"A boy is not free to find a partner of his own as long as he must be the partner to his mother." -- Frank Pittman
Frank Smith Pittman, III, M.D. (1935 - ) is an American psychiatrist and author. He writes a regular column, "Ask Dr. Frank", which used to appear in Psychology Today.
He is a "widely quoted author" of Man enough: fathers, sons and the search for masculinity and Infidelity and Betrayal of Intimacy. He is also author of books Grow Up!: How Taking Responsibility Can Make You a Happy Adult, and Turning Points: Treating Families in Transition and Crisis.
Dr. Pittman is based out of Atlanta, Georgia, where he practices family therapy. He has been active as a psychiatrist and practicing family therapist since 1962Library Journal, review, Grow Up!, Demetria A. Harvin, Bronx, NY, Reed Business Information, Inc."Pittman (Man Enough, Putnam, 1993) is straightforward and witty in his guide to what it really takes to become a responsible adult. Effectively using his 37 years as a psychiatrist and family therapist, his 14 years as a movie critic, his six years as an advice columnist, and his personal experience to illustrate his points...". Both of Dr. Pittman's daughters are psychologists.
"A man doesn't have to have all the answers; children will teach him how to parent them, and in the process will teach him everything he needs to know about life.""Each generation's job is to question what parents accept on faith, to explore possibilities, and adapt the last generation's system of values for a new age.""Fathering makes a man, whatever his standing in the eyes of the world, feel strong and good and important, just as he makes his child feel loved and valued.""Men who have been raised violently have every reason to believe it is appropriate for them to control others through violence; they feel no compunction over being violent to women, children, and one another.""No one, however powerful and successful, can function as an adult if his parents are not satisfied with him.""Parents can make us distrust ourselves. To them, we seem always to be works-in-progress.""We know how powerful our mother was when we were little, but is our wife that powerful to us now? Must we relive our great deed of escape from Mama with every other woman in our life?""Why do otherwise sane, competent, strong men, men who can wrestle bears or raid corporations, shrink away in horror at the thought of washing a dish or changing a diaper?"
Turning Points: Treating Families in Transition and Crisis, Frank Pittman, M.D., A Norton Professional Book, (Hardcover), W. W. Norton & Company; 1st ed edition, May 1987, ISBN 0393700402 , ISBN 978-0393700404, W W Norton page
Infidelity and Betrayal of Intimacy, Frank Pittman, M.D., W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition November 1990, ISBN 0393307077 , ISBN 978-0393307078, W W Norton page
Mentiras Privadas (Spanish edition), Amorrortu Editores, September 1994, ISBN 950518543X , ISBN 978-9505185436
Man enough: fathers, sons and the search for masculinity, Frank Pittman, M.D., Perigee Trade; Reprint edition October 1, 1994, ISBN 0399518835 , ISBN 978-0399518836
Grow Up!: How Taking Responsibility Can Make You a Happy Adult, Golden Guides from St. Martin's Press , ISBN 1582380406 , ISBN 978-1582380407 , July 30, 1999
Articles
More scholarly articles, Google Scholar
"Ask Dr. Frank", column, Psychology Today, March/April 1994 issue
"Ask Dr. Frank", Psychology Today, May/June 1994 issue
"How to be a Grownup Even Around Your Own Parents", Psychotherapy.net, October 2002.
Presentations
"What are Men for, Anyway?", Reno, Nevada, June 28, 2003, Keynote Address, Smart Marriages Conference
Response to "The Death of 'Till Death Us Do Part': "Marriage in the 20th Century", July, 2002, Keynote Address, Smart Marriages Conference
Myth and Ritual in American Life, A Sloan Center for Working Families, "Ritual Function and Family Dysfunction: The Therapist's View", Emory University