Thomas Forrest Main (1911–1990) was a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

and

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 ...

who coined the term '

therapeutic community Therapeutic community is a participative, group-based approach to long-term mental illness, personality disorders and drug addiction. The approach was usually residential, with the clients and therapists living together, but increasingly residentia ...

'. He is particularly remembered for his often cited paper, ''The Ailment'' (1957).

Life

Thomas Main was born on 25 February 1911 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, where his father was a mine manager who had emigrated there from England. At the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

his mother returned to England with Thomas and his two sisters Isabella and Mary, while his father joined the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

. Main was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne before studying medicine at Durham University, graduating in 1933 and becoming a doctor in 1938. Specializing in psychiatry, he gained a Diploma in Psychological Medicine from Dublin in 1936. In 1937 he married Agnes Mary (Molly) McHaffie who also graduated in medicine at Durham University and who also became a psychoanalyst.XP07A - Main, Thomas Forrest (1911-1990) psychiatrist and psychoanalyst
/ref> They had three daughters and a son, Jennifer (Johns), Deborah (Hutchinson), Ursula (Kretzschmar) and Andrew. Main worked as superintendent at Gateshead Mental Hospital. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he joined the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

as an adviser in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial p ...

, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel and working at the Northfield Army Hospital for the treatment of war neuroses. The work conducted at Northfield is considered by many psychiatrists to have been the first example of an intentional therapeutic community. The principles developed at Northfield were also developed and adapted at Civil Resettlement Units established at the end of the war to help returning

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

to adapt back to civilian society and for civilians to adapt to having these men back amongst them. The term "therapeutic community" was coined by Lt. Col. Main in his 1946 paper, "The hospital as a therapeutic institution", and subsequently developed by others including

Maxwell Jones Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of ...

, R. D. Laing at the

Philadelphia Association The Philadelphia Association is a UK charity concerned with the understanding and relief of mental suffering. It was founded in 1965 by the radical psychiatrist and psychoanalyst R. D. Laing along with fellow psychiatrists David Cooper, Joseph ...

David Cooper David Cooper may refer to: Sports * David Cooper (Indian cricketer) (born 1923) * Dave Cooper (rugby league) (fl. 1960s–1970s), Australian rugby league player * Davie Cooper (1956–1995), Scottish footballer * David Cooper (equestrian) (born 197 ...

, and by Joshua Bierer. After the war Main joined the Cassel Hospital, as medical director in 1946 and continued working there for the next thirty years. Training as a psychoanalyst under Michael Balint, he was supervised by

Anna Freud Anna Freud (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contribu ...

Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (née Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Klein suggested th ...

and Paula Heimann. In 1974 he co-founded with Michael Balint the charitable ''Institute of Psychosexual Medicine'' in London. He served as its Life President. He also served as vice-president of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

, and was a co-editor of the '' British Journal of Medical Psychology''. He died in

Barnes, London Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west south ...

on 29 May 1990, aged 79. His papers are held in the Archive of the

British Psychoanalytic Society The British Psychoanalytical Society was founded by the British neurologist Ernest Jones as the London Psychoanalytical Society on 30 October 1913. It is one of two organizations in Britain training psychoanalysts, the other being the British ...

, whose member he was for many years.Tom Main collection (P07)
/ref>

Works

* ''The hospital as a therapeutic institution'' * ''The Ailment and other Psycho-Analytical Essays'', ed. Jennifer Johns, London: Free Association Books, 1989. . The noted essay, ''The Ailment'', is a report of Main's detailed study of the feelings aroused in a team of nurses caring for a group of psychiatric patients with low potential for recovery. He found that a sedative would be used in the management of a patient "only at the moment when the nurse had reached the limit of her human resources and was no longer able to stand the patient’s problems without anxiety, impatience, guilt, anger or despair". * ''Mothers with children on a psychiatric unit'' * ''A fragment on mothering'' * ''Meanings of madness : psychiatry comes of age''

References

External links

The Institute of Psychosexual Medicine, official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Main, Tom Analysands of Michael Balint British Army personnel of World War II British psychologists British psychoanalysts English psychiatrists 1911 births 1990 deaths 20th-century British medical doctors 20th-century psychologists Group psychotherapists Object relations theorists People from Johannesburg People from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Royal Army Medical Corps officers South African people of British descent Therapeutic community Alumni of Durham University College of Medicine

Life

Works

References

Further reading

External links