News

BY Lois T. Flaherty, M.D.

James F. Masterson, M.D.

James F. Masterson died at the age of 84 on April 12 in Greenwich Connecticut from complications of pneumonia. He was a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was one of the founders of ASAP and was Past-President of the New York SAP. He often spoke at our meetings and contributed to the Annals. He was a Schonfeld Award winner in 2001. He was well known as an expert on narcissism and borderline personality disorder, and described manifestations of these conditions throughout the life cycle, including in adolescence.  He was among the first, along with Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg, to apply object relations theory to the understanding and treatment of personality disorders, maintaining that these disorders had their roots in infancy and early mother-child relationships. Dr. Masterson believed that these disorders crucially involve the conflict between a person’s two “selves”: the false self, who the very young child constructs to please the mother, and the true self.

An article in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_F._Masterson ) states:

In 1993 Masterson proposed two categories for pathological narcissism, exhibitionist and closet. Both fail to adequately develop an age- and phase- appropriate self because of defects in the quality of psychological nurturing provided, usually by the mother. The exhibitionist narcissist is the one described in DSM-IV and differs from the closet narcissist in several important ways.

The closet narcissist is more likely to be described as having a deflated, inadequate self perception and greater awareness of emptiness within. The exhibitionist narcissist would be described as having an inflated, grandiose self perception with little or no conscious awareness of the emptiness within. Such a person would assume that this condition was normal and that others were just like them.

The closet narcissist seeks constant approval from others and appears similar to the borderline in the need to please others. The exhibitionist narcissist seeks perfect admiration all the time from others.

In 1977 Masterson established The Masterson Institute for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in New York. The institute offers psychoanalytic training at its headquarters in Manhattan, its West Coast branch in San Francisco and, via the Internet, locations around the world. He was long associated with the Payne Whitney Clinic, where he headed the adolescent program, and at his death he was clinical professor emeritus of psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

Dr. Masterson, authored many books, including “The Psychiatric Dilemma of Adolescence” (Little, Brown, 1967).

The New York Times obituary on April 18 noted. “Dr. Masterson became so well known as an expert on narcissism that he sometimes attracted patients for whom only a high-profile therapist would do — in other words, narcissists. In the 1980s, after The New York Times cited him as an authority on the disorder, he received a dozen calls from people wanting treatment.

Too busy to accept new patients, Dr. Masterson referred the callers to his associates. As The Times reported in 1988, not a single one made an appointment.” <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/us/19masterson.html>.

Dr. Masterson is survived by his wife, Patricia, whom he married in 1949; two sons, Jim and Richard; a brother, Richard; a sister, Joan Masterson; and three grandchildren. We will miss him.

Michael G. Kalogerakis, M.D.

Lois Flaherty, M.D. and Shelley Doctors

Dr. Michael G. Kalogerakis, 83, died suddenly on March 14 while on vacation in Florida. A psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, he was Past-President of the American Society of Adolescent Psychiatry (1978-1979) and winner of the Schonfeld Award. He also served two terms as President of the International Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology. He was a beloved friend, colleague and mentor to many in both organizations.

In addition, Mike, a long-time New Yorker, was the former Associate Commissioner for Children and Youth, at the New York State Office of Mental Health.  As Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine, and the former Director of Adolescent Services at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, he trained a generation of young psychiatrists, stimulating in many a passion for the study of adolescence and the pursuit of lifelong careers as adolescent psychotherapists.

Mike served as a Board member for 25 years for the Citizen’s Committee for Children of New York, the oldest child advocacy organization in the U.S., and was President of the Kenworthy-Swift Foundation.  Michael worked tirelessly on task forces and committees of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, as well as on various advisory committees, in his ceaseless efforts to improve services to violent and/or delinquent adolescents who came to the attention to the juvenile justice system.  Dr. Kalogerakis wrote over thirty book chapters and articles and was the editor of The Handbook of Psychiatric Practice in the Juvenile Court, published by the American Psychiatric Press, Washington, D.C., in 1992.

