Richard C. Friedman MD is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Medical
College (Cornell) and Lecturer in Psychiatry at Columbia. He received
his MD degree from The University of Rochester School of Medicine and
Dentistry in 1966. He was a resident in psychiatry at Columbia Presbyterian
Medical Center and NY State Psychiatric Institute in 1967-70 and was Chief
Resident in Psychiatry in 1969-70. Friedman then attended the Columbia
Center For Psychoanalytic Training and Research from which he was graduated
in 1978.
Dr. Friedman has been a researcher, educator and clinical scholar in psychoanalysis.
While still a resident he carried out the first study of the effects of
sleep deprivation on the performance of physicians. His article published
in The New England Journal of Medicine in the 1970s led to revision
of the on-call schedules of medical and surgical interns and residents
throughout the world.
Dr. Friedman then went on to carry out research in affective disorders,
and also endocrinological and psychodynamic dimensions of male homosexuality.
His book on psychoanalytic aspects of male homosexuality published in
1988 had a major impact on the field.
Dr. Friedman and Co-author Dr. Jennifer Downey published an invited Special
Article on Homosexuality in The New England Journal of Medicine
in 1994. Another article, on female homosexuality received an award from
The Journal of The American Psychoanalytic Association as the
Journal’s best publication of 1998. Friedman's and Downey’s
most recent book "Sexual Orientation and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Sexual Science and Clinical Practice," was re-issued by Columbia University Press in 2008. Presently, Drs. Friedman and Downey are working on their next book, which concerns sexuality and dynamic psychotherapy. Jennifer Downey and Richard Friedman serve as Co-chairs of the Human Sexuality Committee of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP).
They are currently writing a series of articles for The Journal of
The American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry. This
series on Sexuality and Psychotherapy will form the core of their next
book.
In the spring of 2005 Friedman delivered the Joseph Sandler lecture sponsored by The International Psychoanalytic Association, on the issue of homosexuality in psychoanalysis. This was published as a chapter in the book Identity, Gender and Sexuality 150 years after Freud.
In October 2009, Richard Friedman was selected as a recipient of the Mary S. Sigourney Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the Field of Psychoanalysis. (click here to read more on the Sigorney Award Trust website)
Richard Friedman lives and works in NYC where he is in full time practice
of dynamic psychiatry and psychoanalysis.
