Theodore Isaac Rubin
Encyclopedia
Theodore Isaac Rubin is an American
psychiatrist and author.
. Rubin is a past president of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis and the Karen Horney Institute for Psychoanalysis. He was married to Eleanor Katz.
He is a long-time contributing columnist to the Ladies' Home Journal
(1972-?), and the author of more than twenty-five works of fiction and nonfiction. In 1962, director Frank Perry
made the acclaimed film David and Lisa
from Rubin's story "Lisa and David". The film was remade by entertainer Oprah Winfrey
in 1998. His book Shrink, The Diary of a Psychiatrist, was written in the times of his residences in different psychiatric hospitals in the West Coast of the United States until his decision to move to New York.
For a clinician who rose to prominence within psychoanalysis during the heyday of what is known as "ego psychology" (a movement often criticized for its equation of mental health and conformity to normative American cultural values, exemplified by the pathologizing of homosexuality), Rubin is iconoclastic with regard to psychoanalytic and cultural orthodoxy. "Compassion and Self-Hate: an Alternative to Despair" (1975), while espousing traditional psychoanalytic notions of repression and defense, emphasizes the centrality of covert self-hate in the phenomenology of neurotic suffering, recommending consciously invoked compassion
, a self-help
approach which more closely resembles Tibetan Buddhism
than Psychoanalysis
. This dichotomy can be seen in at least one of two ways; as an opening of the psychoanalytic model to existential and spiritual phenomenology (see Epstein's "Thoughts Without a Thinker" for a recent exposition of the idea that psychoanalysis and Buddhist thought can be productively synchronized), or as an unacknowledged radical interrogation of core psychoanalytic assumptions (See DuQuesne's "Killing Freud" for a thorough discussion of this trend in analytic writing).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
psychiatrist and author.
Life and career
He lives in 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...
. Rubin is a past president of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis and the Karen Horney Institute for Psychoanalysis. He was married to Eleanor Katz.
He is a long-time contributing columnist to the Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
(1972-?), and the author of more than twenty-five works of fiction and nonfiction. In 1962, director Frank Perry
Frank Perry
Frank J. Perry, Jr. was an American stage and film director, producer and screenwriter. His directorial debut, the 1962 film David and Lisa, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director....
made the acclaimed film David and Lisa
David and Lisa
David and Lisa is a small independent film directed by Frank Perry, often cited as one of his best works. Based on the novel by Theodore Isaac Rubin, the screenplay, written by Frank Perry's wife Eleanor, tells the story of a bright young man suffering from a severe case of obsessive-compulsive...
from Rubin's story "Lisa and David". The film was remade by entertainer Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
in 1998. His book Shrink, The Diary of a Psychiatrist, was written in the times of his residences in different psychiatric hospitals in the West Coast of the United States until his decision to move to New York.
For a clinician who rose to prominence within psychoanalysis during the heyday of what is known as "ego psychology" (a movement often criticized for its equation of mental health and conformity to normative American cultural values, exemplified by the pathologizing of homosexuality), Rubin is iconoclastic with regard to psychoanalytic and cultural orthodoxy. "Compassion and Self-Hate: an Alternative to Despair" (1975), while espousing traditional psychoanalytic notions of repression and defense, emphasizes the centrality of covert self-hate in the phenomenology of neurotic suffering, recommending consciously invoked compassion
Compassion
Compassion is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism — foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.There is an aspect of...
, a self-help
Self-help
Self-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
approach which more closely resembles Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
than Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
. This dichotomy can be seen in at least one of two ways; as an opening of the psychoanalytic model to existential and spiritual phenomenology (see Epstein's "Thoughts Without a Thinker" for a recent exposition of the idea that psychoanalysis and Buddhist thought can be productively synchronized), or as an unacknowledged radical interrogation of core psychoanalytic assumptions (See DuQuesne's "Killing Freud" for a thorough discussion of this trend in analytic writing).