Richard F. Summers

Richard F. Summers, MD is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Senior Residency Advisor at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Summers has written extensively on psychodynamic therapy training, therapeutic alliance, psychodynamic formulation, positive psychology and psychiatry residency training. His clinical interests focus on combined psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacologic treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, and adult lifecycle development. His research interests include the contemporary revision of the theory and technique of psychodynamic psychotherapy and new approaches to psychotherapy training and education.

Dr. Summers is a Past President of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training (AADPRT), the former Treasurer of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and a Co-Chair of the Psychotherapy Department at the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA). He is a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He chaired the APA’s Workgroup on Psychiatrist Wellbeing and Burnout. He maintains a private practice in suburban Philadelphia.

The recipient of numerous teaching awards, including the Earl Bond Outstanding Teacher Award of the Department of Psychiatry at Penn, the Maestro Award at Pennsylvania Hospital, and the APsaA Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents. Dr. Summers was named a "Top Doc" by Philadelphia Magazine numerous times since 1996. He was awarded the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Robert Dunning Dripps Award for Excellence in Graduate Medical Education by the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Summers regularly speaks and conducts workshops in the US and abroad, and usually teaches seminars on psychodynamic therapy at the annual meetings of the American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association.