Michael Shernoff
Encyclopedia
Michael Shernoff was an openly gay psychotherapist who specialized in serving the mental health
needs of gay
, lesbian
, and bisexual people and was author
of several influential publications on the topics of HIV/AIDS prevention and the mental health concerns of gay men.
schools. He graduated from the Harpur College at Binghamton University
and in 1977 received a master’s degree in social work
from the School of Social Welfare of the State University of New York at Stony Brook
.
As a licensed clinical social worker, he offered outpatient mental health services in Chelsea
in New York City
. He also taught at Hunter College
from 1991 to 2001, and from 2002 until his retirement in 2006 he served on the faculty of the Columbia University
School of Social Work. From 1997 until 2004 he was the online mental health expert for the HIV/AIDS website
TheBody.com.
He was diagnosed as HIV
-positive in 1982, but lived free of AIDS symptoms. At the time of his death from pancreatic cancer
in Manhattan
in June 2008, his brother Jeffrey Shernoff told The New York Times
that he found it ironic that after years of living with HIV infection, "He died of pancreatic cancer, which may not even be related."
and became one of the first social workers in the United States
to address AIDS in a private psychotherapy practice. He wrote many articles and offered training for both mental health professionals and patients on dealing with mental health aspects of gay sexuality
and living with HIV and AIDS. In 1985 he and Luis Palacios-Jiménez created the workshop "Hot, Horny and Healthy: Eroticizing Gay Sex" for a Gay Men’s Health Crisis conference. The workshop, intended to teach gay men how to continue to engage in sexual activity without risking HIV transmission, was eventually presented in cities across North America
. A pamphlet that he co-authored, When a Friend Has AIDS, was translated into eight languages.
After a partner died from AIDS, Shernoff produced an anthology
entitled Gay Widowers: Life after the Death of a Partner that ten years later was described as still being the only book to address the specific challenges of grief
for gay men who have lost their partners.
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
needs of gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, and bisexual people and was author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of several influential publications on the topics of HIV/AIDS prevention and the mental health concerns of gay men.
Biography
Shernoff was born in Queens, New York, on March 31, 1951. He attended New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
schools. He graduated from the Harpur College at Binghamton University
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
and in 1977 received a master’s degree in social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
from the School of Social Welfare of the State University of New York at Stony Brook
State University of New York at Stony Brook
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....
.
As a licensed clinical social worker, he offered outpatient mental health services in Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He also taught at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
from 1991 to 2001, and from 2002 until his retirement in 2006 he served on the faculty of the Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
School of Social Work. From 1997 until 2004 he was the online mental health expert for the HIV/AIDS website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
TheBody.com.
He was diagnosed as HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-positive in 1982, but lived free of AIDS symptoms. At the time of his death from pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in June 2008, his brother Jeffrey Shernoff told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
that he found it ironic that after years of living with HIV infection, "He died of pancreatic cancer, which may not even be related."
Professional contributions
Shernoff was an early volunteer for Gay Men's Health CrisisGay Men's Health Crisis
The Gay Men's Health Crisis is a New York City-based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization that has led the United States in the fight against AIDS.-1980s:...
and became one of the first social workers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to address AIDS in a private psychotherapy practice. He wrote many articles and offered training for both mental health professionals and patients on dealing with mental health aspects of gay sexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and living with HIV and AIDS. In 1985 he and Luis Palacios-Jiménez created the workshop "Hot, Horny and Healthy: Eroticizing Gay Sex" for a Gay Men’s Health Crisis conference. The workshop, intended to teach gay men how to continue to engage in sexual activity without risking HIV transmission, was eventually presented in cities across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. A pamphlet that he co-authored, When a Friend Has AIDS, was translated into eight languages.
After a partner died from AIDS, Shernoff produced an anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
entitled Gay Widowers: Life after the Death of a Partner that ten years later was described as still being the only book to address the specific challenges of grief
Grief
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
for gay men who have lost their partners.
Books
- Michael Shernoff and William Scott, editors, The Sourcebook on Lesbian/Gay Health Care, published by The National Lesbian/Gay Health Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1988, 425 pages, ISBN 9780962112805
- Michael Shernoff, editor, Counseling Chemically Dependent People With HIV Illness, published by Harrington Park Press, Binghamton, N.Y., 1992, ISBN 9781560230168
- Walt Odets and Michael Shernoff, editors, Second Decade of Aids: A Mental Health Practice Handbook, Hatherleigh Press, 1995, 320 pages, ISBN 9781886330009
- Michael Shernoff, editor, Human Services for Gay People, Taylor & Francis, Inc., 1996, 138 pages, ISBN 9781560247548
- Michael Shernoff, editor, Gay Widowers: Life after the Death of a Partner, Haworth Press, 1997, 161 pages, ISBN 9781560231059
- Michael Shernoff, editor, AIDS and Mental Health Practice: Clinical and Policy Issues, Taylor & Francis, Inc., 1999, 381 pages, ISBN 9780789004642
- Michael Shernoff and Raymond Smith, HIV Treatment: Mental Health Aspects of Antiviral Therapy, published by University of California San Francisco AIDS Health Project, 2000, ISBN 9781879168046
- Michael Shernoff, Without Condoms: Unprotected Sex, Gay Men and Barebacking, published by Routledge, 2005, 371 pages, ISBN 9780415950244
Articles
- Stephan L. Buckingham and Michael Shernoff, Psychosocial Interventions in Persons with HIV-Associated Neuropsychiatric Compromise, In: A Mental Health Practitioner's Guide to the Neuropsychiatric Complications of HIV/AIDS, Guilford Publications; W. Van Gorp & S. Buckingham (Eds.), 1998
- Michael Shernoff, AIDS: The Therapist's Journey, in A Perilous Calling: The Hazards of Psychotherapy Practice, M. Sussman, Editor, 1994: John Wiley & Sons
- Michael Shernoff, Waiting for the Second Wave of Queer Psychotherapy, In The Family magazine, July 1996
- Michael Shernoff, Physicians Living with HIV/AIDS, The Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, Volume 2, No. 11, November, 1996
- Michael Shernoff, Gay Marriage and Gay Widowhood, The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, V. IV, No.4, Fall 1997
- Michael Shernoff, Getting Started: Basic Skills for Effective Social Work with People with HIV and AIDS, In: HIV and Social Work: A Practitioner's Guide, David M. Aronstein and Bruce J. Thompson, Editors, 1998, The Haworth Press, Binghamton, N.Y.
- Michael Shernoff, Monogamy and Gay Men, Family Therapy Networker, March/April 1999
- Michael Shernoff, Condomless Sex: Mental Health Issues in Working With Gay Men Who have Unprotected Anal Intercourse, 5 Boroughs AIDS Mental Health Alliance, V. 5, No 3, Fall 2003
- Michael Shernoff, Gay Men and Unsafe Sex: Beyond a Knee Jerk Reaction, Social Work Today, V.3, No 17, December 2003
External links
- Michael Shernoff, Interview by Christopher Rice, The AdvocateThe AdvocateThe Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
, January 17, 2006 - Unsafe at any speed? A therapist and author talks about harm reduction and barebacking, Gay.comGay.comgay.com is a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the LGBT community. The site is a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site features LGBT-related news and features. As of September 2005, San Jose Mercury News ranked gay.com as the most...
interview with Shernoff (Link is down)