Head of Psychotherapy Institute Resigns in Dispute With Founder (New York Times)

Only goes to show you that no matter how well-known you become or the contributions you make within your field, you can bet some won’t understand and will put business in front of everything else. It’s unbelievable what happened…

The executive director of a renowned Upper East Side psychotherapy institute said yesterday that he was resigning amid a bitter and increasingly personal feud with the institute’s founder, Dr. Albert Ellis, considered by many to be one of the most provocative and influential figures in modern psychology.

The director, Michael Broder, said he was stepping aside to help heal a rift that widened last summer, when the Albert Ellis Institute canceled the popular Friday night group sessions given by Dr. Ellis and later forced him off its board.

In two lawsuits, Dr. Ellis, 92, has charged that Dr. Broder and the board acted improperly in removing him. The suits seek his reinstatement, as well as unspecified damages. Dr. Ellis’s lawyers have accused Dr. Broder of trying to seize power.

“Any idea that I was trying to engineer a coup is preposterous,” Dr. Broder, a psychologist based in Pennsylvania, said in a telephone interview. “I am so looking forward to having this over and getting back to my writing.”

Robert O’Connell, a former executive at American Express, was named as Dr. Broder’s replacement. Dr. Broder said he would serve out his term but take a “very back-bench” role at the institute, which helped revolutionize psychotherapy in the 1960′s and 1970′s by encouraging patients to focus on what was happening in their lives at the current moment rather than exploring their childhoods.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 22 Nov 2005
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