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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 1–2Cite as

Ackerman, Nathan

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Name

Ackerman, Nathan

Introduction

Nathan Ackerman is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in the field of family therapy and is credited with developing the concept of family psychology. He was born in Bessarabia, Russia, on November 22, 1908. Ackerman and his family came to the United States in 1912 when he was only 4-years-old. He grew up during the age of anti-Semitism, the great depression, and World War II.

Career

He attended the public school system in New York City, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1929 and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Columbia University in 1933. He did his internships at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and the Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, New York. At the Menninger Clinic, Ackerman was offered a staff position which he accepted and in 2 years rose to the position of Chief Psychiatrist at that clinic. During World War II, Ackerman lent his services to the Red Cross and by the end of the war he was offered the...

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Key Citations

  • Barrows, S. E. (1982). Nathan, W. Ackerman as a therapist and individual: An interview with Donald Bloch and Kitty La Perriere. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 10(4), 63–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926188208250101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broderick, C. B., & Schrader, S. S. (1981). The history of professional marriage and family therapy. In A. S. Gurman & D. P. Kniskern (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy (pp. 5–35). New York: Brunner/Mazel.

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  • Nichols, M. P. (2011). The evolution of family therapy. In The essentials of family therapy (pp. 7–28). Boston: Pearson.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alliant International University, Irvine, CA, USA

    Rajeswari Natrajan-Tyagi

Authors
  1. Rajeswari Natrajan-Tyagi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajeswari Natrajan-Tyagi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Family Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    David Kearns Ph.D.

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Bahareh Sahebi Psy.D., AMFT

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Natrajan-Tyagi, R. (2019). Ackerman, Nathan. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_909-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_909-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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