His dedication to adolescents influenced countless individuals and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.  Mike’s infectious enthusiasm won him friends wherever he went.  It didn’t take long before he was able to speak to new friends in their own language–Spanish, Portuguese, French, Greek, and others we’re certain he would have modestly asked us to omit from mention.  Dan Offer, writing in the New York Times online guestbook for Mike, expressed the feelings of many in saying, “I had the privilege of knowing Mike as a colleague and friend for at least 40 years. We shared joint interests in adolescent psychiatry and I considered him one of the wisest and most vivacious persons that I have ever known. We would always meet at the national meetings, have coffee or lunch and share experiences, opinions, and yes, of course, jokes. I will miss him.” Mike is survived by his wife Kay and his two sons, Alexi and George and their families. Alexi is a child and adolescent psychiatrist practices in New York; George is a New York Times reporter who chronicled trips with his father, including a 2007 family cruise off the coast of Turkey to celebrate Mike’s 80^th birthday in (Three Generations on One Tiny Ship < http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/travel/06personal.html>).
Everett Dulit, M.D.

Everett Dulit, M.D. a long time member of ASAP passed away on June 2, 2010.   He had been ill for some time but died at home in his bed and surrounded in his last weeks by his wife, children, extended family, and friends.

An absorbing book

In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother’s Suicide (Hardcover)

By Nancy Rappaport, MD, Basic Books, 2009, 320 pages, $25.95

Reviewed by Lois T. Flaherty

This book is an account of the unaccountable – when the author was 4 years old her mother committed suicide. The author was the youngest of 6 children in a prominent Boston family. She and her 5 siblings were raised by her father and a series of mother figures after their mother’s death. The story of her childhood has Dickensian elements but she survived to achieve success in love and in work. This book is an account of her life-long struggle to understand her mother and come to terms with her own traumatization as a result of the cascade of events the suicide set in motion.

Of particular interest to ASAP members will be her descriptions of her adolescent experiences –– she experienced, by any definition, a turmoil-filled adolescence. Psychotherapy played an important role in her overcoming many difficulties, and her descriptions of her therapy from an adolescent’s point of view are worthwhile for any adolescent psychiatrist to read.

Rappaport left no stone unturned in fact-finding – as her mother had been prominent in Boston social circles and politics there was a lot of material available. The book has elements of biography, autobiography and investigative journalism. In a way, the city of Boston is really one of the characters in the story. The parts about Boston politics and history were fascinating.

As another Amazon reviewer, D. Kulick reported, “In Her Wake is a beautiful, powerful memoir about the process of belonging to a family, coming to know oneself, making meaning from the lives of those closest to you, and, ultimately becoming established and grounded in your own identity and life’s mission. We get to know Dr. Rappaport from the inside out, from a frightened child, bewildered and sad about the tragic loss of her mother and confused by her family’s reactions, but also a child who is resilient and is able to develop strong connections with others and see a future for herself. Others who have endured tragic events in their childhood will easily identify with Dr. Rappaport’s journey. It’s more than a memoir though, it’s a tale of hope, connection, forgiveness and learning to forge ahead and make a life of meaning even though there is an emptiness at times. Dr. Rappaport shares how she became a dedicated mother and a child psychiatrist who has dedicated her life to working with children and families affected by adversity. Her book shares how she comes to honor her mother and how her search to know her mother has made her more alive and connected in every part of her life.”

I loved it and found it very absorbing and moving. It reads like a fast-paced novel. But, in addition to the compelling story, the insights are amazing. Using the perspectives of so many different people really adds a lot. I loved the way that Rappaport interweaves her own thoughts and feelings with the narratives of interactions with her family, patients and other people.

There is a beautiful sparseness in her writing and the way in which she shifts from one topic to another is suggestive of actual thought processes, the narrative of an inner life, rather than a historical account.

The book is a good illustration of resilience, a concept that is receiving increased attention, and shows the value of narrative in coming to terms with traumatic experience. This book has already received considerable critical acclaim and I definitely recommend it. An added reason to read it — the author will be speaking at our Annual Meeting in Los Angeles in March!