Akhtar, Salman 1946–

PERSONAL: Born July 31, 1946.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, 833 Chestnut E., Ste. 210, Philadelphia, PA 19107. E-mail—Salman.Akhtar@jef-ferson.edu.

CAREER: Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, professor of psychiatry; Inter-Act Theater Company, Philadelphia, scholar-in-residence.

AWARDS, HONORS: Best paper of the year award, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

WRITINGS:

PSYCHOLOGY

New Psychiatric Syndromes: DSM-III and Beyond, J. Aronson (New York, NY), 1983.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer) The Trauma of Transgression: Psychotherapy of Incest Victims, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1991.

(Editor, with Henri Parens) Beyond the Symbiotic Orbit: Advances in Separation-Individuation Theory: Essays in Honor of Selma Kramer, M.D., Analytic Press (Hillsdale, NJ), 1991.

Broken Structures: Severe Personality Disorders and Their Treatment, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2002.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer) When the Body Speaks: Psychological Meanings in Kinetic Clues, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1992.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer) Mahler and Kohut: Perspectives on Development, Psychopathology, and Technique, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1994.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer and Henri Parens) The Birth of Hatred: Developmental, Clinical, and Technical Aspects of Intense Aggression, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1995.

Quest for Answers: A Primer of Understanding and Treating Severe Personality Disorders, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1995.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer and Henri Parens) The Internal Mother: Conceptual and Technical Aspects of Object Constancy, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1996.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer) Intimacy and Infidelity: Separation-Individuation Perspectives, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1996.

(With others) Lacan avec la psychanalyse américaine, edited by Judith Feher-Gurewich and Michel Tort, Denoël (Paris, France), 1996.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer) The Seasons of Life: Separation-Individuation Perspectives, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1997.

(Editor, with Vamik Volkan) The Seed of Madness: Constitution, Environment, and Fantasy in the Organization of the Psychotic Core, International Universities Press (Madison, CT), 1997.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer) The Colors of Childhood: Separation-Individuation across Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Differences, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1998.

(Editor, with Selma Kramer) Brothers and Sisters: Developmental, Dynamic, and Technical Aspects of the Sibling Relationship, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1999.

Inner Torment: Living between Conflict and Fragmentation, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1999.

Immigration and Identity: Turmoil, Treatment, and Transformation, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1999.

Thicker than Blood: Bonds of Fantasy and Reality in Adoption, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 2000.

(Editor, with Henri Parens) Does God Help?: Developmental and Clinical Aspects of Religious Belief, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 2001.

Three Faces of Mourning: Melancholia, Manic Defense, and Moving On, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 2001.

(Editor, with Vamik Volkan) Cultural Zoo: Animals in the Human Mind and Its Sublimations, International Universities Press (Madison, CT), 2003.

(Editor, with Vamik Volkan) Mental Zoo: Animals in the Human Mind and Its Psychology, International Universities Press (Madison, CT), 2003.

New Clinical Realms: Pushing the Envelope of Theory and Technique, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 2003.

(Editor, with Henri Parens) Real and Imaginary Fathers: Development, Transference, and Healing, J. Aronson (Lanham, MD), 2004.

(Editor) Freud along the Ganges: Psychoanalytic Reflections on the People and Culture of India, Other Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Objects of Our Desire: Exploring Our Intimate Connections with the Things around Us, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 2005.

(Editor, with Harold Blum) The Language of Emotions: Development, Psychopathology, and Technique, J. Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 2005.

POEMS

The Hidden Knot, Adams Press (Chicago, IL), 1985.

Turned to Light, Adams Press (Chicago, IL), 1998.

Nadi ke pas: Intikhab-i kalam, Star Pablikishanz (Delhi, India), 2004.

Also author of Kubahku, 1976, and of two other books of poetry.

ADAPTATIONS: The play Parinday (title means "Birds"), based on Immigration and Identity: Turmoil, Treatment, and Transformation, aired on British Broadcasting Corporation.

SIDELIGHTS: Psychiatrist Salman Akhtar is the author of many books, both works about psychoanalysis—generally in English—and poetry, often in his native Urdu. His best-known work may be Objects of Our Desire: Exploring Our Intimate Connections with the Things around Us, published in 2005. In this volume Akhtar "takes readers on a quirky tour of the ordinary objects that populate our lives," Marianne Le explained in Library Journal. Akhtar examines the way that almost all physical objects in the world figure in people's attempts to make sense of their lives and construct their personalities. In one chapter, he discusses the importance of children's favorite blankets or stuffed animals, which, he claims, help young children "create the experiential realm between the inner world and external reality." In another chapter, he examines the urge that all people have, to a greater or lesser extent, to amass "stuff," an urge he views as rooted in childhood experiences. Akhtar also turns his attention to specific objects with which people have spiritual relationships, such as Jerusalem's Wailing Wall, the Hindu diety Ganesha, and the Muslim Dome of the Rock, and discusses the transition of human bodies from "persons" to "objects" at death. "Among the highlights are some intriguing thing-related factoids," noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor, citing the fact that "the inventor of the Frisbee instructed his family that after death his remains should be incorporated into limited edition Frisbees."

Akhtar examines the psychology of immigrants in Immigration and Identity: Turmoil, Treatment, and Transformation. This book examines the experiences of voluntary immigrants from many perspectives, including historical, external, and internal, but the author is quick to point out that every immigrant's experience is different. After explaining the psychological conflicts an immigrant is likely to face, Akhtar then gives some advice to psychoanalysts who find themselves working with such patients. "Akhtar beautifully captures the kaleidoscopic nature of an immigrant's identity in this rich and enlightening book," Azmaira Maker wrote in International Migration Review.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Akhtar, Salman, Objects of Our Desire: Exploring Our Intimate Connections with the Things around Us, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 2005.

PERIODICALS

International Migration Review, summer, 2001, Azmaira Maker, review of Immigration and Identity: Turmoil, Treatment, and Transformation, p. 606.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2005, review of Objects of Our Desire: Exploring Our Intimate Connections with the Things around Us, p. 669.

Library Bookwatch, July, 2005, review of Cultural Zoo: Animals in the Human Mind and Its Sublimations.

Library Journal, July 1, 2005, Marianne Le, review of Objects of Our Desire, p. 103.

Publishers Weekly, June 6, 2005, review of Objects of Our Desire, p. 52.