József Gerevich

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József Gerevich (born 5 December 1948 in Budapest) is a Hungarian psychiatrist, neurologist, addoctologist, psychotherapist, university professor and writer.

His partner in life and creation is Erika Bácskai, sociologist. His father was László Gerevich, archeologist, and his mother was Ilona Vattai, art historian. Tibor Gerevich, art historian, was his father’s uncle, while his father’s brother was Aladár Gerevich sabre fencer. József Gerevich’s sister is Éva Gerevich, literary historian, his brother is László Gerevich, mathematician. His children are: Zoltán, psycho-pharmacologist; Péter, civil and structural engineer; Tamás, sociologist; Miriam Manchin, economist. His nephew is András Gerevich, poet and literary translator.

Biography

Early years

After graduating from the Radnóti Miklós Gimnázium secondary school, Gerevich pursued his studies at the Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest. He started his scientific career in the students’ scholarly circle, already in the fifth year of his university studies under the wings of Bertalan Pethő, together with Kinga Göncz, Gábor Ungvári, István Bitter, Lajos Simon, Bálint Zöld and Judit Tolna, among others. He was awarded the first prize for a study entitled Szkizofrének erkölcsi ítélete és világnézete [Moral judgement and worldview of schizophrenic persons] at a scientific competition initiated by the rector of the university. In 1973, he earned his summa cum laude medical degree, and started his career at the Clinic of Psychiatry, directed by Pál Juhász. Juhász directed his attention towards neuropsychology, and he passed his licensing examination in neurology in 1977. He did not agree with the contemporary methods of psychiatry and addictology, even if applied at a high level at the clinics.

Social psychiatrist

Gerevich extended his clinical activity in an unusual manner. He arranged self-awareness groups in community centres with the help of cultural educators, and also launched the tea house movement. He created several professional workshops with his young colleagues (Forum of Young Psychiatrists, Social-psychiatric Workshop), and arranged regular trainings and debates. He and Gábor Ungvári founded the interdisciplinary workshop known as Wednesday Evenings, where they organized debates with historians, art historians, literary scholars and other professionals. Gerevich delivered his first lecture on the connection between Dostoevsky and psychiatry, he presented the pathography of painters Lajos Gulácsy and József Nemes-Lampérth, and the popular debate on the poet Attila József between nosologists and social-psychiatrists was also arranged in this circle. At another memorable evening, Elemér Hankiss and Béla Buda debated, which was later repeated with a third participant, János Kornai, economist.

Around this time, cultural educators initiated a mental hygienic movement. Gerevich took on a leading role in this movement with the book Közösségi mentálhigiéné [Community mental hygiene] (1983), edited by him. An art therapy department was founded by him and Annamária Zseni at the Kulich Gyula tér Daycare Centre [Institute of Psychiatry in Gyula Kulich Square, Daycare Centre] ; they made their work transparent, and also open for the educated public. This project and the Professor Pál Juhász’s support enabled Gerevich to support the newly emerging initiatives concerning fine arts and music in therapy. His book published in 1983 – Terápiák társadalma, társadalmak terápiája – Változatok a kakukkfészekre [Society of therapies, therapy for societies – Variations for the cuckoo’s nest] – also contributed to labelling him the enfant terrible of psychiatry for a long period of time. This book, which won the Nyírő Gyula Award, set the democracy of psychiatric wards as an example for the dictatorship defining the whole country. This volume thus declared unambiguously that Gerevich was devoted to liberal democracy, both inside and outside psychiatry. Ever since, he has highlighted his unchanged dedication to liberal democracy in every interview and publication.

Devotion to addictology

Early in his career, Gerevich realized that a traditional psychiatric ward is not suitable for approaching the drug consumer population. Thus, the Kulich Gyula tér Daycare Centre [Institute of Psychiatry in Gyula Kulich Square, Daycare Centre] became a pilot site for the non-traditional therapeutic approaches, and transformed into a lifestyle workshop. He and his team were the first ones to launch a comprehensive training project for experts working at drug clinics in 1988. He also founded the first umbrella organizations, i.e. the Magyar Narkológiai Társaság [Hungarian Association for Narcology] and the Drogambulanciák Szakmai Szövetsége Tanácsa [Council for the Professional Association for Drug Clinics], which was the starting point for a comprehensive training program. In the course of this program, the internationally recognized Drogmegelőzési Központ és Ambulancia [Drug Prevention and Treatment Centre] founded meanwhile translated several internationally developed diagnostic and therapeutic tools into Hungarian, adapted them to local circumstances, and also elaborated a modern data protection system.

