Sullivan, Harry Stack

Harry Stack Sullivan (1892–1949) was an American psychiatrist who developed a theory of psychoanalysis which focused on the importance of interpersonal relationships. He grew up in New York State, the son of an Irish-American farmer. His childhood was an impoverished one, in which the Sullivan family often had financially difficulties. Sullivan also may have been isolated at times from other boys during his early years and experienced some degree of loneliness during his childhood. He was brought up in the Catholic faith but left the church in his adulthood. Sullivan went on to study medicine at the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery and received an MD degree in 1917. It was during medical school that Sullivan first studied psychoanalysis as well as entered into his own analyses. In the 1920s, Sullivan worked with schizophrenic patients at the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital in Maryland, which inspired him to reevaluate the current approach in working with this population. He...