Adolph Stern (1879- 20 August 1958 or 22 August 1958) was an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who is credited with producing the first formal account of

Borderline personality Borderline personality disorder (BPD), also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), is a personality disorder characterized by a long-term pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, distorted sense of self, and strong ...

. He worked with this group who he felt did not respond well to classical psychoanalytic work. He argued that histories of trauma were very common and that more active and supportive techniques were required He arrived in the United States at the age of 4 from Hungary. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1898 from City University of New York and his MD 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 Manhatt ...

. He then worked for 3 years as a resident physician at

Kings Park Psychiatric Center The Kings Park Psychiatric Center, known by Kings Park locals as "The Psych Center", is a former state-run psychiatric hospital located in Kings Park, New York. It operated from 1885 until 1996, when the State of New York closed the facility, ...

. He then practiced in New York in Neurology and psychiatry. He first became interested in

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 1910 and by 1915 had joined the

American Psychoanalytic Association The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) is an association of psychoanalysts in the United States. APsaA serves as a scientific and professional organization with a focus on education, research, and membership development. APsaA comprises ...

. From 1914 to 1917 he was affiliated with the Neurological and Vanderbilt Clinic. In 1920 he was analysed by

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...

. 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 The New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute — founded in 1911 by Dr. Abraham A. Brill — is the oldest psychoanalytic organization in the United States. The charter members were: Louis Edward Bisch, Brill, Horace Westlake Frink, Fre ...

on three separate occasions 1922–1923, 1924–1925, and 1940–1942. Since the foundation of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute in 1931 he was an instructor there and an emeritus instructor at the time of his death. He died on 20 or 22 August 1958 following a short illness, whilst vacationing in his holiday home in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Other sources state he died of a heart attack in

Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many unive ...

. Prior to his death he lived on 134 West Fiftyfifth 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. https://doi.org/10.1177/000306515700500211

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Adolph 1879 births 1958 deaths American psychoanalysts Borderline personality disorder experts Analysands of Sigmund Freud American psychiatrists Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni City College of New York alumni