They launched a primary prevention workshop with the leadership of Gerevich’s colleague, Erika Bácskai, which became the methodological foundation for the future prevention programs in schools. The methodological foundations were also laid for the peer help system, which is of crucial importance. In the middle of the 1980s, the first peer helper trainings were started for secondary school students and teachers. They summarized the professional experiences of 15 years in the book Kortárssegítés tanári kézikönyve [Handbook of Peer Help for Teachers] (2000). Meanwhile, peer help was included in the curriculum of university courses and became widespread. Professional conceptions and plans were created for certain cities or districts in Budapest, and also for the national drug policy. For these, the results of their epidemiological research projects were also used.

Gerevich’s work in addictology included patient care, teaching and most of all, research. At present, he conducts research at the Research Institute for Addictology, Budapest. At first, his work focused on epidemiological studies, accompanied by the survey of drug user types, and the efficiency studies of prevention programs. Their results with Erika Bácskai were summarized in their respective PhD dissertations, and also published in books: The Development and Prevention of Drug Use (1996), and Ifjúság és drogfogyasztás [Youth and Drug Use] (1998). The next research topic was the adoption of modern methods and metrics, the results of which were also published in books Drogambulanciák működése és hatékonysága [Operation of Drug Clinics and Their Efficiency] (2003) and Korszerű addiktológiai mérőmódszerek [Modern Metrics in Addictology] (1996). Moreover, they took part in a European research project on cocaine use together with several Western European research groups. Their results were published in their book Kokainprobléma Magyarországon [Cocaine Problem in Hungary] (2006). Their research group turned to study the connections between aggression, self-aggression and addiction. With Pál Czobor, they published a collection of studies entitled Agresszió, öngyilkosság, addikció [Aggression, suicide, addiction] (2017).

In 2001, when the Drug Prevention and Treatment Centre was dissolved by the government, Gerevich left the state health sector for good.

Art psychology

Gerevich has always been closely connected to arts, as his parents and paternal uncle were art historians, while his sister is a literary historian. He started his art psychology research at the beginning of his career: he completed the pathography of Hungarian painters, Lajos Gulácsy and József Nemes-Lampérth, looking for connections between their psychosis and their paintings. From the beginning of the 2000s, he gradually turned back to the psychopathological study of connections between works of art and the artist. His studies focus on fine arts and literature.

In his studies on art psychology, he dismisses the traditional psychiatric approach, which wishes to provide a psychiatric diagnosis for the artist. According to his views, in the network of connections between artists and their oeuvre, illness may be one of the factors to be analyzed, but it does not necessarily cover the whole oeuvre and the career.

The starting point for his analyses is the intensive experience induced by the work of art. His method is based on the analysis of the artist’s life history in depth, looking for connections, while putting these into the context of the given era and a given period of cultural history. He emphasizes that the sheer appearance of a painting or a sculpture might be misleading to draw conclusions about the personality of the artist or their motivation for creating the given work of art. As he writes: The less we know about a painting, the more it becomes a projection surface, on which we project our inner self, our state of mind. This is the first phase of getting to know a painting. [...] The projective content of our soul can only be diminished by a detailed analysis of the life history of the artist, only personal documents (letters, diary, authentic biography) can give us cues.

Gerevich’s latest publications address the sunny and the dark sides of art, i.e. the beneficial and destructive effects of the creative process.

Lajos Gulácsy

Gerevich published his comprehensive pathography on Lajos Gulácsy in 2005. He reconstructs the beginning and the further development of the painter’s psychosis, based on authentic writings, original documents from the archives, letters and the recollections of eye witnesses. The first study gives a detailed account of the cultural historical background of the painter, which is followed by Gulácsy's personality sketch. The book is concluded by the analysis of the emergence of psychosis.

