Beth J. Seelig, M.D.
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Training and Supervising Analyst
Private Office
333 West 56th Street – Ste 1C
New York, NY 10019
Areas of Interest
Conducting psychoanalysis and psychotherapy and teaching and supervising are my primary clinical interests. My psychoanalytic research interests are in the relationship between altruism, masochism, and narcissism, the psychology of women, and the role of the consultant in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. I am active in the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) and have held elected offices and served on various committees in both organizations. At present, I serve on the Coordinating Committee of the Board on Professional Standards of APsaA and am a North American Representative on the IPA Board.
Professional Biography
After finishing my residency in Psychiatry at Columbia, I joined the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry in 1977. I completed my psychoanalytic training at the Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training & Research in 1985. In 1991, I was recruited to Emory University’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and became a Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst at the Emory University Psychoanalytic Institute. I was Director of the Outpatient Psychotherapy Training Program, the program in which the psychiatric residents get their psychotherapy training, from 1991-2008. 1991-1999, I was Director of the Adult Psychiatry Consultation/Liaison Service, Grady Health System. 1999-2007, I was Director of the Emory University Psychoanalytic Institute.
Having moved back to New York in 2008, I re-joined the Columbia faculty. My academic appointment at Columbia is as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and I am a Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst at the Center. I supervise two PGY-3 residents’ long-term psychotherapy cases and a psychoanalytic candidate’s third psychoanalytic case. My private practice is in the Columbus Circle area.
Selected Presentations and Publications
Seelig, B.J., Person, E.S. (1991). A Sadomasochistic Transference: Its Relationship to Distortions in the Rapprochement Subphase, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 39(4): 939-966.
Levy, S.T., Seelig, B.J., Inderbitzin, L. (1995). Those Wrecked by Success, Psychoanalytic Quarterly 64: 639-657.
Seelig, B.J., Rosof, L.S. (2001). Normal and Pathological Altruism, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 49: 933-959.
Seelig, B.J., Dobelle, W.H. (2001). Altruism and the Volunteer – Psychological Benefits from Participating as a Research Subject, American Society of Artificial Internal Organs Journal 47: 3-5.
Seelig, B.J. (2002). The Rape of Medusa in the Temple of Athena. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 83:895-911.
Grant Support
2007-2011:Analysis and Application of the Lucy Daniels Foundation Research Project Database (Psychoanalysis and Creativity) Four years of funding awarded by the Lucy Daniels Foundation
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Total direct support for current funding period: $180,000
Education and Training
B.S., Columbia School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, 1968
M.D., New York Medical College. 1972
internship: New York Medical College/Flower & Fifth Avenue Hospitals and Metropolitan Hospital, 1973
psychiatry residency: New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, 1977
psychoanalytic training: Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training & Research, 1985
Honors
1977: Laughlin Award for Merit, National Psychiatric Endowment Fund
1993: Junior Psychiatry Residents' Outstanding Educator Award, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral, Sciences, Emory University
1994: PGY-III Psychiatry Residents’ Recognition for Excellence in Teaching, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University
1996: Senior Psychiatry Residents' Outstanding Educator Award, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University
2003: Senior Psychiatry Residents’ Outstanding Educator Award, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University
2007: Edith Sabshin Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Non-Candidate Students, American Psychoanalytic Association
Curriculum Vitae
