The psychiatry department at the School of Medicine is sponsoring a retirement celebration on Saturday, Sept. 19, in honor of Dr. John S. Strauss, professor emeritus of psychiatry.
The celebration will include a brunch and symposium, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Home Village Gourmet Chinese Restaurant, 2380 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden, followed by a dinner at 6 p.m. at Widdy's restaurant at the Yale Golf Course on Conrad Drive in New Haven.
The theme of the symposium will be "The Nature of Severe Mental Disorders." Among the presenters at the event will be Strauss' colleagues and former students.
Although there is no admission charge for the symposium alone, tickets are $25 for the brunch and $45 for the dinner. For further information, call 789-7407.
Strauss is a clinical researcher who has carried out a wide range of studies of individuals with severe mental disorders. These studies have focused on issues of diagnosis, course of disorder and the processes of improvement. In his work, Strauss has emphasized the role of people with mental disorders as people who are struggling to recover. Most recently, his research has focused on understanding in depth the subjective experiences of people with severe disorder. He believes that these experiences provide crucial data for understanding and treating the basic processes involved in disorder and recovery.
A 1959 graduate of the School of Medicine, Strauss also holds a B.A. in psychology from Swarthmore College and studied with Professor Jean Piaget at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He received a certificate in community psychiatry from the Washington School of Psychiatry. A member of the Yale faculty since 1977, Strauss was director of the Yale Psychiatric Institute 1977-79 and director of the Center for Studies of Prolonged Psychiatric Disorder at the Connecticut Mental Health Center from 1985 until his retirement. A life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, he has received many awards and honors during his career, served on the editorial boards of numerous publications, and been a consultant to both local and global mental health organizations.