Creative Desires

Between 2016 and 2018, Gerevich focused on the encounter experiences of artists, on encounters that inspired their art and led to the birth of new works of art. He wrote 70 essays on the stories behind personal motifs, which were published in three volumes, entitled Teremtő vágyak [Creative Desires].In his preface to the second volume, László Földényi F. highlights that Gerevich’s studies on the one hand teach us to see, and to become immersed in the paintings; and on the other hand, they create the delicate balance of psychology and aesthetics, the search for motifs and autonomous visuality. The analysis is started from the intensive experience of encounter with a work of art, which is followed by a comparative analysis of the biography and the oeuvre: the experience of the encounter, the dual creativity of the two people, and those personal motifs of the author embedded in the biography are highlighted that inspired the creative process. Fulfilling wishes, introspection, self-healing, the processing of traumatic experiences and the proximity of death are as important as the encounter of the muse and the artist, or the artist’s experience that a work of art can change their life, their personal contacts, their personality.

Gerevich writes on the blurb of the first volume: I have noticed that paintings and sculptures have their own stories, which can be revealed through the biographic documents of the artist. I have stroke upon stories that in their own right can be regarded as creation myths: two people meet, they explore each other, they enjoy the other’s company for a time, then they depart or stay together for a long time, maybe to the end of their life. In the meantime, one of them or both of them create masterpieces. In some cases, the negative aspects of an encounter inspire the artist, while in other cases, happiness is the driving force for the artistic performance. The results of my research pose various questions for art psychology and help to reveal connections. The reader gets closer to the artist’s intentions, and can contemplate what the differences are between artists and non-artists, psychotics and artists, or artists and their muses. Thus, the reader can get closer to understanding the works of art..”

As Tamás Tényi writes: These striking, psycho-biographic descriptions lead us to a jungle of loves, lovers, muses and relationships, with professionalism and style. However, the self-dissection and cruel self-exploration of creative heroes often having a tragic fate also depicts the world of passionately curious lonely geniuses for the reader. Gerevich starts out from the intensive experience of meeting a work of art, and using a stunning amount of information and the expertise of a psychiatrist writer, leads us towards the understanding of the complicated network of the creative artists’ personalities and relationships.” (Tényi Tamás)

Sylvia Plath

The above analyses of fine art were followed by a collection of studies by Gerevich on literary psychology, entitled A képzelet kockázata [The Risk of Imagination] (2019). The book discusses the oeuvre, the life and the illness of the American–British writer and poet, Sylvia Plath. As the editor and author of the book, Gerevich focused on the connections between Plath’s personality and literary work characterized by duality. The studies of the interdisciplinary collection address Plath’s personal dilemmas, strenuous creative career, while also providing authoritative professional details on her psychiatric illness, her symptoms and the treatments.

From art therapy to art brut

In the first period of his professional career (1976–1986), Gerevich established an art therapeutic community with his patients at the Daycare Centre of the Psychiatric Clinic [ma: Semmelweis Egyetem Pszichiátriai és Pszichoterápiás Klinika, Nappali Kórház; Semmelweis University Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Daytime Hospital] in Budapest. He founded the Na’Conxypan and the Mentonopon Groups. While he and his colleagues offered ample space for spontaneous artistic activity, they also inspired the participants by arranging public exhibitions from these works of art and organized theatrical performances.

In 1980, Gerevich, together with Imre Stumpf psychiatrist and Katalin Benson psychologist, organized an exhibition in Building A of the Hungarian National Gallery, in the Buda Castle, entitled Művészet – Betegség – Társadalom [Art – Illness – Society]. All of the artists of the exhibition, which was professionally juried by László Beke art historian, were psychiatric patients.

After the dissolution of the National Psychiatric and Neurologic Institute (OPNI), psychiatrists, mental health professionals, artists and art historians founded the Art Brut Gallery in Budapest in 2005. Their aim was to establish a permanent exhibition hall and to organize exhibitions and art programs. Gerevich curated both the foundation of the gallery and the majority of events.

Recent activity and the present

After his 70th birthday, József Gerevich received the Oláh Gusztáv Achievement Award. For the anniversary, a collection of studies was published written by his colleagues, devotees and friends, entitled Gerevich 70 – A terápiák társadalmától a teremtő vágyakig [From the Society of Therapies to the Creative Desires].

Besides working as a therapist, Gerevich is an active teacher and developer. He offers lectures for the interested public, while teaches courses for the future generations at the Semmelweis University, the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, the University of Pécs, and the Eötvös Loránd University.

His social media page, where he builds communities and initiates debates, is highly frequented. Recently, he has published studies and essays in the field of art psychology in journals both for professionals and the general public on a regular basis.

