Salman Akhtar (born 31 July 1946) is an Indian-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 ...

practicing in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He is an author and Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Biography

Salman Akhtar was born into a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

family in Khairabad, Uttar Pradesh to

Jan Nisar Akhtar Jan Nisar Akhtar (18 February 1914 – 19 August 1976) was an Indian poet of Urdu ghazals and nazms, and a part of the Progressive Writers' Movement, who was also a lyricist for Bollywood. He was son of Muztar Khairabadi and great grandson ...

, a Bollywood film songwriter and

Urdu poet Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghali ...

, and Safia Akhtar, a teacher and writer. His grandfather,

Muztar Khairabadi Iftikhar Hussain (1865 – 1927), known by his pen name Muztar Khairabadi, was an Indian Urdu poet. Biography Khairabadi was born in 1865 in Khairabad.Mohammad Shamsul Haq, ''Paimana-e-Ghazal'', vol. 1, pg 241 He was the grandson of Fazl-e-Ha ...

, was a poet while his great great grandfather,

Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1796/1797 – 19 August 1861) was a Hanafi jurist, rationalist scholar, Maturidi theologian, philosopher and poet. He was an activist of the Indian independence movement and campaigned against British occupation. He issue ...

, was a scholar of Islamic studies and theology and played an important role in the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

. He is the brother of veteran poet and film lyricist

Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is an Indian poet, lyricist, screenwriter and political activist. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 200 ...

and brother-in-law of actress and social activist

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

. His son

Kabir Akhtar Kabir Akhtar (born January 11, 1975) is an American television director and editor, who won an Emmy Award in 2016. His credits include work for ''Arrested Development'', ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'', '' Never Have I Ever'', ''Behind the Music'', and the ...

is an American television director and Emmy-nominated

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

Education and career

After receiving his M.B.B.S. degree at Aligarh Muslim University's Medical School (JNMC) in India, Salman Akhtar did his internship at Maulana Azad Medical College of the University of Delhi in India. He completed post-graduate medical education in psychiatry at

PGIMER Chandigarh Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is a public medical university in Chandigarh, India. It is an ' Institute of National Importance'. It has educational, medical research, and training facilities for its stude ...

under renowned Psychiatrist N. N. Wig. During this time, he wrote a famous article "A phenomenological analysis of symptoms in obsessive-compulsive neurosis".Akhtar, S., Wig, N., Varma, V., Pcrshad, D., & Verma, S. (1975). A Phenomenological Analysis of Symptoms in Obsessive-Compulsive Neurosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 127(4), 342-348. doi:10.1192/bjp.127.4.342 He moved to the United States in 1973 and repeated his psychiatric training at the University of Virginia Medical Center in 1976. He obtained psychoanalytic training from the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute in 1986. Currently, he is Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior at Jefferson Medical College and psychiatrist an at the Jefferson University Hospital as well as a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has served on the editorial boards of the ''

International Journal of Psychoanalysis ''The International Journal of Psychoanalysis'' is an academic journal in the field of psychoanalysis. The idea of the journal was proposed by Ernest Jones in a letter to Sigmund Freud dated 7 December 1918. The journal itself was established in 1 ...

'' and the ''Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association''. Salman Akhtar has authored, edited, or co-edited more than 300 publications, including 100 academic books. He has also served as the Film Review Editor for the ''International Journal of Psychoanalysis'', and is currently serving as the Book Review Editor for the ''International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies''. He also has published seven collections of poetry and serves as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia.

Selected publications

* Akhtar, S. (1999). ''Immigration and Identity''. Jason Aronson. * Akhtar, S. (2007). ''Listening to Others''. Jason Aronson. * Akhtar, S. (2009). ''Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis''. Routledge. * Akhtar, S. (2012). ''Psychoanalytic Listening''. Routledge. * Akhtar, S. (2014). ''Source of Suffering''. Routledge. * Akhtar, S. (2021). ''Tales of Transformation: A Life in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis''. Phoenix Publishing House. * Akhtar, S. (2022). ''In Leaps and Bounds: Psychic Development and its Facilitation in Treatment''. Phoenix Publishing House.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhtar, Salman 1946 births Indian emigrants to the United States American psychiatrists 20th-century American poets Aligarh Muslim University alumni Scientists from Lucknow Living people American people of Indian descent in health professions American academics of Indian descent Indian American American people of Indian descent Indian scholars