OUR STORY
Our Story
The Beginning
The Galynker Family Center for Suicide Prevention was born from a deeply personal and professional commitment to preventing suicide. In 1993, Dr. Igor Galynker experienced the devastating loss of a patient, which underscored the limitations of traditional suicide risk assessments.
This tragedy inspired him to develop new frameworks for understanding and addressing suicide risk, leading to the creation of the Narrative Crisis Model (NCM) and the Mount Sinai Suicide Prevention Research Lab.
In 2003, Dr. Galynker created The Family Center for Bipolar Disorder, and it is in part through the work at the center that the need for a specific treatment setting with a unique treatment approach for patients experiencing a suicidal crisis was born.
It is not obvious to those in a suicidal crisis or the families of loved ones in a crisis where to turn. Hospitals are often where people in crisis are sent, even though it is not always necessary or the best treatment.
The Suicide Prevention Center team emerged from the staff of its sister clinic, the Galynker Center for Bipolar Disorder. A few clinicians from the center have come together to create this unique and much-needed service in addition to their work at The Family Center for Bipolar Disorder.
The Family Center for Suicide Prevention, which uses the NCM framework to stage suicidal mental state, monitor it over time, and provide stage-specific targeted treatment, aims to provide a much-needed resource to those in crisis without depending on patients to disclose their suicidal thoughts accurately.
Today, these innovations form the foundation of our center’s approach to providing care that is both compassionate and effective, helping the patient and their family attain a mental and emotional state where suicide is unthinkable.
– Dr. Igor Galynker
Don't Lose Hope! We Are Here for You!
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