Professional work

Fields of study

Gerevich obtained his degree in general medicine in 1973 at the Semmelweis University of Medicine. He passed several licensing examinations: neurology (1977), psychiatry (1979), medicinal psychology (1980), psychoanalysis (1994), addictology (1994) and psychotherapy (1999). As a therapist, out of psychological problems and psychiatric diseases, he focuses on dysphoria (depression, bipolar disorder, suicidal ideation), addictions (alcoholism, drug use, smoking), gambling, eating disorders, problems of personal relationships, sexual disorders. He has used the benefits of creative activities of various types in his therapeutic work from the beginning of his career at the institute, at the Daycare Centre of the Psychiatric Clinic [ma: Semmelweis Egyetem Pszichiátriai és Pszichoterápiás Klinika, Nappali Kórház; Semmelweis University Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Daytime Hospital] and the Drug Prevention and Treatment Centre, founded by him. He continues this practice with his patients to this day.

Editorial activity

He was the editor-in-chief and editor of several professional journals, including Psychiatrica Hungarica and its thematic issues (1994–2002). He was the member of the editorial board of Gyermek- és Ifjúságvédelem [Child and Youth Prevention] (1990–1998), is a member of the European Addiction Research Advisory Board (1994–), the member of the advisory board of Psychotropes (1994–) and the editorial board of Recent Studies (2003–).

Professional positions

Gerevich is a founder member of the Hungarian Psychiatric Association (1980), Magyar Narkológiai Társaság [Hungarian Association for Narcology] (1991–) and the Magyar Szociálpszichiátriai Társaság [Hungarian Social-psychiatric Association] (1990).

He is also the chair of the Council of the Professional Association of Drug Clinics (1997–), the vice-president of ERIT (Federation of European Professionals Working in the Field of Drug Abuse) (1994–), member of the UN NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs (1995–), and the leader of the EuroADAD (Euro Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis) Team. He was the president of the supervising board of the Egészséges Ifjúságért Alapítvány [Foundation for Healthy Youth] (1995–2002), the president of the Drog Free Alapítvány [Drug Free Foundation] (1991–1996) and an expert advisor for the Ad hoc Committee on Drugs of the Hungarian Parliament (1996–1997).

Gerevich was or still is the member of several professional boards, including the Pszichiátriai Szakmai Kollégium (PSZK) [Professional Board for Psychiatry] (1993–), Addiktológiai Szakmai Kollégium [Professional Board for Addictology] (2009–), Alkohológiai és Addiktológiai Szakmai Kollégium [Professional Board for Alcohology and Addictology] (1992–1994). He also served as the secretary of PSZK (1995–2004), and the president of the Addictology Committee of PSZK (2000–2004).

Awards and prizes

• Nyírő Gyula Award for Excellence (1983)
• Goldschmidt Dénes Award (2003)
• Elige Vitam Professional Award (2005)
• Oláh Gusztáv Achievement Award (2019)

Works

Monographs

• Gerevich József (1983): Terápiák társadalma, társadalmak terápiája. Változatok a kakukkfészekre. Magvető, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (1991): A drogkutatások terminológiai kézikönyve. Drogmegelőzési Módszertani Központ és Ambulancia, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (1993): Az addiktív drogfogyasztás kialakulásának strukturális modellje. Kandidátusi értekezés, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (2005): Lány a szekrényben. Patográfiai és klinikai esettanulmányok. Osiris, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (2015): Ágyban dől el? Az intimitás útvesztői. Noran Libro, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (2016): Teremtő vágyak – Művészek és múzsák. Noran Libro, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (2017): Múzsák és festők – Teremtő vágyak 2. Noran Libro, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (2018): Szerelmek, múzsák, szeretők – Teremtő vágyak 3. Noran Libro, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (2021): Szemfényvesztő művészet - Utazás szerzők és művek körhintáján Labirintus, Budapest.

