Silvano Arieti (1914–81) was an Italian-born American psychiatrist known for his groundbreaking work on schizophrenia. His research shaped the biopsychosocial approach to mental illness, challenging dominant biological models.
Born in Pisa, Italy, Arieti earned his M.D. from the University of Pisa (1938) but emigrated to the U.S. in 1939 due to Mussolini’s antisemitic policies. He became a professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College and a training analyst at the William Alanson White Institute. Advocating psychotherapy for schizophrenia, he emphasized childhood anxieties and environmental factors, contrasting with the era’s biological psychiatry.
His most influential book, Interpretation of Schizophrenia (1955, revised 1974,) won the National Book Award in Science (1975) for its analysis of schizophrenia’s psychological origins. Other notable works include The Will to Be Human (1972,) which won the National Book Award in Philosophy and Religion; Creativity: The Magic Synthesis (1976;) and Understanding and Helping the Schizophrenic (1979.) He also edited the six-volume American Handbook of Psychiatry (1959, expanded 1974,) a key reference in psychiatric literature.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Silvano Arieti
When we successfully treat a patient … we experience a burst of joy because we have helped a suffering person who is happy to have known us. But we also feel a secret joy, because we have come to know him, and in knowing him we know more of ourselves.
—Silvano Arieti
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