Frank Ochberg (born 1940), is a
psychiatrist, a pioneer in trauma science, an educator and the editor of the first text on the treatment of
post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...
(PTSD). He is one of the founding fathers of modern psychotraumatology and served on the committee that defined PTSD. He is a graduate of
Harvard and of
Johns Hopkins Medical School
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hos ...
.
Ochberg is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at
Michigan State University, where he has also taught in the College of Human Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the Schools of Journalism and Criminal Justice.
Ochberg has recently devoted much of his time to educating journalists about trauma, and, in recognition, the
Dart Center's Ochberg Fellowship was named for him. Ochberg Fellows, like
Pulitzer Prize-winning writers, must demonstrate exceptional writing skills as well as thorough investigation of their topics.
He is a graduate of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
and
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
medical school. From 1969 to 1979 he was a regional, division, and associate director of the
National Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...
. He then became director of the Michigan Department of Mental Health, a position he held for 3 years, from 1979 to 1981.
Ochberg had created a therapeutic treatment, the
counting method The counting method (CM), also known as Ochberg's counting method, is a therapeutic treatment designed to help with the desensitization of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The method was designed by psychiatrist Frank Ochberg in the ...
, also known as Ochberg's counting method, designed to help with the desensitization of
posttraumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats ...
(PTSD) symptoms.
He had also founded, headed or been part of a number of organizations dealing with
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
and its
treatment, including Gift From Within (founder), Critical Incident Analysis Group (founder) and The
Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma is a resource center and think tank for journalists who cover violence, conflict and tragedy around the world. A project of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, the Dart C ...
(chairman emeritus).
Personal life
Ochberg attended
Camp Rising Sun in 1955 and 1956.
"Affiliated Programs: ARISE"
Louis August Jonas Foundation. Retrieved February 17, 2011
Ochberg has 3 children with Lynn Ochberg, his wife of almost 60 years. They live in Okemos, Michigan, near Michigan State University, where Ochberg has taught in the College of Human Medicine and the Schools of Journalism and Criminal Justice.
Books edited
* Violence and the Struggle for Existence (with Daniels and Gilula), editor (1970, Little Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
)
* Victims of Terrorism (with Soskis), editor (1982, Westview Press)
* Post-traumatic Therapy and Victims of Violence, editor (1988, Brunner Mazel)
* Survivor Psalm
Interviews
* Interview for Gift From Withi
on psychotherapy for chronic PTSD
November 2012
* Mental Help Net'
Wise Counsel Podcast
featured a
interview with Dr. Ochberg
on October 1, 2008
See also
* Robert D. Hare
* Symptoms of victimization
*Counting method The counting method (CM), also known as Ochberg's counting method, is a therapeutic treatment designed to help with the desensitization of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The method was designed by psychiatrist Frank Ochberg in the ...
References
External links
Gift From Within
* http://www.dartcenter.org/fellowships
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochberg, Frank
Traumatologists
1940 births
Living people
Harvard University alumni
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine alumni
Camp Rising Sun alumni