Other works

• Gerevich József (szerk.) (1987): Az elsődleges megelőzés perspektívái. Drogmegelőzési Központ és Ambulancia, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (szerk.) (1987): A drogproblémák megelőzése. Drogmegelőzési Központ és Ambulancia, Budapest.
• Bácskai Erika, Gerevich József (1987): Iskolai drogmegelőzési modellkísérlet. Drogmegelőzési Központ és Ambulancia, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (szerk.) (1989): Közösségi mentálhigiéne. Gondolat, Budapest, 2. kiadás: Animula, 1997.
• Gerevich József, Veér András (szerk.) (1992): A kábítószer kihívása. Gondolat, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (szerk.) (1993): Mentálhigiéne. Szöveggyűjtemény. T-Twins Kiadó, Budapest, 1993.
• Gerevich József (szerk.) (1994): Drog és politika/Drugs and Policy. Egészséges Ifjúságért Alapítvány, Budapest.
• Bácskai Erika, Gerevich József (1995): Az addiktív kórképek megelőzése és gyógyítása. A Drogmegelőzési Módszertani Központ és Ambulancia 1994. évi évkönyve. Népjóléti Minisztérium, Budapest.
• Gerevich, József, Bácskai, Erika (1996): The Development and Prevention of Drug Use. Akadémia, Budapest.
• Bácskai Erika, Gerevich József (1998): Ifjúság és drogfogyasztás. Animula, Budapest.
• Németh Attila, Gerevich József (szerk.) (2000): Addikciók. Medicina, Budapest.
• Bácskai Erika, Gerevich József (2000): A kortárssegítés tanári kézikönyve. Egészséges Ifjúságért Alapítvány, Budapest.
• Bácskai Erika, Gerevich József, Rózsa Sándor (2001): Az Európai Addikció Súlyossági Index kézikönyve. Drogambulanciák Szakmai Szövetsége Tanácsa, Drogalapítvány, Budapest.
• Gerevich József, Bácskai Erika, Rózsa Sándor (2003): A drog-ambulanciák működése és hatékonysága. Animula, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (szerk.) (2004): Az adatvédelem addiktológiai kézikönyve. Gyermek- Ifjúsági és Sportminisztérium, Budapest.
• Gerevich József, Bácskai Erika, Rózsa Sándor (2004): A Serdülőkori Problémák Értékelő Interjúja (EuroADAD). Oktatási kézikönyv. Addiktológiai Kutató Intézet, Budapest.
• Bácskai Erika, Gerevich József (2006): Kokainprobléma Magyarországon. Medicina, Budapest.
• Gerevich József, Bácskai Erika (szerk.) (2012): Korszerű addiktológiai mérőmódszerek, Semmelweis, Budapest.
• Gerevich József, Bácskai Erika (szerk.) (2017): Agresszió, öngyilkosság, addikció. Noran Libro, Budapest.
• Gerevich József (szerk.) (2019): A képzelet kockázata – Sylvia Plath élete, életműve és betegsége. Noran Libro, Budapest.

Web activity

• accessdate=2021-12-05 Dr. Gerevich József hivatalos oldala
• Egy pszichiáter történetei – Gerevich doktor válogatott töprengései
• Festői találkozások – különös festmények háttértörténete
• Tükör által világosan – Filmpszichológiai villanások
• Az intimitás útvesztői

References

• Dr. Gerevich József hivatalos oldala
• Magyar Tudományos Művek tára
• MTA Köztestületi tagok listája
• Gerevich József könyveinek listája a Magyar Országos Közös Katalógusban (MOKKA)

External links

• A Pirkadat c. műsor interjúja Gerevich Józseffel, Heti TV (2018)
• A láthatatlan múzsa is ott van a képen, Népszava (2018.02.28)
• Pulzáló vágyak, vágyódó teremtők - A kultúrpart interjúja Gerevich Józseffel (2018)
• Vesszen a mű, Magyar Narancs (2018/25)
• A tébolydáktól a lelki rokkantakig (index.hu) (2008)
• Az aszpirin-teszt, Beszélő online (2003)
• A művészérzelem pszichiátriája, avagy a vágyaktól a pszichózis felé?
• Múzsák és művészek újabb történeteit mutatja be Gerevich József új kötete (2019.01.05)
• Irodalom és betegség, Irodalmi Jelen (2019.11.05)
• A művészet izgalmas, akár egy krimi - beszélgetés Gerevich Józseffel (2020)
• Görcs, pokol, üdvösség | Gerevich József - Teremtő vágyak (2020)
• Gerevich József: Szemfényvesztő művészet | Falusi Dóra ajánlója (2021)
• - Visszhang a Szemfényvesztő művészetről (2021)

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