Ross V. Speck, MD (1927-2015), was a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and

family therapist Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relationsh ...

. He had a strong interest in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and did research in family therapy of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...

, drugs, depression, and adolescents. He was one of the "first generation" of family therapists and a founder of the Family Institute of Philadelphia. In addition, he was the originator of ''NetWork Therapy''.

Career

A native of St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Speck received his medical degree in 1951 from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. He taught at

Thomas Jefferson University 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 ...

and Hahnemann Medical College in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and at The Union Institute,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He became a U.S. citizen in 1957, while working at

Brooke Army Medical Center Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) is the United States Army's premier medical institution. Located on Fort Sam Houston, BAMC, a 425-bed Academic Medical Center, is the Department of Defense's largest facility and only Level 1 Trauma Center. BAMC ...

. He was on the faculty of the International R.D. Laing Institute in

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

, Switzerland, and was a friend of Laing's. He was a life fellow of the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involv ...

. In the 1960s, he founded the Family Institute of Philadelphia, in the neighborhood of Spring Garden. He also was the Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute clinical director from 1958 to 1964, a psychiatry professor at Hahnemann Medical College from 1960 to 1970, and worked as a researcher at the Philadelphia Psychiatric Center from 1966 to 1972. In September 1969, he coined the concept of ''Network Therapy'' in an article co-written with Uri Rueveni. Among his books are ''Family Networks'' (1972; with

Carolyn Attneave Carolyn Lewis Attneave (July 2, 1920 – June 22, 1992) was born in El Paso, Texas, to Scandinavian and Delaware Tribe of Indians, Delaware Native American parents. Attneave spent most of her early years in South Texas, but frequently spent summe ...

) and ''The New Families'' (1972). He served on the editorial board of the journals ''

Family Process ''Family Process'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on family system issues, including policy and applied practice. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Family Process Institute. Since 2007, the journa ...

'', ''Journal of Psychotherapy and the Family'' and ''Journal of Family Psychotherapy.'' Speck also worked as a

part-time clinical professor of psychiatry from 1980 to 1990, and was a professor at the Union Institute in Cincinnati from 1980 to 1993. He died at his home in Thorofare,

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 ...

on May 23, 2015.ALT Link
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Personal life

Speck was married to psychotherapist Joan Kendig Gill, daughter of Isabelle Kendig and Howard Belding Gill, and was later known as Joan Lincoln Speck or Joan Speck. He had four sons and three daughters, along with two stepsons, and was previously married to a woman named Margaret.

References

Bibliography

*Speck, R.V. & Attneave, C. (1972)
''Family Networks''
New York: Pantheon. * Speck, R.V. (1972)
''The New Families: youth, communes, and the politics of drugs.''
New York: Basic Books. *Speck, R.V. (2003). Social Network Intervention. In Sholevar, G.P. & Schwoeri, L.D. (Eds.
''Textbook of Family and Couples Therapy: Clinical Applications.''
Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.

External links

Ross Speck
entry in

Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...

Reference ''Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Speck, Ross American psychiatrists Family therapists American psychoanalysts 1927 births 2015 deaths

Career

Personal life

See also

References

Bibliography

External links