Oskar Pfister Award

This award, in honor of the Rev. Pfister, a professional colleague who was in regular dialogue concerning psychiatry and religion through letters to and visits with Sigmund Freud, is given each year by the Committee on Religion and Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association in collaboration with the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Criteria

The nominee is one who has made outstanding contributions to the interrelationships between religion and psychiatry through research, publications, and clinical practice.

Previous recipients of the award have included such luminaries as Wayne Oates, Hans Kung, Victor Frankl, Robert Coles, Ana-Maria Rizzuto and James Fowler.

Process of Nomination

  1. Nominations for the Oskar Pfister Award may be made any member in good standing of the APC or one of its predecessor organizations (College of Chaplains or Association of Mental Health Clergy) at least two years prior to the May awarding date.
  2. Nominations must be made in the form of the following materials compiled and submitted to the office of the Association of Professional Chaplains:
    a. Cover letter of nomination from the sponsoring APC member.
    b. 1 to 3 page statement from the sponsoring APC member of the nominee’s outstanding contributions to the interrelationships between religion and psychiatry through research, publications, and clinical practice.
  3. The APC will review and forward nominations to the APC liaison to the APA committee on Religion & Psychiatry no later than 18 months prior to an awarding date.

Process of Selection

  1. The APA Committee on Religion and Psychiatry, including the APC’s liaison to the APA, selects by vote its recommendation for the award recipient from submitted nominations and recommends the selectee to the APA governing body for approval.
  2. The APC’s liaison to the APA’s Committee on Religion and Psychiatry reports to the APC on the selected awardee along with pertinent information concerning the APA’s Annual Scientific Meeting.
  3. The award recipient is contacted by the APC with news of the selection, of travel and accommodation arrangements and of the cash award to accompany the awardees presentation of the Oskar Pfister Award Lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

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