Dear Community,
With a very heavy heart, I am writing to let you know Philip Cushman died on Monday evening, apparently the victim of a hit and run car accident.
Phil’s impact on our field cannot be over-stated. His highly regarded books, Travels with the Self: Interpreting Psychology as Cultural History and Constructing the Self, Constructing America: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy
drew on a hermeneutic perspective to explore how psychology influences history and culture, as well as how history and culture shape our theories. When we organized the 2019 conference in Vancouver, Phil quickly became the lynch pin for the program - framing our weekend and enabling us to consider Self Psychology, and especially Kohut’s idea of the self, through new lenses, beginning with how Kohut’s ideas were a “creative response to the suffering caused by the historical era."
I (finally) met Phil at the Vancouver conference, and we had remained in contact since then. In that context, I learned that Phil was more than a brilliant thinker, he was a generous, humble human being. Since then, he followed our Social Justice listserv conversations with interest, writing to me about how deeply moved he was by our conversations, especially when the Ukrainian war broke out. He believed that our conversations are important, essential, and he quietly encouraged us to keep going.
My experience with Phil was not at all unique. He was a quiet encourager of many, and this is likely one of his most profound and lasting legacies. His ideas, passion and compassion live on through his many students, patients, colleagues and friends. His was a life very well lived. I feel grateful to have known him and deeply saddened that his life and work was cut shorten such a tragic way.
I know that some in our community knew him far better than I, and I hope that others of you will share your memories of this remarkable person.
May his memory be a blessing for us all,
