If not for hope, the heart would break.

If not for the founding of Lindner Center of HOPE, tens of thousands of individuals and their families might not have found it in their hearts to keep going in the face of the adversity that accompanies mental health issues and addictions.

"We’ve been blessed to have incredible support from the local community and from our donors, and we have a fantastic board of directors that keeps us moving forward," says Dr. Paul Keck Jr., M.D., the center’s president and chief operating officer. "We’ve helped more than 30,000 people in 10 years, people who might not have had access to quality mental health care if Lindner Center of HOPE was not in place."

Keck, a researcher in bipolar disorder and psychopharmacology, has authored more than 525 scientific papers in leading medical journals, and was the seventh most cited scientist in the world published in the fields of psychiatry and psychology throughout the last decade. He leads and directs the center’s overall operation and coordinates the development of short- and long-range objectives.

The center is aesthetically beautiful and has the best medical staff in the world, says Keck. It’s an invaluable community resource made possible through the initial and sustained leadership of Craig and Frances Lindner, and further enhanced by great partnerships with UC Health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and The Mayo Clinic. "All of our partnerships have brought even more opportunities and resources to bear in our mission of providing quality mental health."

There is so much to celebrate this year in observation of the center’s 10th anniversary and so much ahead to accomplish, Keck notes. The challenges in providing top quality mental health care are never ending.

"I think the biggest hindrance to people getting the care they need is the stigma that still pervades the overall understanding of mental illness," Keck continues. "Neurobiological problems in the brain are just as real as any other ailment that can affect us in our bodies. When more people understand that and realize the array of evidence-based treatments we have available for people to get help, the more people will seek the help they need."

Some people may think mental illness is due to a person being emotionally weak or unable to motivate themselves, but nothing could be further from the truth, he adds. Everyone inherits risks for a variety of medical problems, and risks for many psychiatric disorders are also clearly genetic. Environmental influences can also trigger depression and other mental health problems. Educating the public through a variety of community outreach programs about the realities, signs and symptoms of, and treatments for, mental illness and addiction has been a basic tenet of the Lindner Center of HOPE’s mission since doors opened in August 2008. The center’s overall main goal from the beginning has been to address the vastly unmet needs for mental health services in Greater Cincinnati and the surrounding area.

"It’s a battle, and we’ve not come anywhere near winning the war. Our focus on community education is not just about educating the public about mental illness and encouraging people to seek treatment as soon as possible, but we’re also trying to educate corporate leaders about not only the human suffering aspect of mental illness, but the negative economic impact of offering limited mental health care to their employees. There is overwhelming evidence that shows there is a huge return on investment for paying for high-quality mental health care, and it’s gaining traction."

As Keck looks back at Lindner Center of HOPE’s first decade, he is grateful for a board of directors that is so clearly committed to and informed about mental health needs throughout the community. "When we’ve added services, its always been because we’ve been paying close attention to emerging mental health needs. We have a great research institute here, and that program has generated nearly 100 scientific articles, secured substantial grant funding and has made real contributions regarding the genetic connection to mental health. We are never done looking for better ways to help more people and help them rapidly."

The center’s first decade has also been challenging because the demand for mental health services in Greater Cincinnati, as in other parts of the country, is substantial, yet reimbursement for high-quality mental health care is insubstantial, Keck notes. Another ongoing hurdle is recruiting and retaining top doctors.

"There is a national, regional and local shortage of psychiatrists and mental health providers," Keck explains. "We’ve been successful in getting great doctors here, but it is a perpetual challenge."

A Decade of Change, Growth

"This place has been in a state of constant change – as well as growth – in terms of programming offered, patients treated, and lives touched positively," says Dr. Paul Crosby, M.D., Lindner Center of HOPE chief medical officer.

In addition to his administrative duties, Crosby provides psychiatric consultation to children, adolescents and young adults and their families. A portion of his time is spent treating patients referred to Lindner Center of HOPE’s Sibcy House and Williams House units for comprehensive diagnostic assessment and treatment. He founded the Center for Attentional Disorders in 2010, consolidating and coordinating efforts to provide the best possible assessment and treatment for ADD/ADHD, and the conditions that often accompany that diagnosis, including anxiety and mood disorders, learning disabilities and substance use disorders.

"The government, law enforcement – the whole system is starting to react to the opioid crisis right now," Crosby observes. "Lindner Center of HOPE has the advantage of being small enough that we can be flexible and nimble enough to react to changes like this. But at the same time, we’re big enough and fortunate enough to be supported by a generous community of donors."

In Crosby’s opinion, Lindner Center of HOPE is the best place in the country to practice psychiatry because of the strong support for the center’s core vision – to alleviate suffering and save lives – from the top of the organization down. "That’s what we’re all about here – meaningful intervention in someone’s life, using the expertise we’ve all gained throughout our training and continuing to refine and improve our skills as we go on."

When Lindner Center of HOPE opened, it was the first freestanding private psychiatric facility in the region, possibly the state. "That’s hard to imagine, now that psychiatric hospitals seem to be popping up all over the place," Crosby adds. "But we had a revolutionary idea at the time. The feeling was we were breaking new ground and ushering in a new era in mental health services. We realize now how right we were about that. I think we maintain our individuality, stand out from the rest, because we combine the best things about medicine and emotional health with our primary focus on providing very good care, making as meaningful an impact on the community as we can."

