Having spent a year in south Florida as a psychiatrist in the military service during WWII, I resolved to return to Florida after separation from the service. So, in February 1946, at the age of 45, I arrived in Miami, studied for the State Boards, and passed them. I entered private practice and looked forward to being able to swim in the ocean daily.
Aside from two young physicians on Miami Beach who, like me, had trained at Mt. Sinai, I was alone and a complete stranger. Nonetheless, the climate, the sea, and the natural beauty of South Florida captivated me and strengthened my determination to stay. I had no illusions about the tasks confronting me: There were obstacles to overcome and adverse conditions to endure. Educationally and culturally, Florida was somewhat primitive at the time.
South Florida was just beginning to undergo the booming growth that has persisted to this day. And the excitement of rapid development was reflected in the spirit of the people, in the newspapers, and on the radio.
Having a free month available in August 1946, after I had acquired my license to practice, I set about to discover what mental health facilities existed in the state. They were indeed primitive. There was only one state hospital, Chattahoochee State Hospital, an antiquated structure with an antiquated staff (both in age and in training). Miami had two private institutions, caring mostly for acute and chronic alcoholics. There were five physicians in the Miami area who were designated as “neuropsychiatrists.” The leading figure among them, born in the South, informed me that “there is no room here for you.”
In 1947, I was invited to speak before the State Conference of Social Workers about the woeful lack of even modest facilities for the care of the mentally ill in the state. My report created a powerful reaction. Immediate reforms were demanded and committees formed to implement them. A mental health association was formed in Miami and soon in the state of Florida as well. Such noted figures such as Bill Menninger (who quickly won favor with the legislature), Karl Menninger (born to become a giant in reforming the ills of our society), the brilliant Margaret Mead, among others, zestfully portrayed the desperate need for humane facilities for the growing numbers of the mentally ill in the state. Steve Trumbull, a Miami reporter with missionary fervor, regularly castigated the inadequacies of the political machinery in dealing with this problem.
Not only was institutional mental health care woefully inadequate, but attitudes toward psychoanalysis itself were painfully uninformed. From my own practice it was obvious that the community was not yet ready for conventional psychoanalysis. For example, when I told a a patient who had been referred to me with anxiety neurosis that it would be desirable to see her three times weekly, the referring physician called me and said, “Three times a week! What kind of racket are you operating, Doc?”
Here and there, gradually, patients with neuroses did present themselves with a genuine desire for psychoanalytic therapy, which they believed would offer them the greatest promise for relief from their dysphoric symptoms. At first, most such patients were physicians who had become better informed by reading and had been exposed to psychodynamic concepts in the course of their military service in WWII.
But there was no opportunity locally for collegial exchange about psychoanalytic theory and practice, except with one psychologist on the faculty of the University of Miami. I was advised by friends up North to join the Washington Psychoanalytic Society; I applied and was accepted. This organization became the nearest contact I would find for conferences and exchange of experience. I was the only analyst south of Washington and east of New Orleans! Washington enabled me to obtain personal additional psychoanalytic therapy and also supervision for more difficult problems, especially with character disorders.
Then, in the mid-50s, reinforcements appeared, probably related to the fact that in 1952 the University of Miami organized its medical school and admitted its first class. A Department of Psychiatry was established, with Jacques Gottlieb as its first chairman. The medical school opened its operation with a very slender budget, so that its full-time faculty was limited to four psychiatrists, a social worker, and a chief nurse. Finally, we had a county psychiatric hospital and teaching facility. Had it not been for the voluntary faculty (which I chaired), the Department of Psychiatry could not have survived.
After several changes occurred in the office of Chairman and Professor, John M. Caldwell arrived in 1956 as the new Chairman. As Chairman of the Search Committee, I had the good fortune to invite Dr. Caldwell to take charge of a psychiatric department badly in need of reorganization. In Washington I had heard from an analyst that he was probably available and might be interested. Dr. Caldwell was a member of the Washington Psychoanalytic Society. He had impressive credentials, having succeeded Brig. Gen. William Menninger as Chief of Psychiatry in the Surgeon General's Office.
When Dr. Caldwell assumed chairmanship of the department, he had just retired as a regular Army officer. He quickly demonstrated his skill as an organizer, and he understood the importance of teaching residents and medical students about psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Case conferences and continued case studies clearly reflected this aspect of the philosophy and scientific merit that psychoanalysis offered. All the psychoanalysts in Miami were appointed to the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adult Divisions.
Prior to Dr. Caldwell's arrival, Harry Dean, who had been trained at the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute, joined the staff and quickly settled down in private practice. Then Dr. Frederick Conkling, who also had undergone psychoanalytic training, was added to the faculty. Elizabeth Rockwell, trained at Columbia University's Institute, made her presence known and was elected to membership in the Florida Psychoanalytic Society. Alberto de la Torre, who had been trained in Chicago, also contacted our Florida Psychoanalytic Society, and he became a member. When we heard that Herbert Glicksman had moved to West Palm Beach, he was invited to our group's meetings and became a member.
A momentous era began with the advent of Castro and his despotic regime, which was overwhelming the Cuban people. Jose Gurri, who had
been trained at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute, left his worldly possessions behind in 1960 and escaped to Miami with his family. Soon afterward, Gabriel Casuso exiled himself from Cuba to join our expanding group of psychoanalysts. These two analysts contributed their teaching talents to the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Miami Medical School and its affiliated county hospital, Jackson Memorial Hospital. I might add with pardonable pride that I was partly instrumental in facilitating their arrival in Miami. Edward J. Carroll and Robert Welch, members of the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Society, took up residence and practice in Miami, becoming valuable additions to our group.
Initially we were members of an informal group of psychoanalysts who had completed their training in different institutes in the North and had moved to Miami to live and practice psychoanalysis. We designated our informal group as the Florida Psychoanalytic Society but did not achieve official status until we received our charter from the state of Florida in 1965. Most of the members joined our group after 1960, so that our activity was of a more organizational character in the beginning—communicating with The American as well as other societies for the purpose of expediting our effort to become an Affiliate Society, which was accomplished in 1967.
Our Society has, since its inception, held meetings regularly, September through June of each year. Most of the scientific portions of the meetings have been open to mental health professionals who qualify. An interesting aspect of our Miami community are the changes which have occurred since 1960, when the massive influx of Hispanics began. Our population today is close to two million. It is 51% Hispanic, 24% black, and 25% Anglo.
The South Florida Psychiatric Society has a membership slightly over 300.
The Florida Psychoanalytic Society has 28 members, Life and Active, and 4 Affiliate members.
It is encouraging to note that South Florida has perceptibly increased its educational institutions—colleges and universities—in the past ten years. More-over, the cultural developments which have taken place in the last five years, especially the New World Symphony and the Miami Ballet, have earned high praise from the community and professional critics outside of this area.
The moon still rises over Miami's beautiful beaches. So, come on down!