Karasu, T. Byram 1935–

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Karasu, T. Byram 1935–

(Toksoz Byram Karasu)

PERSONAL: Born February 11, 1935, in Erzurum, Turkey; came to the United States in 1966, naturalized citizen, 1971; son of Cemil (a lawyer and writer) and Sabina (a musician) Karasu; married Sylvia Rabson (a child psychiatrist), May 30, 1976. Education: Istanbul School of Medicine, M.D., 1959.

ADDRESSES: Office—Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Belfer Bldg., Rm. 402, Bronx, NY 10461. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Psychiatrist, educator, and writer. St. Jeanne D'Arc Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, junior intern in surgery, 1963–64; St. John General Hospital, New Brunswick, Canada, senior rotating intern, 1964–65; Fairfield Hill Hospital, New Haven, CT, resident, 1966–67; Yale-New Haven Medical Center, New Haven, resident, 1967–68; Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, chief resident, 1968–69; Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, instructor, 1969–71, assistant professor, 1971–76, associate professor, 1976–81, professor of psychiatry, beginning 1981, currently Silverman Professor of Psychiatry and university chairman of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Visiting professor, scholar, and titled lecturer at many academic institutions, including: Hamilton Ford Lecturer at the Titus Harris Society; Harvard Bicentennial Lecturer at McLean Hospital; Hincks Memorial Lecturer at McMaster University; Ralph M. Patterson Memorial Lecturer at Ohio State University; Frederick L. Weninger Lectureship at the University of Pittsburgh; twice Royal College Speaker at the Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto; Winkelman Lecturer at the Philadelphia Psychiatric Center; Frank O. Shobe Lecturer at Washington University; Nolan D.C. Lewis Visiting Professor and Scholar at the Carrier Foundation; Alfred H. Stanton Lectureship at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital; Jeffrey Greenbaum Memorial Lecture at Long Island Jewish Medical Center/Hillside Hospital; Suzanne Housman Memorial Lecturer at the New York University Medical Center; Jacob E. Finesinger Lecturer at the University of Maryland at Baltimore; and the Harry Stack Sullivan Speaker at Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital.

MEMBER: American Psychiatric Association (distinguished life fellow), American Medical Association, American Psychosomatic Society, American Orthopsychiatric Association (fellow), American Psychopathological Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for the Advancement of Psychotherapy, Association for Academic Psychiatry, Directors of Psychiatry, Society for Psychotherapy Research, Societe Medico-Psychologique.

AWARDS, HONORS: Fellow of Yale University, 1969.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with R.I. Steinmuller) Psychotherapeutics in Medicine, Grune, 1978.

(Editor, with Leopold Bellak, and contributor) Specialized Techniques in Individual Psychotherapy, Brunner, 1980.

The Psychosocial Therapies: Part II of the Psychiatric Therapies, The Association (Washington, DC), 1984.

The Somatic Therapies: Part I of the Psychiatric Therapies, The Association (Washington, DC), 1984.

Psychotherapy for Depression, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1990.

Wisdom in the Practice of Psychotherapy, Basic Books (New York), 1992.

Deconstruction of Psychotherapy, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1996.

The Psychotherapist's Interventions: Integrating Psychodynamic Perspectives in Clinical Practice, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1998.

The Psychotherapist as Healer, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 2001.

The Art of Serenity: The Path to a Joyful Life in the Best and Worst of Times, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

(With wife, Sylvia R. Karasu) The Art of Marriage Maintenance, J. Aronson (Lanham, MD), 2005.

The Spirit of Happiness: Discovering God's Purpose for Your Life, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2006.

Of God and Madness, J. Aronson (Lanham, MD), 2006.

Contributor to psychiatry journals, including the American Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, Hospital & Community Psychiatry, and Psychiatric Annals. Editor-in-chief, American Journal of Psychotherapy.

SIDELIGHTS: Psychiatrist T. Byram Karasu once told CA: "I am interested in different conceptualizations of the fundamental nature of man and his ills, therapeutic processes or change agents, basic nature of the therapeutic relationship and ethics of psychotherapy in terms of the interface between science and art, and the basic principles of therapeutic communication."

Karasu, who has authored or coauthored numerous books about psychiatry, is also coauthor with his wife, Sylvia R. Karasu, of The Art of Marriage Maintenance. The book explores how men and women differ both psychologically and biologically and how various stages of a marriage and life can place stresses on the husband-wife relationship. For example, the authors discuss how marriages differ during pregnancy, child rearing, and on through midlife and illness. A Reference & Research Book News contributor noted that the authors provide "plentiful examples and some pointed and sometimes surprising quotes." In his book The Spirit of Happiness: Discovering God's Purpose for Your Life, Karasu draws largely from the Bible to discuss how people can live godly lives both in the personal and professional realms. He also examines how to maintain a godly outlook even in times of intense stress or while suffering from personal problems. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that the author's "observations about common emotional and spiritual pitfalls can be helpful."