Richard R. Peabody

Richard Rogers Peabody (23 January 189226 April 1936) was an American psychotherapist who specialized in alcoholism.

Peabody grew up as a member of the upper class in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Groton, where his grandfather was headmaster, and later enrolled at Harvard as had many of his family before him. He married Polly Jacob, the daughter of another blue-blooded Boston family, with whom he had two children. His book became a best seller and was a major influence on Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson. He died at age 44.

Early life

Born on 23 Jan 1892 to Jacob Crowninshield Rogers Peabody and Florence Dumaresq Wheatland, His great-great-grandfather was Salem shipowner and privateer Joseph Peabody who made a fortune importing pepper from Sumatra as well as opium from Eastern-Asia and was one of the wealthiest men in the United States at the time of his death in 1844. Another of his ancestors was Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Endecott, who ordered the hanging of non-conformist Quakers, but who none-the-less was a friend of Roger Williams.

Marriage

In 1915, with his uncle Reverend Endicott Peabody officiating, he married his long-time girlfriend, 24-year-old Mary "Polly" Jacob. Polly was a debutante who at age 19 had received a patent for the first modern brassiere.

Polly concluded that Dick was a well-educated but undirected man and a reluctant father. Less than a year later Dick Peabody enlisted at the Mexican border where he enlisted in Battery A, Boston's "crack militia," which was charged with stopping Pancho Villa's cross-border raids. Polly and Billy moved in with Dick's parents at their North Shore estate where they summered. In April they moved back to the stone cottage at Quaker Ridge. Dick's shipping business went under. Polly and Billy moved in with Dick's parents at their North Shore estate where they summered. Their lives would intersect again in the 1930s when both would become involved in treating alcoholism. On August 12, 1917, Richard and Polly had a daughter, Poleen Wheatland (also nicknamed "Polly"). A week and a half after Polly was born, her mother took her to see her father off to war in France. Polly's life was difficult during the war years, and when her husband returned home and resumed drinking, her commitment to her marriage was further weakened. Polly felt that her husband was a well-educated but undirected man and a reluctant father. By some accounts, Crosby fell in love with her in about two hours, confessing his love for her in the Tunnel of Love at the amusement park. Two weeks later they went to church together in Manchester-by-the-Sea, and spent the night together. Dick Peabody was in and out of sanatoriums fighting alcoholism and acute depression several times. Polly had become so afraid of him that she refused to stay alone with him, even appealing to her uncle, J. P. Morgan, Jr., for moral and financial support.

Professional activities Peabody had a “short but successful career as an independent lay therapist helping alcoholics." :176

Publications

Peabody published a number of articles in the popular press His only book, The Common Sense of Drinking,

The Peabody Method Peabody first described his psychotherapeutic approach in two oral presentations in 1928. The addresses were subsequently published in 1930 in the medical journal, Mental Hygiene. He further elaborated on his method in his book, The Common Sense of Drinking.

Clinical legacy Karl M. Bowman and E.M. Jellinek declared, “In this country [United States], Peabody has probably exerted more influence than anyone else on the psychotherapy of alcohol addiction.” :67 Dwight Anderson indicated, "The late Richard R. Peabody made a notable contribution to therapy. Through his students, many of whom became lay therapists themselves, his techniques have been perpetuated. Most of them are embodied in his book, The Common Sense of Drinking."

Raymond G. McCarthy noted, "Probably Peabody as much as anyone is responsible for introducing into the popular vocabulary the word ‘alcoholism' and substituting ‘alcoholic' for the emotionally charged label ‘drunkard.’ " at Boston City Hospital; and Edward Strecker at the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. carried on pioneering work at Yale and Rutgers. "The therapy I use, with the co-operation of physicians, treats alcoholism as a mental illness and follows lines laid down by the late Richard Peabody of Boston. Mr. Peabody cured many abnormal drinkers; indeed, he cured me. For fifteen years of my life I was an alcoholic; I submitted to almost a dozen ‘cures' which failed to cure. It was Mr. Peabody who showed me how to cure myself." Chambers co-authored a book, Alcohol: One's Man Meat, with Strecker. The approach to treatment described largely follows Peabody's method.

