Millennium Magazine_6th Ed

212 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine D r. Axel Hoffer became intrigued by psychology when his professor, Dr. John Speigel, brought Sigmund Freud’s oral phase to the class’ attention, realizing most of the class had something in their mouths. Since that class, Dr. Hoffer knew where to guide his career path. Today, he is a recipient of the 1984 Journal Prize from the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association and a renowned researcher and psychiatrist in his field. Dr. Hoffer studied at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany from 1955 to 1956, and received a BA in 1957 and an MD cum laude in 1961, both from Harvard University. By 1966, Dr. Hoffer completed a medical internship, residency in psychiatry and a fellowship in child psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. Additionally, from 1966 to 1968, he served as a Lieutenant Commander with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in affiliation with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Commencing his career as a clinical associate at NIMH in Bethesda, Maryland, Dr. Hoffer returned to the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. From 1968 to 1975, he was an assistant clinical director, and from 1975 to 1976, he served as associate director. In 1975, Dr. Hoffer approached teaching for the first time as an assistant clinical professor at the Harvard Medical School while also working out of a psychoanalysis and psychotherapy private practice, a role he still holds today. In 1977, he took on the role of director of in-patient services at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, and from 1996 to 2018, he was an associate clinical professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hoffer holds certification in adult psychoanalysis and is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is especially proud of editing the book “Freud and the Buddha: The Couch and the Cushion,” as well as his translation of Freud’s “Phylogenetic Fantasy,” backed by his knowledge of German, Latin and French. The advice Dr. Hoffer can offer to aspiring psychiatrists is to follow the fundamental rule of psychoanalysis: understand and follow everything that comes to the patients’ minds. AXEL HOFFER, MD PSYCHIATRIST, ASSOCIATE CLINICAL PROFESSOR (RETIRED) Harvard Medical School Brookline, MA HEALTH AND WELLNESS Millennium Magazine Featured Listee