Columbia University Donates $1M for Mental Health for DV Victims

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) announced a $1 million donation from the Chapman Perelman Foundation in support of a new program that will provide mental health services to victims of domestic violence. The gift establishes a collaboration between Columbia Psychiatry and the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence (OCDV) by providing services at the New York City Family Justice Center, Bronx (BXFJC), in addition to the legal and social services currently available through the OCDV in partnership with the Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC.

"Thanks to the generosity of the Chapman Perelman Foundation, there will now be a partnership between Columbia University Medical Center and the Bronx Family Justice Center, which will enhance the organization's work with a new program for mental health services," said New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray, Chair of the Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC. "Too often, people focus on the physical scars of domestic violence, but forget that emotional and mental scars can run even deeper. The mental health service initiative is a prime example of what can be accomplished when public and private institutions work together. That is the fundamental goal of the Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC and we are proud that this essential service will now be available to those in need."

This innovative program will provide on-site clinical psychiatric services at BXFJC to victims of domestic violence in an underserved community, by establishing the Chapman Perelman Fellowship at Columbia. This pioneering fellowship is the first of its kind. The Fellow, along with Columbia Psychiatry faculty members Catherine Monk, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Fitelson, M.D., are partnering with service providers at BXFJC to provide comprehensive and integrated care for families affected by domestic violence. Expanded services will offer support to victims via further counseling and therapy, while the Columbia team will also present a training curriculum on mental health issues and interpersonal violence for other service providers at the BXFJC.

The collaboration between the Department of Psychiatry and BXFJC was spearheaded by Anna Chapman M.D., a faculty member at Columbia's Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, and an advocate for mental health services, and Jeffrey Lieberman M.D., Columbia's Chair of Psychiatry. In 2012, when Chapman learned of the apparent lack of psychiatric support available to victims of domestic violence, she began working closely with the city to create this much-needed program.

The New York City Family Justice Initiative is a public-private initiative lead by the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence. The Centers, located in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens are designed to bring together under one roof over 60 domestic violence professionals in a collaborative effort to provide domestic violence victims and children greater support and accessibility to services and resources. This collaborative effort makes the entire process less intimidating to victims and their children and more efficient and effective for everyone involved.

"One of the major gaps in services that domestic violence survivors often face is quality mental health services to help them deal with the trauma they have experienced," said Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence Commissioner Rosemonde Pierre-Louis. "This invaluable program will provide the psychological support needed by many of our clients and will help them take the next step in healing and living a life free from violence."

Mayumi Okuda Benavides M.D. has been named the first Chapman Perelman Fellow. Benavides was born in Colombia and received her medical degree from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota. She completed her psychiatry residency at Columbia University, where she was trained in pharmacologic management of psychiatric illness, and evidence-based psychotherapeutic approaches.

"Our goal is to provide each person with the best possible care while contributing to a greater understanding of the generational patterns that frequently persist around issues of domestic violence, in order to break the cycle of violence," said Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D., chair of CUMC's Department of Psychiatry. "There is enormous potential for this partnership to address an unmet public health need and contribute positively to the overall health and wellbeing of troubled families.

The collaboration will draw on an array of Columbia resources, including the CUMC Women's Program, a clinical and research program developed by the Department of Psychiatry in collaboration with the Division of Child Psychiatry and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Sackler Parent-Infant Program at Columbia's Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, which conducts clinical research dedicated to the science of infant intervention services.

"Domestic violence has traditionally been approached as a social issue, and not from a mental health perspective," said Chapman. "I believe that in order to combat this devastating problem most effectively, it is crucial to incorporate the services of psychiatrists and psychologists, who are expertly trained to interpret and help manage the complex psychodynamics surrounding domestic violence. The Chapman Perelman Foundation is proud to enable this unique collaboration between the Bronx Family Justice Center and the Columbia Department of Psychiatry, which we hope will enhance the multitude of services that the FJC provides, and foster a better understanding of how to help future generations affected by domestic violence."

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