History of the New Jersey Psychiatric Association
by Rena M. Nora, M.D.
William M. Greenberg, M.D.
Carla A. Ross

It has been over two hundred years since Dorothea Lynde Dix brought New Jersey to the forefront of care for the mentally ill, but an organized psychiatric profession did not manifest in the state until many years later. The "founding fathers" of New Jersey psychiatry in the first half of the last century included Weinstock Bergman, M.D., Christopher Beling, M.D., Lawrence Collins, M.D., Henry Davidson, M.D., Ambrose Dowd, M.D., Charles Englander, M.D., Lewis Loeser, M.D., Nelson Policastro, M.D., Theodore Robie, M.D., H. Schacter, M.D., and Joseph Sutton, M.D. Dr. Beling opened New Jersey's first private practice office for psychiatry in Newark in 1907. Until 1932, however, psychiatrists in northern New Jersey traveled to New York and those in southern New Jersey to Philadelphia, to attend psychiatric meetings. In that year, Drs. Loeser and Davidson encouraged Drs. Beling and Dowd to call a meeting to form a New Jersey psychiatric association. In response to a mailing of sixty invitations, twenty-three physicians met in Newark at the Academy of Medicine. These charter member attendees self-identified as a diverse group of specialists, including neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropathologists, and physicians from private practices and public mental hospitals such as Greystone, Marlboro, Trenton, Overbrook and Lyons Veterans Administration Hospitals. Three years later, on February 13, 1935, the organization officially named itself the New Jersey Neuropsychiatric Association (NJNPA), with Christopher Beling, M.D. as its first president. Membership dues were $5.00 for the first year!

Until there was a medical school in New Jersey, the organization assumed much of the responsibility for graduate training in psychiatry, organizing courses in both neurology and psychiatry. Most members considered themselves "organically," as opposed to psychoanalytically, oriented, but displayed interest in patients' emotional responses, as evidenced by Association lectures such as "Attitudes of Patients toward Tube Feedings" by Dr. Hollis J. Clow, "Rethinking in Shock Therapy" by Dr. Joseph P. Sutton, and "An Experiment in Training Nurses to Help Mothers in Preventive Mental Hygiene" by Dr. Julius Levy. By 1940-41 the Association had 32 members representing 12 counties, and was taking an active leadership role in influencing legislation to provide and protect treatment options for our citizens, and presenting programs such as "Mental Hygiene and the General Practitioner," "Neuropsychiatric Services in General Hospitals" and "The Clergy and Psychiatry."
Records from World War II years evidence the initial challenges of securing enough volunteer psychiatrists to conduct neuropsychiatric evaluations of as many as 500 to 1,000 selectees daily, made even more difficult because many from the psychiatric leadership entered the Armed Forces Medical Corps. Meetings and scientific programs were sacrificed for the duration of the war. In 1945 studies on alcoholism led to legislative efforts, inspiring the Honorable Alfred E. Driscoll to observe "New Jersey was the first state to recognize that the alcoholic is a sick man, and began to do something about it." Psychiatrists returning home from the war were eager to share their experiences, convinced that emotional factors played an integral role in physical disease. This led to rapid advances in public health, child rearing, education, industry personnel policies, and other fields. Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center, the first uniquely therapeutic center for children in America, was established in Allaire. Public psychiatry advanced, with Essex County Hospital particularly demonstrating leadership among county hospitals, and the Veterans Administration Hospital at Lyons in the V.A. system. A gradual shift towards a psychoanalytic orientation began during these years, with many members undergoing personal analyses and seeking psychoanalytic supervision.

In 1953 the Association was incorporated, though the District Branch and NJNPA were nominally separate organizations, with the same officers holding council meetings for both organizations at the same time. In that year, our newsletter was also started. In 1956, Evelyn P. Ivey, M.D. became NJNPA's first woman president (seven more have followed). In 1957 the New Jersey District Branch of the APA was established, and in 1959 this was merged with NJNPA. Our first Executive Secretary, M. Claire Wagner, was appointed during the NJNPA Presidency of Robert S. Garber, M.D., who later went on to serve as APA President from 1970-71. By 1959 our membership had reached 220.

The 1960s brought increasing sophistication and influence to NJNPA. Harry H. Brunt, Jr., M.D., NJNPA President from 1961-62 also served as Recorder and then Speaker of the APA Assembly from 1971-72, as well as APA Trustee-at-Large and Area III Trustee. William Furst, M.D., 1959-60 NJNPA President, represented NJNPA in a World Tour with the Eastern Psychiatric Research Association, lecturing in six countries. The community mental health center movement inspired Arnold Kallen, M.D., 1963-64 NJNPA President, and other NJNPA members to organize meetings with numerous local and state agencies and other relevant individuals, representing public health, public welfare, educational organizations and members of the state legislature. The first Membership Directory was published in 1962 under the leadership of Allen Welkind, M.D. (future directories would be compiled by William H. Bristow, Jr., M.D., Linus B. Root, M.D., and Eva Muller, M.D., all of whom also served as NJPA Presidents). In 1966 J. Lloyd Morrow, M.D. (NJPA President 1964-65) published the "Medico Legal Almanac for NJ Psychiatrists." Dr. Morrow was the first half of a "husband and wife team" - as Laura E. Morrow, M.D., followed as NJPA President from 1967-68.

Eugene V. Resnick, M.D., 1971-72 NJNPA President, fought back an early attempt by psychologists to become limited practice physicians by legislative edict, and oversaw changing NJNPA's name to the New Jersey Psychiatric Association (NJPA). In 1973 NJPA began its yearly tradition of recognizing the contributions of a non-psychiatrist to mental health, with its Citizen of the Year Award. Recognizing the need for a professional presence in Trenton, the state capitol, NJPA hired the Joseph W. Katz Company in 1974 as our professional lobbying organization, with Clark Martin as our representative (now with Martin Bontempo Matacera Bartlett, Inc., Clark is still our lobbyist). Irwin N. Perr, M.D., J.D., became President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, and years later served as Vice-President of the APA. Starting with the 1976-77 Presidency of Thomas R. Houseknecht, M.D., NJPA organized Annual Family Weekends and Presidential Dinner Dances. Our Executive Secretary retired and was replaced by Carla A. Ross in 1978 (now known as Executive Director, Ms. Ross has continuously served the Association). During the 1978-79 presidency of Morton Friedman, M.D., NJPA successfully campaigned to defeat legislation that would have opened hospital staffs to psychologists on a mandatory basis. In 1979, Stanley R. Kern, M.D. (NJPA President 1986-87), published the "Medico Legal Digest for NJ Psychiatrists," as well as two updates. This was a prodigious 25-chapter effort, written entirely by NJPA members on various legal topics, distributed in a looseleaf binder.
The 1980s saw our production of a computerized membership directory, organized by Linus Root, M.D., who was both 1981-82 NJPA President and our first in-house computer expert. NJPA's first computer was purchased in 1985, and our first database was written in dBase III with the help of Bertram Warren, M.D. Much effort was focused on confronting problems of insurance, community services, and access to involuntary treatment. In 1985, NJPA President George Wilson, M.D. worked with the NJ State Division of Mental Health in writing the new Screening and Involuntary Commitment Law, which eventually replaced the earlier commitment statute and established screening centers in the state. New NJPA Committees continued to be created, including committees on Women, International Medical Graduates, Computers, AIDS, Ethics and Public Education and Media Relations. Further efforts by psychologists to obtain prescribing privileges were again turned back. The Residents and Medical Students Committee, initially under the chairmanship of Ernesto Amaranto, M.D., began its yearly Best Paper Contest for New Jersey residents training in psychiatry, and later extended this academic competition to awards for medical students. The decade ended with the presidency of Jack B. Kremens, M.D., who had earlier served as Recorder of the APA Assembly from 1979-80.

The 1990s initially saw the need for economic retrenchment, as expensive public relations and educational campaigns had depleted our treasury. In 1990 NJPA also froze its District Branch dues: there has not been an increase for the last 13 years! An NJPA video "Teen Suicide: The Deadliest Option," whose production was spearheaded by Kenneth J. Rubin, M.D. (NJPA President 1987-88) was released during Mental Illness Awareness Week, and subsequently widely shown. The Committee on Women presented a symposium on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination at the APA Annual Convention, and has done so on a yearly basis since. Concerns about managed care led to the formation of a new committee addressing this phenomenon, which has remained quite active. By 1993 our membership reached 908. Under the spirited editorship of Rena Nora, M.D. (1992-93 NJPA President) our Newsletter received four consecutive APA Honorable Mention Awards. In 1995, Daniel M. Greenwald, M.D., 1994-95 NJPA President succeeded her spirited tenure as the Newsletter Editor. In 1996 Haikaz M. Grigorian, M.D. (NJPA President from 1991-92), received the APA Bruno Lima Award, for his inspired efforts in helping the citizens of Armenia after their severe earthquakes. Linda Gochfeld, M.D., 1995-96 NJPA President, tirelessly struggled on behalf of community psychiatry. 1996-97 NJPA President W. Nicolai Nielsen, M.D., boldly orchestrated NJPA's joining an early multibillion-dollar lawsuit alleging price-fixing by managed care companies (Holstein v. Greenspring), a valiant effort, leading to a partially successful settlement in 2000. In 1999, during the presidency of Anwar Y. Ghali, M.D., NJPA joined with other organizations in successfully having the New Jersey Mental Health Parity Bill passed, joining the victories of only a handful of other states. Under the leadership of Nancy T. Block, M.D. (to become NJPA President in 2002-03), NJPA successfully conducted annual Brain/Behavior Expos and Mental Health Poster Contests for New Jersey schoolchildren at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. These efforts were recognized with APA Public Affairs Awards in 1998 and 2002. NJPA launched its website, with guidance from Bertram Warren, M.D., 1993-94 NJPA President, who has served as chairman of the APA Computer Committee as well as the NJPA Computer Committee. Following his retirement, Kurt Muller, spouse of our Past President Eva Muller, M.D. (1988-89), became NJPA's indefatigable photographer, recording images of NJPA officers, councilors and all NJPA events.

Following the logic of the 1997 U.S. Supreme Court Hendricks v. Kansas decision, allowing the continued civil commitment of "sexually violent predators" beyond the expiration of their jail terms, even if they were merely "mentally abnormal" or had a personality disorder rather than an Axis I disorder, New Jersey enacted "The Sexually Violent Predator Act." This legislation, of course, while keeping some dangerous individuals off the streets, situated them in facilities not designed for their treatment or for the protection of others from them. The NJPA Forensic Committee, under the chairmanship of David A. Reskof, M.D., maintained significant involvement with the state, leading it to realize that special facilities needed to be designed and staffed for this population. In 2001, William M. Greenberg, M.D., assumed editorship of the NJPA Newsletter (renamed New Jersey Psychiatrist the following year), and received two consecutive APA Awards for Editorial of the Year, while the newsletter was honored with the APA Continuing Excellence Award in 2002. In 2001, New Jersey felt the shock of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, as many of those who died lived in New Jersey, as did many of the rescue and construction workers at the site. Joseph C. Napoli, M.D., chairperson of the NJPA Disaster Preparedness Committee, together with other active members, were early leaders responding to this disaster. NJPA was recognized in November 2001, by the APA Assembly for its exemplary service in response to the September 11th attacks. As ever, relying on the intelligence and dedicated energies of our members and of our Executive Director, NJPA responds to the needs of the times, and will continue to loyally struggle for our members, our profession, and for the benefit of those who suffer from mental illness and their families.