Adolph Stern - Misplaced Pages

Adolph Stern (1879- 20 August 1958 or 22 August 1958) was an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He is credited with providing the first formal account of what he termed “Borderline Group,” which later became known as borderline personality disorder.

Life

Adolph Stern arrived in the United States at the age of 4 from Hungary. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1898 from City University of New York and his MD from Columbia University. He then worked for 3 years as a resident physician at Kings Park Psychiatric Center. He then practiced in New York in Neurology and psychiatry. He first became interested in psychoanalysis in 1910, and by 1915 had joined the American Psychoanalytic Association. From 1914 to 1917 he was affiliated with the Neurological and Vanderbilt Clinic. In 1920 he was analysed by Sigmund Freud. Between 1920 and 1922 he was co-chief of the Mental Hygiene department of the Mount Sinai Hospital alongside Dr Oberndorf.

From 1927 to 1928 he was president of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He was also president of the New York Psychoanalytic Society on three separate occasions 1922–1923, 1924–1925, and 1940–1942. From the foundation of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute in 1931 he was an instructor there, and was an emeritus instructor at the time of his death.

Adolph Stern identified the “borderline group” of patients as those who do not fit into psychotic or psychoneurotic categories, often exhibiting symptoms such as narcissism, psychic rigidity, and profound feelings of inferiority. Stern worked with patients he classified as part of the “borderline group,” who he felt did not respond well to traditional psychoanalytic therapy (Stern, 1938). He observed that these patients often had histories of trauma, leading him to advocate for more active and supportive techniques.These patients typically experience acute neuroses like anxiety and depression. Stern emphasizes the need for prolonged supportive treatment before traditional psychoanalytic techniques can be effectively applied (Stern, 1938). He highlights the intense dependency and emotional immaturity of these patients, which complicates their engagement in therapy. By focusing on the transference relationship, therapists can help these patients develop healthier coping mechanisms and emotional maturity, ultimately enhancing the therapeutic process (Stern, 1938).

Death

He died on 20 or 22 August 1958 following a short illness, whilst vacationing in his holiday home in New Jersey. Other sources state he died of a heart attack in Lenox Hill Hospital. Prior to his death he lived on 134 West Fifty-fifth Street, New York. He was survived by his widow Mamie and brothers John, Albert, Benjamin, and Peter.

Important works

Adolph Stern (1938) "Psychoanalytic Investigation of and Therapy in the Border Line Group of Neuroses", The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 7:4, 467–489, doi:10.1080/21674086.1938.11925367
Adolph Stern (1957). "The Transference in the Borderline Group of Neuroses", Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 5(2), 348–350. doi:10.1177/000306515700500211

References

^ "PEP | Browse | Read - Adolph Stern—1879-1958". pep-web.org. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
^ Shoenfeld, Dudley D. (April 1959). "In Memoriam". Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 7 (2): 381–383. doi:10.1177/000306515900700212. ISSN 0003-0651. PMID 13641079. S2CID 221012609.
^ "DR. ADOLPH STERN 'DIES: ' PSYCHOANALYST HERE WAS 79-I STUDIED UNDER FREUD". New York Times. 23 August 1958. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
^ Jones, David W. (July 2023). "A history of borderline: disorder at the heart of psychiatry". Journal of Psychosocial Studies. 16 (2): 117–134. doi:10.1332/147867323X16871713092130. ISSN 1478-6737.
Health (UK), National Collaborating Centre for Mental (2009), "BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER", Borderline Personality Disorder: Treatment and Management, British Psychological Society (UK), retrieved 2023-08-20
Bateman, Anthony W. (2011), "Borderline personality disorder.", History of psychotherapy: Continuity and change (2nd ed.)., Washington: American Psychological Association, pp. 588–600, doi:10.1037/12353-037, ISBN 978-1-4338-0762-6, retrieved 2023-08-20

Psychotherapy

Schools

Psychodynamic	Adlerian therapy Analytical therapy Mentalization-based treatment Psychoanalysis Transference focused psychotherapy
Cognitive and behavioral	Clinical behavior analysis Acceptance and commitment therapy Functional analytic psychotherapy Cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive therapy Dialectical behavior therapy Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy Rational emotive behavior therapy
Humanistic	Emotionally focused therapy Existential therapy Focusing Gestalt therapy Logotherapy Person-centered therapy
Other	Art therapy Dance therapy Feminist therapy Music therapy Narrative therapy Play therapy Reality therapy Systemic therapy Transactional analysis List
Integrative	Eclectic psychotherapy Multimodal therapy Transtheoretical model

Approaches

Research

Techniques

Behaviour therapy	Aversion therapy Chaining Contingency management Shaping Stimulus control Token economy Counterconditioning Desensitization/Exposure therapy Systematic desensitization
Other individual therapy	Autogenic training Biofeedback Clean language Cognitive restructuring Emotion regulation Affect labeling Free association Homework Hypnotherapy Modeling
Group psychotherapy	Co-therapy Couples therapy Family therapy Psychodrama Sensitivity training

People

Associations

Categories: