Frank Ochberg

Frank Ochberg, MD (born 1940), is an American psychiatrist, a pioneer in trauma science, an educator and the editor of the first text on the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He is one of the founding fathers of modern psychotraumatology and served on the committee that defined PTSD. He is a graduate of Harvard and of Johns Hopkins Medical School.

Career
He is a graduate of Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University medical school. From 1969-1979 he was a regional, division, and associate director of the National Institute of Mental Health. He then became director of the Michigan Department of Mental Health, a position he held for 3 years, from 1979 to 1981.

Ochberg is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Michigan State University, where he has also taught in the College of Human Medicine and the Schools of Journalism and Criminal Justice.

Interests
Ochberg has recently devoted much of his time to educating journalists about trauma, and, in recognition, the Dart Center's Ochberg Fellowship was named for him. Ochberg Fellows, like Pulitzer prize-winning writers, must demonstrate exceptional writing skills as well as thorough investigation of their topics.

Affiliations and honours
He is a founding board member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and recipient of their highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ochberg has also founded, headed or been part of a number of organizations dealing with PTSD and its treatment, including Gift From Within (founder), Critical Incident Analysis Group CIAG (founder) and The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma (chairman emeritus).

Ochberg has 3 children with Lynn Ochberg, his wife of over 40 years. They live in Okemos, Michigan, near Michigan State University, where Ochberg has taught in the College of Human Medicine and the Schools of Journalism and Criminal Justice.

Ochberg attended Camp Rising Sun in 1955 and 1956.

Books edited

 * Violence and the Struggle for Existence (with Daniels and Gilula), editor (1970, Little Brown and Company)
 * Victims of Terrorism (with Soskis), editor (1982, Westview Press)
 * Post-traumatic Therapy and Victims of Violence, editor (1988, Brunner Mazel)

Interviews

 * Mental Help Net's Wise Counsel Podcast featured an interview with Dr. Ochberg on October 1, 2008