RUTH LAX, Ph.D.

Dr. Ruth Lax passed away in her home the morning of January 31, 2010. She was a training andsupervisory analyst as well as a member of the faculties of both IPTAR and the NY FreudianSociety. In addition, she belonged to 17 other professional organizations. She had recently retiredfrom her practice in New York City. The author of several books, Dr. Lax also publishednumerous articles in psychoanalytic journals. She chaired a study group investigating thepsychoanalytic causes of socially sanctioned violence against women. Her first husband, Lewis L.Salton and her second husband, Leon Ari Falik, M.D, predeceased her. She is survived by her son William Lax Salton, Ph.D., his wife Angela Matthews, Psy.D. and her grandson Javier Salton; herstepdaughter Imy Wax and her husband Howard Wax and their children Deborah and GregoryGoodman; her stepson Shelley Falik, M.D. and his wife Kathleen MacNeil.

Dr. Lax had a long career as a psychoanalyst and psychoanalytic educator. She worked on issuesconcerning the development of women for several decades. In 1969 she was the first contributorto the analytic literature on the topic of the analyst's pregnancy. That pioneering paper wasincluded in her book, Being and Becoming a Woman, published in 1997 by Jason Aronson. In areview of that book, Rosemary Balsam applauded Dr. Lax’s “curiosity, her fascination with theindividuality of women, her interest and compassion for her patients, and her openness tolistening and trying to make sense of patients' associations”. Dr. Lax’s orientation was a blend ofobject relations and structural theory, informed by child psychoanalytic observation, separationindividuationtheory, and her interests in social anthropology and mythology.

Dr. Lax served IPTAR for decades as a highly regarded Fellow, Faculty member, and member ofthe Institute and Board of Directors. She was deeply engaged in psychoanalysis, and helped tofoster IPTAR's reputation through her work on a wide range of psychoanalytic projects, includinginternational social justice and women's issues through the IPA and the United Nations. IPTARPresident, Joe Cancelmo recently noted that, “the life of this brilliant, persistent, and constructivepsychoanalyst will endure”.