IN MEMORY OF JAMES L. FRAMO
by Sheldon Z. Kramer.PhD
In Jim's text,(1992), Family of Origin Therapy:
An Intergenerational Approach, (Brunner
Mazel, New York), his comprehensive work on his unique original contribution
to the field of Family Psychology, he quoted from one of his favorite movies, I Never Sang a Song for My Father (Columbia Pictures):
"Death ends a life
,but it does not end a relationship ,which struggles on in the survivor's
mind toward some resolution, which it may never find."
Jim's death will not end his passionate relationship
with the family therapy field. Jim will continue to be important for new generations
of serious family therapy students not only for how his work provides a framework
and method for families to deeply heal but also as a reminder of all of our
own unfinished business with our own family of origins which drove many of
us to pursue the study of family therapy.
Jim's passion about family therapy not only came
from him feeling of frustration and disappointment at never having had a heart
to heart healing dialog with his father before his father died but also from
his war experiences in the army in World War II. Jim participated in over
300 days of combat with the 88th Division , 913th Field
Artillery Battalion in the Italian campaign. He never forgot the craziness
of war and the memories of the men who died in his platoon. Thus, Jim understood
death quite personally at an early age and continued to have other personal
family encounters with death which, I believe, lit a fire in his heart for
people to deal directly with others in their lives before it was too late.
In this way, Jim was an existentialist who deeply believed in encountering
life completely with meaning and purpose especially with honoring and coming
to terms with our own histories.
Jim was a well respected theoretician in the field of
family therapy. He wrote a classic paper in 1970 entitled, "Symptoms
from a Transactional Viewpoint" which integrates Fairbairn's and
Henry Dicks object relations theory with family systems concepts. This paper
has been used as required reading in many family training programs throughout
the world. All of Jim's theoretical work can be found in his book (1982), Explorations in Marital and Family Therapy: Selected Papers of James L.
Framo (Springer, New York).
Jim also co-edited with Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, one of
the earliest texts in family therapy (1965), Intensive Family Therapy (Brunner Mazel, New York), which has been translated
into six languages. He also co-edited with Robert Green, (1982), Family
Therapy: Major Contributions, (International
Press, New York). In 1972, he published another classic book: Family Interaction:
A Dialogue Between Family Researcher's and Family Therapists, (Springer, New York). He recently finished a new book
along with Tim Weber and his wife Felise Levine, A Family of Origin Consultation:
One Family's Story that will
be published by Brunner/Routledge. Finally, Jim has over 60 other publications
including chapters and journal articles.
Dr. James Framo was a founding member and past president
(1981–1982) of the American Family Therapy Academy and a fellow and
supervisor in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. In
1984, he was awarded the "Distinguished Achievement in Family Therapy."
In 1992,the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy designated
him as a founder in the field. In 1994, he was awarded the "Distinguished
Contribution in Family Therapy. Finally, Jim holds a diploma of Clinical Psychology
from the American Board of Professional Psychology. He was also a fellow of
the APA. He has served as advisory editor of a variety of several journals
in Marriage and Family Therapy.
On a personal note, I feel deeply honored to have known
James Framo. We both were from Philadelphia. I trained at the Family Institute
of Philadelphia where Jim was a founding member. I was thrilled when he decided
to come to San Diego to teach at USIU, where he was eventually designated
as a Distinguished Professor. I felt privileged to have been on the full time
faculty with him at USIU for several years. During the years I directed the
Family Psychology program at USIU, Jim and I created an exciting well organized
program for masters and doctoral studies. During the mid 80s and early 90s,
many visiting distinguished professors and pioneers in Family Psychiatry,
Psychology, and Social Work including Ivan Nagy, Norman Paul, Carl Whitaker,
Virginia Satir, Israel Charney, and Maurizio Andolphi taught at USIU and conducted
continued education workshops for the San Diego community.
Jim was an unusual elder in the
field of family psychology; he treated students and colleagues as equals and
facilitated personal and professional growth with others around the world
where he taught over 300 powerful workshops. He was kind, down to earth, and
loved his work! He was a wonderful role model for many colleagues. Jim has
left an important legacy to our field. His work will continue to have impact
on the field of family psychology for many students in the future who deeply
care about family life. At the core of his work are the basic elements of
compassion, love and forgiveness that is at the very heart of healing and
is the necessary glue that bonds generation to generation.
Jim was not only my close colleague, mentor, but most
importantly my friend. We shared many interests in common including the love
of jazz, movies, and good food—we both loved cheese steaks from Philly.
We were both able to share and comfort each other in our private lives as
well as talk shop if we chose too. What I loved most about Jim was his little
boy spirit that was full of curiosity and enthusiasm about life that was with
him even in his later years.
My heart grieves the loss of Jim; he was truly a unique
spirit! I am glad our souls intertwined in this life time. I will miss him
deeply!
Sheldon
Z. Kramer,PhD is in full time private practice in La Jolla, California. He
is Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry at UCSD Medical School, Department of
Psychiatry , and the author of two books: Transforming
the Inner and Outer Family: Humanistic and Spiritual Approaches to Mind- Body
Systems Therapy (1995) and Hidden Faces of the Soul: Ten Secrets for Mind-Body Healing
from Kabbalah's Lost Tree of Life (2000). He is an international
teacher in Marital and Family Therapy and Mind-Body Medicine where he has
set up on-going training programs including Israel, Turkey, and Italy.
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