Robert Charles Powell, MD, PhD
After earning a bachelor’s degree in the natural sciences, with special distinction in the social sciences, from Shimer College (Illinois), a “Great Books” school, Dr. Powell earned doctorates in medicine and in philosophy from Duke University (North Carolina), within its Behavioral Sciences Study (linguistic psychiatry & theoretical biology) and Medical Historian Training (European/ American history of science & of ideas) programs. During his graduate years, he earned the Josiah C. Trent Prize in the History of Medicine, from Duke University, in 1970, and the William Osler Medal, from the American Association for the History of Medicine, in 1971.
Following postgraduate work at the SUNY/ Upstate Medical Center (Syracuse) (psychiatry/ neurology/ medicine), and at the Michael Reese Institute for Psychosomatic & Psychiatric Research (Chicago) (clinical research on adolescence), Dr. Powell earned certification by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology. He taught briefly at the medical schools of the University of Missouri – Kansas City, the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and Northwestern University (– Chicago).
His earliest writings concerned the development of holistic/ organismic theory in psychosomatic medicine, the concept of the subliminal/ subconscious, and the invention of clinical pastoral chaplaincy. His earliest research coordination concerned lithium and premenstrual syndrome.
Having earlier hitch-hiked throughout the British Isles, France, and Italy, he was among the last solo travelers on the overland trail from Istanbul to Kabul to Katmandu – eventually wandering throughout Iran, India, Thailand, and Myanmar (Burma).
In late 1998, he was “rediscovered” by the clinical pastoral chaplaincy movement, and once again began contributing to its history, giving major presentations in 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2012, as well as providing relevant essays during the years between and since.
In private practice for 34 years, he generally treated mixed psychiatric/ neurologic/ endocrinologic disorders in all age groups. During much of that time, he also worked, as a civilian medical officer, with military active duty personnel, retirees, and dependents, on whatever problems with which they presented, without assuming these to have emotional etiology. With sustained curiosity, he explored, among other things, how non-psychiatric factors masquerade as psychiatric disorders, how inflammatory factors impact the whole body (including the brain), and how answers to five short questions might suggest a person’s level of ego organization.
He and his wife, Pat, have a blended family of two sons, one daughter (now deceased), and four grandchildren. In November 2013, they moved from the Chicago Northshore to the Long Island Northshore. In October 2016, they began moving to the Boston Northshore, to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
Dr. Powell’s most popular booklet is Anton T. Boisen (1876-1965): “Breaking an Opening in the Wall between Religion and Medicine,” 1976; 2nd ed., greatly expanded, 2021. His 2nd most popular booklet is C.P.E. [Clinical Pastoral Education]: Fifty Years of Learning, through Supervised Encounter with “Living Human Documents,” 1975; 2nd ed., greatly expanded, 2021. His 3rd most popular booklet is When Death Is Not Theoretical: The Readiness of the Music Group ‘Queen’ for Living with Freddie Mercury’s Dying, 2014; 2nd ed., greatly expanded, 2018. His 4th most popular booklet is Differentiation of Moods as a Reflection of Ego Organization and Personality Style: Listening Very, Very Closely as Patients Answer Only Five Questions, 2017.
His most popular article is “Helen Flanders Dunbar (1902-1959) and a Holistic Approach to Psychosomatic Problems. I. The Rise and Fall of a Medical Philosophy,” Psychiatric Quarterly 49: 133 -152, 1977; available online through ResearchGate. His 2nd most popular article is “The ‘Subliminal’ versus the ‘Subconscious’ in the American Acceptance of Psychoanalysis, 1906-1910,” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 15: 155-165, 1979; revised & updated as a chapter in Freudian Concepts in America: The Role of Psychical Research in Preparing the Way: 1904-1934, 2015. His 3rd most popular article is "Anton T. Boisen's 'Psychiatric Examination: Content of Thought (1925-31): An Attempt to Grasp the Meaning of Mental Disorder," Psychiatry 40:369-375, 1977. An article he most wishes had wider availability is “Psychosomatic Aspects of Affect in Psychoanalytic Theory, 1950-1970,” invited review essay, The American Academy of Psychoanalysis Forum 23 (4): 5-8, 1979.
