On Saturday, September 25, Dr. Ahron Friedberg, distinguished Manhattan and Sag Harbor psychiatrist and resident, held a reading and discussion of his book, Through a Screen Darkly: Psychoanalytic Reflections During the Pandemic, in the home of renowned fellow psychiatrist and Hamptons resident, Dr. Mirjana Blokar. Attendees and discussion participants included prestigious neuroscientist, Dr. Heather Berlin, among numerous Mount Sinai colleagues and friends.
Dr. Friedberg explains, “The book shows that, of necessity, people can learn to adapt, even in the most difficult circumstances. Even though we can only see “darkly” we can call on resources we do have, in addition to those we can acquire to retain our sense of dignity and purpose. Through a Screen Darkly is a time capsule of how we struggled – and are continuing to navigate – a disease we do not fully understand.”
The book addresses the pandemic in phases, including I) Pandemic, II) Venturing Out, III) The New Normal, and IV) Life Simplified. The essays provide perspective on several subjects relating to mental health, including parenting, elder care, work life (losing jobs, finding jobs, choosing new work, commuting), loneliness, children, and dating. Through a Screen Darkly offers practical examples of how patients coped with these conditions and (in many cases) found the resilience to get past them.
“The ultimate goal is to bolster your resilience,” states Dr. Friedberg. “In my experience counseling patients through the pandemic, I found that they had greater capacity for resilience than they realized. Deploying this resilience was their pathway to successfully managing their mental health.”
In addition to Through a Screen Darkly, Dr. Friedberg has also written Flashing Seven: Seven Essential Skills for Living and Leading, co-authored with Dr. Jack Hischowitz, Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai, Between Us, A Father and Son Speak, co-authored with his father, Dr. Eugene Friedberg, and Psychotherapy and Personal Change; Two Minds in a Mirror, also written with Dr. Sandra Sherman.
Through a Screen Darkly is available for purchase at amazon.com.
About Dr. Ahron Friedberg
Dr. Ahron Friedberg, M.D. is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is a practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in Manhattan. At Mount Sinai, Dr. Friedberg served as Co-Chair of the Psychiatry Advisory Board and has helped develop and lead several academic and teaching initiatives including their Innovations in Psychiatry Symposium. Dr. Friedberg also directs the ‘Symposium’, a national meeting held annually at Mount Sinai. He has participated in clinical research as part of the Department’s Mood
and Anxiety Program, which focuses on translational neuroscience and understanding resilience.
Dr. Friedberg has served twice as national President of the American Society of Psychoanalytic Physicians. He was named first Executive Editor of International Psychoanalysis.net, a highly regarded online psychoanalytic resource. In addition, he is an Acquisitions Editor of International Psychoanalytic Books, Book Editor of Psychodynamic Psychiatry, Editor of the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis Academy Forum, elected chair of the International Council of Editors, Psychanalytic Journals, as well as a regular contributor to Psychology Today.
His research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including The Psychoanalytic Review, The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Neuro-psychoanalysis, and Psychodynamic Psychiatry. Dr. Friedberg’s writing focuses on the treatment of anxiety and trauma, clinical technique, and the concepts of resilience, consciousness, and desire in psychoanalysis. He has received awards for excellence in writing, in addition to originality and scholarship.
