Leo Berman—1913-1958

Doctor Leo Berman died at his home in Newton, Massachusetts, on December 27, 1958. Death came as a release from intense intractable pain. During his lengthy illness some of the characteristics for which we admired and loved him became even more pronounced. He was a man with a firm conviction in the use of reason and truth. He had a unique devotion to his family and an unfaltering dedication to his patients, his students, and to various professional organizations. Even though his strength was declining, he took an active part in the Educational Committee of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society. He was the intellectual and scientific leader of various research projects, especially in the area of psychoanalytic group psychology.

Leo Berman became a member of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society in 1945. He was appointed Training Analyst in 1952. He served on various committees of the Boston Society, and was Chairman of the Committee on Psychoanalytic Group Therapy of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He served as an editor of the Journal of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, and he has left a rich heritage of scientific publications which reflect the wide scope of his interests. He was a faculty member of the Harvard Medical School and held many important positions at various hospitals in the Boston area as a consultant in group psychotherapy.

A master in applying psychoanalytic concepts to group therapy, he devised a technique for group therapy which permitted its application to persons who sought knowledge of themselves for the sake of knowledge rather than for therapeutic purposes. This form of group work became, during the last few years, an important part of the learning experience of school teachers and educators from grammar school to graduate school level. Leo Berman's renown in this form of applied psychoanalysis spread wide and far, and school systems and colleges in distant parts of the country looked to him for advice; because of his inte