George Eman Vaillant
Encyclopedia
George Eman Vaillant, M.D. (born 1934) is an American
psychiatrist
and Professor
at Harvard Medical School
and Director of Research for the Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Vaillant has spent his research career charting adult development and the recovery process of schizophrenia
, heroin addiction, alcoholism
, and personality disorder
. He has spent the last 30 years as Director of the Study of Adult Development at the Harvard University Health Service. The study has prospectively charted the lives of 824 men and women for over 60 years.
, who killed himself in 1945, George Eman Vaillant was traumatized by his father's suicide and thus had deep emotional reasons for becoming a psychiatrist. He graduated from Harvard College
and Harvard Medical School
, did his psychiatric residency at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center
and completed his psychoanalytic training at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. He has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
, is a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists
and has been an invited speaker and consultant for seminars and workshops throughout the world.
A major focus of his work in the past has been to develop ways of studying defense mechanisms empirically; more recently, he has been interested in successful aging and in human happiness. Vaillant has been married three times, returning to his second, Australian, wife after his third wife left him. In 2008, he took up a supervisory role for psychiatric trainees at St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. In June 2009 Joshua Wolf Shenk published an article in the Atlantic Monthly entitled "What Makes Us Happy?" which focused on Vaillant's work in the Grant Study
, a study of 268 men over many decades.
, the Strecker Award from The Pennsylvania Hospital
, the Burlingame Award from The Institute for Living, and the Jellinek Award for research in alcoholism
. In 1995 he received the research prize of the International Psychogeriatric Society.
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
and Director of Research for the Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Vaillant has spent his research career charting adult development and the recovery process of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, heroin addiction, alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, and personality disorder
Personality disorder
Personality disorders, formerly referred to as character disorders, are a class of personality types and behaviors. Personality disorders are noted on Axis II of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-IV-TR of the American Psychiatric Association.Personality disorders are...
. He has spent the last 30 years as Director of the Study of Adult Development at the Harvard University Health Service. The study has prospectively charted the lives of 824 men and women for over 60 years.
Biography
Son of George Clapp VaillantGeorge Clapp Vaillant
George Clapp Vaillant was an American anthropologist.George Clapp Vaillant was born 1901 in Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Noble and Greenough School in his hometown. After finishing his secondary education at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, he went to Harvard University where he...
, who killed himself in 1945, George Eman Vaillant was traumatized by his father's suicide and thus had deep emotional reasons for becoming a psychiatrist. He graduated from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
and Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, did his psychiatric residency at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center
Massachusetts Mental Health Center
Massachusetts Mental Health Center is a historic building at 74 Fenwood Road in Boston, Massachusetts.The center was built in 1912 as Boston Psychopathic Hospital by Taylor Kendall and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994....
and completed his psychoanalytic training at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. He has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences is an American interdisciplinary research body in Stanford, California focusing on the social sciences and humanities . Fellows are elected in a closed process, to spend a period of residence at the Center, released from other duties...
, is a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists
American College of Psychiatrists
The American College of Psychiatrists is an association of psychiatrists based in Chicago. It operates annual meetings, publishes a newsletter, presents awards, and organizes the PRITE exam for psychiatric residents and the PIPE exam for practicing psychiatrists...
and has been an invited speaker and consultant for seminars and workshops throughout the world.
A major focus of his work in the past has been to develop ways of studying defense mechanisms empirically; more recently, he has been interested in successful aging and in human happiness. Vaillant has been married three times, returning to his second, Australian, wife after his third wife left him. In 2008, he took up a supervisory role for psychiatric trainees at St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. In June 2009 Joshua Wolf Shenk published an article in the Atlantic Monthly entitled "What Makes Us Happy?" which focused on Vaillant's work in the Grant Study
Grant Study
The Grant Study is a 68-year longitudinal study of two socially different cohorts: 237 physically and mentally healthy Harvard college sophomores from the classes of 1939-1944, and a second cohort of 332 disadvantaged non-delinquent inner-city youths who grew up in Boston neighborhoods between 1940...
, a study of 268 men over many decades.
Awards
Dr. Vaillant has received the Foundations Fund Prize for Research in Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric AssociationAmerican Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
, the Strecker Award from The Pennsylvania Hospital
Pennsylvania Hospital
Pennsylvania Hospital is a hospital in Center City, Philadelphia, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania Health System . Founded on May 11, 1751 by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Bond, it was the first hospital in the United States...
, the Burlingame Award from The Institute for Living, and the Jellinek Award for research in alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. In 1995 he received the research prize of the International Psychogeriatric Society.
Editorial Board Membership
Dr. Vaillant sits on the Honorary International Advisory Board of the Mens Sana MonographsMens Sana Monographs
The Mens Sana Monographs is an open-access peer-reviewed medical journal-cum-monographic series. It is Devoted to the Understanding of Medicine, Mental Health, Mind, Man and their Matrix. The Mens Sana Monographs (MSM) is an open-access peer-reviewed medical journal-cum-monographic series. It is...
.
Books
- Vaillant, GE (1977), Adaptation to Life, Boston, MA, Little, Brown, 1977 (also Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Hardcover, 396pp ISBN: 0316895202) [also German, Korean and Chinese translations] (Reprinted with a new preface in 1995 by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA)
- Vaillant, GE (1983), Natural History of Alcoholism, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press
- Vaillant, GE (1992), Ego Mechanisms of Defense: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers, Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press
- Vaillant, GE (1993), The Wisdom of the Ego, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, ISBN: 0674953738
- Vaillant, GE (1995), The Natural History of Alcoholism RevisitedThe Natural History of Alcoholism RevisitedThe Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited is a book by psychiatrist George E. Vaillant that describes two multi-decade studies of the lives of 600 American males, non-alcoholics at the outset, focusing on their life-long drinking behaviours...
, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, [also (Brazilian) Portuguese translation] - Vaillant, GE (2002), Aging Well, Boston, Little Brown, ISBN 0-316-09007-7
- Vaillant, GE (2008), Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith , Broadway Books, ISBN 0767926579
Further reading
- "Conversation with George Vaillant." Addiction. 2005 Mar; 100 (3):274-80.
- "Interview: A Doctor Speaks". AA Grapevine Magazine, May 2001, Vol. 57, No. 12.
- "What Makes Us Happy?". The Atlantic Monthly, June 2009
- "Vaillant on 'Spiritual Evolution'". Brief review of most recent book.