Norman Fried

Norman J. Fried, Ph.D., is director of psycho-social services for the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Winthrop University on Long Island, New York. A clinical psychologist with graduate degrees from Emory University, he has also taught in the medical schools of New York University and St. John's University, and has been a fellow in clinical and pediatric psychology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fried is a Disaster Mental Health Specialist for The American Red Cross of Greater New York, and he has a private practice in grief and bereavement counseling on Long Island. He is married with three sons and lives in Roslyn, New York.

Articles:

The Choice to End Treatment: Whose Decision is It?

By Norman Fried —

Memory as Medicine: How One Heals After a Trauma

By Norman Fried — A research study from a group of Chinese scientists reports a new drug that successfully erases memories from the minds of mice. The study reveals a molecular genetic paradigm through which a given memory, such as new or old fear memory, can be rapidly and specifically erased in “a controlled and inducible manner in the brain.” The experiment points to the possibility of the eventual development of a precise and quick method for manipulating people’s memories. In response to these findings, I offer some psychological thoughts. In particular, I write here about the human reaction to […]

The Poetry of Death: Can It Comfort Us?

By Norman Fried — Modern poetry has often found a critical muse in the concept of death. In words apocryphal or mundane, spiritual or skeptical, modern poets have used their art as a means to describe their terse and terminal views of the inevitable. Wallace Stevens, perhaps one of the most skeptical of modern poets, considered death as a “termination” or cessation? of all life energy,?an “absolute without memorial.” We see this in Steven’s famous but dark poem, “Madame Le Fleurie,” in which death is likened to a “waiting parent,” ready to devour us beneath her dew. William Carlos Williams […]

How Families Survive Trauma and Loss

By Norman Fried — What are the lessons that trauma, loss and recovery can teach us about family relationships? And what are the changes that occur in families that have to endure tragedy and loss? We know that trauma and loss bring about changes not just in each individual family member but in the family system as a whole. In children, for example, we learn that the clinical after effects of trauma involve a sense of disconnection from others and a feeling of “loss of power.” Recovery, therefore, is based upon the establishment of new and “safe” connections for these […]

Survivors of 9/11: Rediscovering the Heroes Inside

By Norman Fried In her front page article in Wednesday’s New York Times, Anemona Hartocollis reports on the current lives of some of the survivors of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. “Maimed on 9/11, and Trying to be Whole Again” highlights several men and women who were critically wounded, partially paralyzed, and emotionally transformed as a result of the events of that day. But her article is also a treatise on the human will to survive and to “rebuild a harbor,” as poet Yehuda Amichai once said, long after the ship has gone down. According to […]

9/11 and the ‘Shelf Life’ of Grief

By Norman Fried It is a widely accepted belief that, as time passes, mourners’ responses to loss and trauma change. We understand that the physical reactions of grief, including psychomotor retardation, disorientation, fatigue, and panic seem to lessen. We know that spiritual growth and religious connections develop for some mourners as time begins to pass. And we agree that many who have suffered a loss find themselves more mobilized as time marches on, devoting their energies to fund-raising or consciousness-raising programs in honor of a loved one who died. But the question remains: Is there really a “shelf life” for […]

The Story Of Gana: What Animals Teach About Grief

By Norman Fried Last week, the internet and newspapers across Europe and America posted pictures of an 11-year-old gorilla named Gana clutching the corpse of her 3-month-old baby Claudio for days before surrendering his lifeless body to zookeepers. As Gana persisted in cradling her baby, questions by primatologists, psychologists and other social scientists arose. Do animals have a cognitive appreciation of their own mortality? Do they grieve as adult humans do? Or are they simply confused? In her September 2nd article in The New York Times, Natalie Angier presents data by scientists that suggest another theory: that elaborate displays of […]

The Lessons of Father’s Day

Norman Fried – June 16th, 2007 In the weeks and months after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, many New York newspapers published intimate articles about men who lost their lives on that fateful day. In reading their obituaries, I was moved by a common theme that ran throughout: Many of the victims were fathers who left little children behind. It is now five and one half years since the tragedy that changed the lives of all Americans. Many of the mourners have re-married; many of the children have inherited new father-figures. But their connection to […]

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