The Doctorate in Mental Health

The Doctorate in Mental Health (D.M.H.) program was an experiment inspired by the proposal and advocacy-beginning in the 1950s-of the eminent psychoanalyst Lawrence Kubie of a more rational and efficient pattern of training for dynamically oriented psychotherapists, drawing on the relevant aspects of medical, psychiatric, and psychological training. Though the inspiration for the program remained centered in psychoanalytic dynamic psychiatry, social science and biological components of the curriculum were conceived as preparing the D.M.H. to practice in community mental health settings and, most controversially, to prescribe and administer psychotropic drugs autonomously. Unfortunately, legislative licensure of the new degree was never attained and the aspiration to create a new profession failed. Why did it fail? This book and its myriad of contributors attempt to grapple with this question and combine to produce a detailed examination of the rise and demise of a new profession and its infrastructure. Contents: (Section I) The Historical Evolution: Rise and Fall of the D.M.H. Program; (Section II) The Personal Evolution: Creation of a New Professional Identity; (Section III) The World Surrounding the Program; (Section IV) Analysis and Overview.