The Yale Center of Alcohol Studies opened the first free clinic devoted solely to treating alcoholism in 1944. Its clinics were directed by McCarthy.

The Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol published a Lay Supplements series from 1941–1955. Peabody’s book is listed among the “selected reading” in the most popular issue, “The Drinker and the Drunkard,” which was printed 12 times between 1944 and 1955. :16

Ernest Kurtz indicated, “he approach of Richard R. Peabody, as developed by Francis Chambers and popularized especially by the talented writer Jim Bishop, not only preceded in time [Bill] Wilson’s own sobriety but was well into the 1950s accepted and endorsed by many doctors and clergy much more enthusiastically than was Alcoholics Anonymous." :158

Alcoholics Anonymous Bill Pittman noted, “Bill Wilson had first gone to Sam Shoemaker’s Calvary Church Mission in November 1934 and although physical proximity does not mean acquaintance, one wonders if possibly Wilson and/or Shoemaker knew Richard Peabody. Nell Wing does remember Bill Wilson saying he did meet Peabody." :186 Wing was Wilson's secretary from 1950–1971 and an archivist at the General Service Office (G.S.O.) of Alcoholics Anonymous from 1971–1982. She advised Pittman that “there were at least 10 books that were read by Bill Wilson and others between 1935 and 1939 that were helpful to them,” including Peabody’s book. which is now archived at Brown University as the “Dr. Bob” Collection.

Wilson may have borrowed phrases from Peabody's book. For example, Peabody’s “once a drunkard always a drunkard" :33 Similarly, Peabody's "halfway measures are of no avail" :287

Early Alcoholics Anonymous members "sought inspiration and guidance” from various sources, including Peabody’s book. Peabody and Common Sense were mentioned in early issues of The Grapevine.

Death

Peabody died on April 26, 1936, in Manchester, Vermont.

Peabody's obituary in The New York Times stated that he died of a heart attack. A subsequent death listing with funeral information indicated that he died "suddenly, of heart failure." Obituaries in regional newspapers attributed his death to a "heart ailment."

Scribner's Magazine published an article written by Peabody in its June 1936 issue. The associated author profile stated, "Richard R. Peabody, author of 'The Danger Line of Drink,’ died of a heart attack on April 26, just as this number was going to press.” :383 His wife, Jane McKean, advised Willam Wynne Wister, “He had had a very bad cold and a local doctor came and said that it had developed into pneumonia and that Dick must stay in bed. Well, he gave Dick some medicine and that night Dick died in his sleep." :242 His former wife, Caresse Crosby, noted, "Dick and I remained devoted friends until the end. I was in Paris when the news of his untimely death reached me.” :92 She did not mention his cause of death.

On the other hand, Katherine McCarthy noted, “A common opinion is that Peabody died intoxicated, although the evidence is not conclusive” and that “published sources contradict each other." :60,61 She indicated, "Samuel Crocker, who had once shared an office with Peabody, told Faye R. that he was intoxicated at the time of his death. The personal copy of Peabody’s book belonging to Bill Wilson (one of the founders of A.A.), now in the A.A. Archives, contains the following inscription: ‘Dr. Peabody was as far is known the first authority to state, “once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic,” and he proved it by returning to drinking and dying of alcoholism [...].’ This copy was originally owned by Rosa Burwell of Philadelphia." The principal cause of death was stated to be "acute cardiac dilatation" in the context of "chronic myocarditis." “Chronic alcoholism” was noted to be a contributing cause.

Peabody was survived by Crosby; McKean; his son, William, and daughter, Polly. He is buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts.

Works ["Read before the Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology, April 18, 1928, and before the Harvard Psychological Clinic, December 14, 1928. The treatment outlined in this article has been carried on by Courtenay Baylor for seventeen years.”] [Described as a condensation of his article in Mental Hygiene. Peabody's postal address in Boston appears on Page 1220] [Also described as a condensation of his article in Mental Hygiene] Open AccessDust wrapper

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