social worker Elizabeth Arango. When you are paying so much money for your child to be in this facility you would think she would have understood the urgency in returning emails and phone calls. However, it could take her 3 - 4 days to return our messages. Add to this, when we were finally in touch with her she was very dismissive and not forth coming with my child's progress. We were truly kept in the dark. Let me share the best Elizabeth Arango story. First I need to make sure you understand the operation of the Menninger Clinic. When you become a patient at the clinic you are assigned a number. If you want to enter the building or talk to any professionals at the institution you must know the patient's number or they will not acknowledge that the patient is in-house. If any medical information is to be released you must get a signed release form from the adult patient or the parent of a minor. One day my husband and I were at our family counselor's office. Our child was still at Menninger. We told the counselor that we were clueless on our child's status. Our counselor decided she would call Elizabeth Arango while we were in the office, to begin the process so she could become involved in our child's care. When Elizabeth answered the phone our therapist told her she was our family counselor. Elizabeth never asked for my child's number or a medical release form. Instead, Elizabeth rattled off everything that was going on with our child. Elizabeth was telling our counselor things that we had never heard!!! I was astonished!!! This is against the law!! You know sometimes when you first enter a situation and you get that feeling that something is not right? Well, I had that feeling an ignored it ~ damn it. A few days into my child's stay I went to visit. The nurse asked me if I wanted to see my child's room. You are not allowed in the bedrooms without a nurse so she accompanied my child and myself down the hall. When I saw the bed, the fitted sheet was was off the mattress. I asked my child what happen. My child's response was that the sheet always comes off. The nurse laughed and said 'oh, those sheets just do not stay on the mattress'. Really?!?! Can they not find fitted sheets that stay on the mattress? Later, I learned my child got so frustrated with the fitted sheet continuously coming off that my child slept on the bare mattress. In closing, if you still insist on going to the Menninger Clinic you should just skip the additional cost of the psychiatrist testing. Most of the patients in the Compass Program are labeled as either BiPolar or Borderline Personality Disorder. After leaving the Menninger Clinic, we finally found the right doctors to make the correct diagnosis and get my child treated properly. If they do not diagnose you correctly you will not get the proper care. It's like breaking your leg but putting the cast on your arm! read more

i spent six weeks in the compass unit after an overdose due to a fight with my parents. if i could go back and not do so just to stay out of this hospital, i would. while i was there i found out they had covered up a suicide from back when they did outings (speaking of which, the paperwork and such describing how the menninger clinic works is extremely outdated--y'all might want to update them to current proceedings). while i was there, the majority of the staff was extremely disrespectful, the food was mediocre, and i got forced into the eating disorder program despite being 4 years recovered from my disorder. they focused on the same dbt bit for my entire stay there, and gave me the ultimatum of either going to a step down or being at menninger indefinitely. now, while the experience was overall negative, i would like to give a shout-out to lucas the nurse for making it tolerable and talking music with me. he's cool beans. read more