Following postgraduate work at the SUNY/ Upstate Medical Center (Syracuse) (psychiatry/ neurology/ medicine), and at the Michael Reese Institute for Psychosomatic & Psychiatric Research (Chicago) (clinical research on adolescence), Dr. Powell earned certification by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology. He taught briefly at the medical schools of the University of Missouri – Kansas City, the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and Northwestern University (– Chicago).
His earliest writings concerned the development of holistic/ organismic theory in psychosomatic medicine, the concept of the subliminal/ subconscious, and the invention of clinical pastoral chaplaincy. His earliest research coordination concerned lithium and premenstrual syndrome.
Having earlier hitch-hiked throughout the British Isles, France, and Italy, he was among the last solo travelers on the overland trail from Istanbul to Kabul to Katmandu – eventually wandering throughout Iran, India, Thailand, and Myanmar (Burma).
In late 1998, he was “rediscovered” by the clinical pastoral chaplaincy movement, and once again began contributing to its history, giving major presentations in 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2012, as well as providing relevant essays during the years between and since.
In private practice for 34 years, he generally treated mixed psychiatric/ neurologic/ endocrinologic disorders in all age groups. During much of that time, he also worked, as a civilian medical officer, with military active duty personnel, retirees, and dependents, on whatever problems with which they presented, without assuming these to have emotional etiology. With sustained curiosity, he explored, among other things, how non-psychiatric factors masquerade as psychiatric disorders, how inflammatory factors impact the whole body (including the brain), and how answers to five short questions might suggest a person’s level of ego organization.
He and his wife, Pat, have a blended family of two sons, one daughter (now deceased), and four grandchildren. In November 2013, they moved from the Chicago Northshore to the Long Island Northshore. In October 2016, they began moving to the Boston Northshore, to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
Dr. Powell’s most popular booklet is Anton T. Boisen (1876-1965): “Breaking an Opening in the Wall between Religion and Medicine,” 1976; 2nd ed., greatly expanded, 2021. His 2nd most popular booklet is C.P.E. [Clinical Pastoral Education]: Fifty Years of Learning, through Supervised Encounter with “Living Human Documents,” 1975; 2nd ed., greatly expanded, 2021. His 3rd most popular booklet is When Death Is Not Theoretical: The Readiness of the Music Group ‘Queen’ for Living with Freddie Mercury’s Dying, 2014; 2nd ed., greatly expanded, 2018. His 4th most popular booklet is Differentiation of Moods as a Reflection of Ego Organization and Personality Style: Listening Very, Very Closely as Patients Answer Only Five Questions, 2017.
His most popular article is “Helen Flanders Dunbar (1902-1959) and a Holistic Approach to Psychosomatic Problems. I. The Rise and Fall of a Medical Philosophy,” Psychiatric Quarterly 49: 133 -152, 1977; available online through ResearchGate. His 2nd most popular article is “The ‘Subliminal’ versus the ‘Subconscious’ in the American Acceptance of Psychoanalysis, 1906-1910,” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 15: 155-165, 1979; revised & updated as a chapter in Freudian Concepts in America: The Role of Psychical Research in Preparing the Way: 1904-1934, 2015. His 3rd most popular article is "Anton T. Boisen's 'Psychiatric Examination: Content of Thought (1925-31): An Attempt to Grasp the Meaning of Mental Disorder," Psychiatry 40:369-375, 1977. An article he most wishes had wider availability is “Psychosomatic Aspects of Affect in Psychoanalytic Theory, 1950-1970,” invited review essay, The American Academy of Psychoanalysis Forum 23 (4): 5-8, 1979.