Lindner Center of HOPE is a wonderful place to work and to serve, he adds. "The longer we’re around, the more lives we impact positively, and that’s why we do what we do every day."

No Longer a Taboo Topic

With an estimated 1 in 5 individuals suffering from mental illness at some point in their lives, the issue is more apt to be at the forefront of today’s ongoing mental health care dialogue than it was a decade ago. And that’s good news to Lindner Center of HOPE Clinical Director of Outpatient Services Charles F. Brady, Ph.D., ABPP. He also serves as the director of the center’s Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety Treatment Program and oversees Life Skills Development services.

"I was on board for a year and a half before we opened the doors," recalls Brady. "One of the things we wanted to focus on was making Lindner Center of HOPE the type of place that, without blinking an eye, we’d recommend to a best friend or family member as the place to get great help getting out of the difficulties they’re facing and back to being happy to be living."

Clearly, their focus efforts were successful.

"It used to be that if I was at a party meeting people for the first time, and I told them I was a psychologist, they didn’t seem to want to talk much," Brady recalls. "But since I’ve been at Lindner Center of HOPE, people are more apt to say, ‘Oh, the Lindner Center! They helped my uncle, or my cousin.’ We’re now a conversation starter. It warms my heart that people feel more comfortable talking about mental health issues, and I give the Lindners lots of credit not only for supporting us in what we do but getting the message out, because mental illness affects just about every family."

Saving Adam

Terrified and incredibly depressed.

There is no other way to describe how Betsy and Neil felt when their 20-year-old son, Adam, voluntarily entered Lindner Center of HOPE’s Sibcy House 28-day assessment and treatment program five years ago. But the minute they walked through the door, they knew the Lindner team was there to help.

Betsy, realizing her son’s drug and alcohol issues were worsening, had called Lindner Center of HOPE based on a recommendation from a family member. "I picked up the phone and called them, and they immediately connected me with a social worker. She was calm and helpful. It was an instant, ‘We got ya! Here’s how this works.’ There aren’t enough words to adequately express my feelings for the center. I truly believe if Adam hadn’t entered treatment there, he would definitely be in jail or dead."

Instead, thankfully, Adam is a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati. His parents are proud of their son’s accomplishment, a milestone that took him a while to reach due to his drug use and subsequent emotional issues. Betsy and Neil are happy for their son, yes, but one of the hard truths they learned at Lindner Center of HOPE is that Adam’s drug and alcohol problems will never go away completely.

"Still and always, it will be one day at a time for Adam," says Betsy. But the quality treatment provided Adam, and the professional after-treatment follow-up, give Betsy, Neil and Adam hope.

Especially Adam.

He has come a long way since the night he sat on the floor of his apartment and cried, saying to his parents for the first time, "I need help, please help me." Adam is where he is today because he was finally ready to get better, and he has worked diligently to get better with the tools the Lindner Center shared with him, Betsy points out. As Adam told his father after completing his treatment at Sibcy House, "I realize I have potential now."

Adam is one of an estimated 30,000 people whose lives have been positively impacted by Lindner Center of HOPE over the past 10 years. To read more about Adam and his journey from his parents’ perspective, or about other patients’ and their experiences, visit www.lindnercenterofhope.org/treatment-options/residential/#1490374128786-07a70795-d15a.

A Decade of Leadership in Mental Health Treatment

Lindner Center of HOPE, a nonprofit, comprehensive mental health center and global leader in offering state-of-the-science diagnosis and treatment, is one of the first centers designed as a fully integrated system of care to address deficiencies in mental health care as identified by the Institute of Medicine. Innovative inpatient and outpatient programs, in partnership with UC Health and Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center, has served nearly 30,000 patients locally and from around the world. A leader in research and collaborations that are advancing the field and positioning Cincinnati as a national leader in mental health care, Lindner Center of HOPE treats mood and anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, substance and behavioral addictions, co-occurring conditions, schizophrenia and related conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, and adolescents’ and women’s mental health issues.

By the Numbers

• More than 7,400 patients have received hospital care

• More than 19,000 people have received approximately 279,000 outpatient practice, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient services

• More than 1,300 patients have received care in Sibcy House and Williams House, the center’s short-term residential programs

• More than 900 patients have received advanced neuromodulation services, including Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

The Research Institute at the Lindner Center of HOPE

Lindner Center of HOPE, in affiliation with the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine conducts advanced research in genetics, brain imaging, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy and health service delivery. The institute’s clinician-scientists have:

• Published more than 800 scientific articles

• Received more than $15 million in grants at UC and $5.5 million in grants since opening

• Been instrumental in bringing six new drugs to market for depression, bipolar disorder and eating disorders to improve clinical outcomes and safety

Lindner Center of HOPE is located at 4075 Old Western Row Road, Mason, OH 45040. For more information, call 513.536.4673 or visit www.lindnercenterofhope.org.