David Spiegel, MD : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- David Spiegel, the Jack, Samuel and Lulu Willson Professor in Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, reflects on his education and career in psychiatry and integrative medicine. He describes growing up in a family of psychiatrists; the origin of his interest in hypnosis and the mind-body connection; his education at Harvard Medical School; and his residency work at Massachusetts Mental Health Center. He recalls the circumstances that led him and his future wife, Helen Blau, to California in the 1970s, and his work at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Palo Alto and faculty appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Speaking about the trajectory of his research, Spiegel recalls an important group therapy study with Irving Yalom that led to further work on the use of psychotherapy with cancer patients; studying post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans; recent work on transcranial magnetic stimulation and hypnotizability with the goal of pain relief; and a planned study on how anxiety may influence the surgical decisions made by breast cancer patients. Other topics include anti-Vietnam War activism, challenging the loyalty oath at the Veteran’s Administration, Stanford’s Faculty Senate, and his family.
- Summary
- Growing up on Long Island, New York • Parents’ careers in psychiatry and psychoanalysis • Family history and heritage • Parents’ experiences as Jewish students in medical school • Great Neck, NY, in the 1950s • Academic interests in high school • Undergraduate years at Yale • Interest in philosophy, especially Kierkegaard • Social life at Yale and friendships • Parents’ divorce during college • Interest in mind-body relationship and decision to attend medical school • Medical school admissions process • Harvard Medical School and initial interests • Interest in hypnosis • Reflections on the history of hypnosis and psychotherapy • Father’s training in hypnosis and experiences using it as a battlefield surgeon in World War II • Meeting with resistance to practicing hypnosis during residency • Psychiatry residency at Massachusetts Mental Health Center • Early patients, including story of using psychotherapy as an alternative to ECT • Vietnam War and anti-war activism • Getting arrested at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago • Conscientious objector status and draft boards • Memories of Tom Hackett and Norm Geschwind • Deepening interest in hypnosis • Thoughts on pursuing a specialty similar to that of his father’s • Teaching hypnosis and writing a textbook with his father • Social life in college and medical school • Meeting wife, Helen Blau, while at Harvard • Decision to move to California • Working as a clinician at a community mental health center in San Mateo • New movements and figures in psychiatry: Thomas Szasz, Carl Rogers, Esalen • Move to the Palo Alto VA and Stanford • Refusing to sign a loyalty oath required by the VA • Working with Vietnam veterans and research on PTSD • Studying PTSD and hypnotizability • Stanford Department of Psychiatry under Dave Hamburg • Parenthood • Balancing family and work life • Son Daniel’s architecture career •. Daughter Julia’s legal career • Helen Blau’s background and education • Stanford in the 1970s • Collaborations with Karl Pribram • Differences in approaches to psychiatry between the East Coast and West Coast • Collaborations with the Stanford Psychology Department • Research with Irv Yalom on group therapy for breast cancer patients and change in career direction • Broadening uses of psychotherapy; support groups • Creation of the Center for Integrative Medicine • Outside offers and decision to stay at Stanford • Change over time at Stanford • Importance of access to MRI facilities at Stanford on his research, including collaborative studies with Nolan Williams on treatment for fibromyalgia • Reflections on bureaucracy, the corporatization of universities, and big pharma • Thoughts on dealing with human suffering • Influence of Judaism • Some things we still need to learn about the human brain • Approach to teaching • Current research projects • Stanford’s Faculty Senate • Administrative roles at Stanford • Relationship between Stanford Medical School and the hospital and clinics • Role of Stanford senior leadership and deans • Love of travelling
Description
| Type of resource | moving image, sound recording-nonmusical, text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 3 video files; 3 audio files; 1 text file; 1 photograph |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | December 16, 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Spiegel, David, 1945- | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Spiegel, David, 1945- | |
| Interviewer | Costello, Paul | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Spiegel, David, 1945- |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences |
| Subject | Veterans Administration Hospital (Palo Alto, Calif.) |
| Subject | Psychiatry > United States |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Dr. David Spiegel is the Willson Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Center on Stress and Health, and Medical Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he has been a member of the academic faculty since 1975, and was Chair of the Stanford University Faculty Senate from 2010-2011. Dr. Spiegel has more than forty years of clinical and research experience studying psycho-oncology, stress and health, pain control, psychoneuroendocrinology, sleep, hypnosis, and conducting randomized clinical trials involving psychotherapy for cancer patients. He has published thirteen books, 404 scientific journal articles, and 170 book chapters on hypnosis, psychosocial oncology, stress physiology, trauma, and psychotherapy. His research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Aging, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, the Dana Foundation for Brain Sciences, and the Nathan S. Cummings Foundation. He was a member of the work groups on stressor and trauma-related disorders for the DSM-IV and DSM-5 editions of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. He is Past President of the American College of Psychiatrists and the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, and is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine. He was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2018. |
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| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/ww193sx0517 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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