Nathan W. Ackerman (November 22, 1908,

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

– June 12, 1971, New York) was an American psychiatrist,

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

, and one of the most important pioneers of the field of

family therapy Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relations ...

. He also was an expert in marriage counselling.

Biography

Ackerman was born to David Ackerman and Bertha Greenberg, both pharmacists. Ackerman obtained his

medical degree A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into specia ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1933. He assumed the post of chief psychiatrist at the ''Menninger Child Guidance Clinic'' (see Menninger Foundation) in 1937. In 1955, he contributed to the founding of the American Academy of

Psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

. In 1957 he founded the ''Family Mental Health Clinic'' in New York, and the ''Family Institute'' in 1960, which was later renamed the Ackerman Institute after his death in New York in 1971. In 1961 he co-founded the first ever family therapy journal ''

Family Process ''Family Process'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on family system issues, including policy and applied practice. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Family Process Institute. Since 2007, the journ ...

'' with Donald deAvila Jackson and Jay Haley. Ackerman attended a public school in New York City. In 1929 he was awarded a B.A. from Columbia University, and in 1933 earned his M.D. from the same university. After a short spell (1933–34) as an intern at the Montefiore Hospital in New York, he interned at the Menninger Clinic and Sanitorium in Topeka, Kansas. He joined their psychiatric staff in 1935.

Works

Ackerman greatly influenced and concentrated on the study on psychosexual stages on character formation and was one of the first clinicians to attempt to integrate insights from individual psychotherapy with the then newer ideas from systems theory. He is best known for his contribution to the development of the psychodynamic approach to

. With regards to family therapy, Ackerman incorporated the idea of "the family being a social and emotional unit." His main focuses, with respect to family therapy, were intergenerational ties and conflicts, the influence of long-term social change impacting the family, the developmental stages of the family as a single unit, the importance of emotion within the family structure, and equal amounts of authority among parents.

Bibliography

* * *Ackerman, N.W. (1958)
''The Psychodynamics of Family Life.''
Basic Books: New York. *Ackerman, N.W., Beatman, F.L. & Sherman, S.N. (Eds.) (1961)
''Exploring the base for family therapy: papers from the M. Robert Gomberg Memorial Conference (held on June 2 and 3 1960, at the Academy of Medicine, New York, N.Y.)''
Family Service Association of America: New York. *Ackerman, N.W. (1962)
Family Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis: The Implications of Difference.
''Family Process.'' 1 (1) pp. 30–43, March 1962. *Ackerman, N.W. (1966)
''Treating the Troubled Family.''"> ''Treating the Troubled Family.''
Basic Books: New York. *Ackerman, N.W. (1970)
''Family process.''
Basic Books: New York. *Ackerman, N.W., co-written with Javad Nurbakhsh and Hamideh Jahangiri (2019).

Death

Nathan Ackerman died of a heart attack in 1971 in

Putnam Valley, New York Putnam Valley is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. The population was 11,809 at the 2010 census. Its location is northeast of New York City, in the southwestern part of Putnam County.Putnam Valley calls itself the "Town of Lakes ...

References

External links