Introducing The Dr. K Video Series

By Sarah Klagsbrun, MD, DFAPA, DFAACAP

As Executive Medical Director of Four Winds Hospitals, and a board certified child & adolescent and adult psychiatrist, I created the Ask Dr. K video series to answer questions I get asked by patients and families on a daily basis. I enjoy writing my monthly newsletter but I feel there is something more personal about hearing information in a more informal conversational style. Plus, Oliver, the hospital therapy dog whom I rescued, is in every video looking adorable — although sometimes napping as he comes with me to all the units so often needs a midday nap. 

It can be overwhelming admitting yourself or a loved one into an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Patients and families want and should know what to expect, starting with the admissions process, through the treatment process, ending with the discharge process. I am also incredibly proud to share the care the Four Winds staff give to each patient admitted to Four Winds and to be able to introduce staff in the video series as well. Four Winds Hospitals were both founded by my father Dr. Sam Klagsbrun 50 years ago. Four Winds is one of the few  private hospitals left and patients and families need to know that when you get admitted to Four Winds Hospital you become part of our Four Winds family. That means whatever treatment we recommend to our patients is the exact treatment we would recommend if treating an actual family member. 

The Ask Dr. K series will not only provide an opportunity to get to know Four Winds Hospitals better - seeing the hospitals up close, meeting staff, learning about our treatment philosophy - but also will provide information about child and adult psychiatric illnesses. 

At Four Winds Hospitals, we provide different types of therapies for our patients such as: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Collaborative Problem Solving, and Applied Behavioral Analysis. Patients and families want to know about these different types of therapies — how do we teach them to our patients and how do they help.

Patients and parents may wish to learn more about psychiatric diagnoses - adhd, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, oppositional defiant disorder, trauma. A patient or parent might wonder about what their child’s behaviors might mean and what kind of treatment might be helpful. 

Medications can be an important part of treatment that can help patients learn coping skills needed to handle outside stressors upon discharge and be able to help them return back to school or work. Information about medications can be overwhelming and confusing given there are many different classes of psychiatric medications such as: stimulants, alpha-agonists, antidepressants, atypical and typical anti-psychotic medications, traditional mood stabilizers, and others. Patients and parents want to know why a practitioner recommends a certain class of medication or combination. And, within each group of medications, patients and families need to understand why a certain medication was chosen over another one. Sometimes patients might be doing poorly on one medication appearing to do poorly on all their medications. Given how complicated treating psychiatric illnesses, especially in developing children, I am doing an entire series of the classes of medications as well as each one. While inpatient, patients learn about the different types of medications during weekly  medication group but patients may appreciate a refresher video they can watch from home once discharged. Families often need time to absorb information about medications, as sometimes a child or adult has never been on a psychiatric medication or ever admitted to an inpatient hospital. Families can also watch my videos to learn about  specific medications they or their child might be prescribed. 

The Ask Dr. K video series was created to provide information that patients, parents, families, pediatricians, teachers, therapists and any professional interested in children’s mental health and adult mental health might find helpful.

Four Winds Saratoga

30 Crescent Avenue
Saratoga Springs, NY  12866

Phone: 518-584-3600
Toll-Free: 1-800-888-5448