Robert S. Wallerstein (January 28, 1921 – December 21, 2014) was a prominent German-born American

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, 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 bo ...

. He headed the Psychotherapy Research Project of the

Menninger Foundation The Menninger Foundation was founded in 1919 by the Menninger family in Topeka, Kansas. The Menninger Foundation, known locally as Menninger's, consists of a clinic, a sanatorium, and a school of psychiatry, all of which bear the Menninger name. ...

and was president of the

International Psychoanalytical Association The International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) is an association including 12,000 psychoanalysts as members and works with 70 constituent organizations. It was founded in 1910 by Sigmund Freud, from an idea proposed by Sándor Ferenczi. His ...

. His parents, Sara Günsberg (born in 1895) and Menachem Lazar Wallerstein (born in 1890), were

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lo ...

and both came from Galicja. Because of the

I World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

they moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where in 1919 they got married. Two years later, Robert was born and his original name was Solomon. In 1923, Wallerstein family emigrated to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where his brother

Immanuel Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the H ...

was born. Robert S. Wallerstein was born in Germany, but at the ''List of alien passengers for the United States'' at the time of his family's emigration, his nationality was described as Polish. Wallerstein was raised in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, then moved to

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

in 1949 and to

Belvedere, California Belvedere is a residential incorporated city located on the San Francisco Bay in Marin County, California, United States. Consisting of two islands and a lagoon, it is connected to the Tiburon Peninsula by two causeways. At the 2020 census, th ...

in 1966, where he died on December 21, 2014. He was predeceased by his son, the noted political scientist

Michael Wallerstein Michael Wallerstein (16 January 1951 – 7 January 2006) was a noted political scientist and the son of psychoanalyst Robert S. Wallerstein and psychologist Judith Wallerstein. He was also the cousin of the American sociologist Immanuel Wallerste ...

and his wife Judith Wallerstein

Writings (selection)

*''Hospital treatment of alcoholism : a comparative, experimental study'', New York : Basic Books, 1957 *''Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy: An Historical Perspective'', International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 1989, 70:563-591 *''The talking cures : the psychoanalyses and the psychotherapies'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995 * ''Lay analysis : life inside the controversy'', Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, 1998 *''Forty-two lives in treatment : a study of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy: the report of the Psychotherapy Research Project of the Menninger Foundation, 1954-1982'', New York : Other Press, 2000 *The Generations of Psychotherapy Research: An Overview. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 18:243-267 (2001) *''Psychoanalysis: The Broader Scope'', International Universities Press, 2004

Notes

References

*''Psychic structure and psychic change : essays in honor of Robert S. Wallerstein'', ed. by Mardi J. Horowitz, Madison, Conn. : International Universities Press, 1993 *''From Impression to Inquiry: A Tribute to the work of Robert Wallerstein'', edited by Wilma Bucci, Norbert Freedman, International Psychoanalytical Association, 2007, , Paperback, includes a bibliography of Wallerstein {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallerstein, Robert S. 2014 deaths 20th-century American psychologists American psychoanalysts American people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish psychoanalysts 1921 births People from the Bronx People from Topeka, Kansas People from Belvedere, California German emigrants to the United States