The Clinic

The Clifford Beers Clinic is a mental health clinic serving children and families in the Greater New Haven area.  Offering a wide variety of programs and services – from individual, group and family therapy to providing a family with complete wraparound care – the Clinic uses a culturally competent and trauma-informed approach to care as it strives to ensure the children and families it serves live healthy, successful lives supported by a strong community.

A Brief History

One man's experience provided the framework for not only the Clifford Beers Clinic but also the overall delivery of outpatient mental health care:

In 1908, and following his commitment to a Connecticut state mental asylum, New Haven Resident and Yale University graduate Clifford Whittingham Beers published his autobiography, A Mind That Found Itself.  The book, which chronicles Beers’ mistreatment as well as the mistreatment of his fellow committed inmates, was an instant success and served as the launching point for a national discussion on the treatment of those suffering from mental illness.  

Beers’ authorship, combined with his advocacy for proper treatment of the mentally ill, resulted in what is today called outpatient therapy.  This type of treatment began by setting aside two rooms every Thursday afternoon in the New Haven Dispensary for “mental hygiene treatment.”  Those rooms evolved into a large, three-story building located at 93 Edwards Street, New Haven, Connecticut, with four satellite locations and four school-based clinics, all within the Greater New Haven area.  Today, The Clinic offers a variety of services and programs designed to help children and families who have suffered trauma.

For a graphic look at the evolution of Clifford Beers Clinic, click here to see the Clifford Beers Clinic timeline.