Thomas Main
Encyclopedia
Thomas Main was a psychiatrist
and psychoanalyst
who coined the term therapeutic community
.
Born Thomas Forrest Main, he studied medicine at Durham University
before becoming superintendent
at Gateshead Mental Hospital. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps
as an adviser in psychiatry
, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel
. After the war he went to Cassel Hospital
where he worked for the next thirty years.
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
and psychoanalyst
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...
who coined the term therapeutic community
Therapeutic community
Therapeutic community is a term applied to a participative, group-based approach to long-term mental illness, personality disorders and drug addiction...
.
Born Thomas Forrest Main, he studied medicine at Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
before becoming superintendent
Health administration
Health administration or healthcare administration is the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of hospitals, hospital networks, health care systems, and public health systems...
at Gateshead Mental Hospital. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
as an adviser in psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
. After the war he went to Cassel Hospital
Cassel Hospital
The Cassel Hospital was founded and endowed by Ernest Cassel in England in 1919. It was initially for the treatment of "shell shock" victims. Originally in Penshurst, Kent, it moved to Stoke-on-Trent during World War II. In 1948 it relocated to its present site at No...
where he worked for the next thirty years.