Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Date August 7, 2024
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Clinician Cameo: Finding Magic in Groups and Meaning in Learning

The Clinician Cameo is a regular interview series with a clinician in the Brown Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (DPHB).

Stewart Kiritz, PhD

Stewart Kiritz, Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior, served on the clinical faculty and teaching medical staff of the Stanford Psychiatry Department for over 30 years and directed an APA doctoral internship at a community health center in Palo Alto. He currently runs a private practice and teaches and supervises Brown trainees in psychotherapy.

In this interview, Kiritz talks with DPHB about the many unique groups he facilitates – for physicians, Brown residents, older adults – as well as his journey from a searching student in 1960s Berkeley to a “semi-retired” teacher and lifelong learner in Rhode Island.

You did your undergraduate degree at Berkeley in the 1960s. What was your experience of that iconic place and time?

I was privileged to enter UC Berkeley in 1960 and soak in the rich intellectual environment, the bohemian lifestyles, and the diversity. I witnessed the  Free Speech Movement and Joan Baez singing "We Shall Overcome" in Sproul Plaza. It was an exciting time.

But it was also a time of inner journey. I started as a math major, switched over to philosophy, and finally ended in psychology. I grew in many ways during these years, from being very cerebral and comfortable in the realm of abstractions, into a person more in touch with my feelings, to use a cliched expression. After graduation, I spent two years in the Peace Corps in Tunisia and returned to the doctoral psychology program at Berkeley in 1968.

group photo
Kiritz with psychology interns whose training he directed.

You built your career mainly in California. What brought you to the East Coast? What was that transition like?

My wife and I moved here eight years ago to be closer to our daughter. I was at a natural transition point because I’d wrapped up my work as a training director. We were told it would take us a long time to connect with New Englanders, but it turned out everyone was quite friendly. We had some difficulty adapting to the weather, though. You can’t casually walk around in short-sleeves in the ice and snow.

I’d run a practice in Palo Alto for a long time and started one up here a few years ago. My referrals come mostly from people who know me through Brown. I’m licensed in California, too, so I see people there remotely.

You have extensive experience facilitating groups. What draws you to that form of therapy?

There’s a kind of magic that takes place in groups. They can be powerfully positive – or negative. For example, sometimes there are charismatic therapists who might put people down or engage in negative confrontation. But when a group is positive, it can develop a sense of cohesion and be profoundly nourishing.

As a therapist in a group setting, I try to be present with my feelings and reactions and self-disclosing. If a group is working well, it’s enhancing for the therapist and the participants. Even though I’m an introvert – a sociable introvert. 

There’s a kind of magic that takes place in groups. They can be powerfully positive – or negative....But when a group is positive, it can develop a sense of cohesion and be profoundly nourishing.

Dr. Stewart Kiritz

You co-lead a support group for Brown psychiatry residents. How did that come about?

During COVID, the residents said they really missed casual exchanges with each other in between their duties and sessions with patients. They missed that kind of human contact. So their training director, Tracey Guthrie, approached Diana Lidofsky and me about starting a group.

For the first two years, we held the group weekly over Zoom and when the impact of COVID eased, we went back to in-person. But actually, we’re just now going back to Zoom because there’s some benefit to doing a group at the end of the day and members may live at some distance from their workplace.

Do groups work just as well remotely as in person?

I’d probably prefer therapy, supervision, and groups in person. There’s some ineffable quality of being physically present with other human beings that’s missing when you’re interacting over a screen. That said, if you look at the available research, therapy seems equally effective when it’s remote. And there’s something to be said for the possibilities: I have meetings with colleagues who are in Vienna, Brooklyn, and Portland, Oregon. That sort of thing just didn’t happen before Zoom. 

You also facilitate a processing group for physicians. Tell us about that.

I’m part of a group called Doctors Helping Doctors. Initially, we got together and talked about how we could have an impact on the stress physicians were experiencing. An emergency medicine physician in our group got a grant to facilitate experiences that would be helpful to this population. So we’ve started an ad hoc monthly processing group of emergency medicine physicians, residents, and attendings. The aim is to be supportive and give them a safe, confidential venue to talk about their work, which isn’t something that’s easy to do in the midst of work or with family. 

You recently started co-leading an elder support group with your wife. What prompted that? 

My wife and I came up with the idea together – we’re elders ourselves. When I brought the subject up with colleagues, they were all very positive and pointed out there’s little of that available. To some extent, older people are an underrepresented population, especially if they have mobility issues.

We hold the group remotely every week and have two openings currently. My wife isn’t a mental health professional, but she’s interpersonally gifted, probably more of a natural therapist than I am. Though I’ve had a lot of experience with groups, I’ve never led one with a population over 70 and it’s actually not as different as one might expect. A lot of things people talk about are related to being human, not necessarily about aging. One issue that does come up is retirement. Sometimes people make the decision to retire and then realize they don’t have a whole world of interaction they had before. I haven’t found too many people who were delighted they retired.

two people playing clarinets
Kiritz, left, playing clarinet with a friend in the 1980s.

You call yourself “semi-retired.” Have you faced these issues?

Well, that’s one of the reasons I’m still working. When I came here at 73, I was quite concerned because I was leaving a lot of things in California – running an internship program, having a private practice, doing supervision at Stanford, doing groups. I made contact with people at Brown right away and got licensed in Rhode Island. I’m fortunate that psychology is one of those professions where it’s possible to keep going for a long time. The more life experience you have, the richer your work becomes.

I plan to keep working for the foreseeable future, but volunteering is another option. A friend of mine is a retired musician who started doing music therapy in hospice settings. The main thing is to find something that is meaningful.

You’ve said that learning is a large part of your identity. What have you been delving into lately?

I get on these kicks. I got interested in virology during COVID and started taking courses online. Then I took courses on psychoanalysis and did a fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis. Almost every year since I’ve been here, I’ve been involved in some kind of course. I also take clarinet lessons once a week with a teacher who played in the Boston Pops. 

Continual learning is very important to me, because it’s a way of creating meaning in one’s life. I think that’s a good prescription to follow.