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Unger, Sanford

 Person

Biographical Information

Sanford Unger received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Antioch College in 1953. He earned his Master of Arts degree in 1955 from Cornell University while serving as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Anthropology & Sociology. From 1955 until 1957, he was enlisted in the U.S. Army. Following his enlistment, Unger returned to Cornell, where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1960 in the Department of Human Ecology. During his final year at Cornell, he was named Senior Fellow of the Cornell University Graduate School. Subsequently, Dr. Unger was certified as a clinical psychologist by both the Maryland Psychological Association and the National Association of Caregivers in Psychology.

From 1960 until 1965, Unger served as a psychologist in the Laboratory of Psychology of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1963, after publishing the highly regarded paper “Mescaline, LSD, Psilocybin, and Personality Change,” he, with colleague Albert Kurland, pioneered exploratory research with LSD at the Spring Grove State Hospital in Catonsville, Maryland. Over the next decade, the psychedelic research program at Spring Grove evolved into a major center for research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. In 1969, Unger was appointed Chief of Psychosocial Research at the newly founded and highly distinguished state-of-the-art Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. Clinical research projects included studies with alcoholic patients, neurotic and depressed patients, and those with terminal cancer, as well as a study on the training of professionals involved in psychedelic psychotherapy. These activities are detailed in his article “The Psychedelic Use of LSD: Reflections and Observations.”

In 1973, during the reorganization of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Unger was invited by the Superintendent of the Springfield State Hospital in suburban Eldersburg, Maryland to direct an experimental program for the treatment of hospitalized alcoholic patients. Unger developed and directed this innovative program, known as SPAR (Springfield Program for Alcoholic Rehabilitation), over the next several years. I It was subsequently written up and circulated to all publicly-administered institutions in the country to serve as a model which was widely and successfully followed by many facilities.

In 1978, Unger founded and directed the Stillwater Institute, a private psychotherapy practice. He oversaw this program until his retirement.

In 1992, Dr. Unger retired to Sedona, Arizona where he has taught classes on a variety of topics at the Yavapai College Lifelong Learning Program, including a course on the history of psychedelic research.

Citation

Biographical information provided by the donor.

Found in 28 Collections and/or Records:

Academic writings, 1963 - 1971

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 68, File 2
Scope and Contents From the Collection: The William Richards Collection on Walter Pahnke (1952-1972; 0.2 cubic feet) contains materials collected and donated by William Richards that document the life and work of his close colleague, Walter Pahnke. It includes some of Pahnke's important academic writings, copies of personal manuscripts, some biographical information, writings by his wife (Eva Sontum Pahnke), and materials memorializing his untimely passing.
Dates: 1963 - 1971

Kurland, Albert A., Sanford Unger, and John W. Shaffer. "The Psychedelic Procedure in the Treatment of the Alcoholic Patient - A Research Program at the Spring Grove State Hospital," Prepared for Presentation at the Second Conference on the Use of LSD in Psychotherapy. (photocopy), May 8-10, 1965

 Item — Box: 7, Folder: 1
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 11, Item 40
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Includes published and unpublished preprints, reprints, abstracts, and drafts of articles on the use of psychotropic substances as a therapeutic agent. It also includes book chapters, letters to the editor, and conference presentations.
Dates: May 8-10, 1965

Kurland, Albert A., Walter N. Pahnke, Sanford Unger, Charles Savage, and Louis E. Goodman. "Psychedelic Psychotherapy (LSD) in the Treatment of the Patient With a Malignancy." , April 24 - 27, 1968

 Item — Box: 6, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 70, Series 4, File 2, Item 10
Scope and Contents From the Series: Contains manuscripts and undated manuscripts documenting Savage’s research, as well as miscellaneous manuscripts possibly created by Savage, his patients, or his colleagues. Materials are arranged chronologically when possible. Undated materials are arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name.
Dates: April 24 - 27, 1968

Kurland, Albert A., Walter N. Pahnke, Sanford Unger, Charles Savage, and Stanislav Grof. "Psychedelic LSD Research," Psychotropic Drugs in the Year 2000. (photocopy), 1971

 Item — Box: 20, Folder: 3
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 11, Item 44
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Includes published and unpublished preprints, reprints, abstracts, and drafts of articles on the use of psychotropic substances as a therapeutic agent. It also includes book chapters, letters to the editor, and conference presentations.
Dates: 1971

Kurland, Albert (et al). "Psychedelic Therapy Utilizing LSD in the Treatment of the Alcoholic Patient: A Preliminary Report," Amer. J. Psychiat. 10 (reprint), April 1967

 Item — Box: 7, Folder: 1
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 11, Item 41
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Includes published and unpublished preprints, reprints, abstracts, and drafts of articles on the use of psychotropic substances as a therapeutic agent. It also includes book chapters, letters to the editor, and conference presentations.
Dates: April 1967

"LSD and Psychotherapy: A Bibliography of the English-Language Literature" by Sanford M. Unger, 1964

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 69, File 2, Item 4
Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Sanford Unger papers (1961-1974; 0.2 cubic feet) contains writings exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The collection also contains the correspondence between Aldous and Laura Huxley and Sanford Unger, and an excerpt from the 1966 CBS Reports feature, “LSD The Spring Grove Experiment.”
Dates: 1964

“LSD-Type Drugs and Psychedelic Therapy” by Sanford Unger, Albert A. Kurland, MD, John W. Shaffer, Charles Savage, Sidney Wolf, Robert Leihy, O. Lee McCabe, and Harry Shock (Reprint from Research in Psychotherapy, Volume 3), 1968

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 1
Identifier: MSP 69, File 2, Item 8
Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Sanford Unger papers (1961-1974; 0.2 cubic feet) contains writings exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The collection also contains the correspondence between Aldous and Laura Huxley and Sanford Unger, and an excerpt from the 1966 CBS Reports feature, “LSD The Spring Grove Experiment.”
Dates: 1968

“Mescaline, LSD, Psilocybin, and Personality Change, a Review,” by Sanford M. Unger, (reprint from Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes, Volume 26, Number 2) , 1963

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 69, File 2, Item 2
Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Sanford Unger papers (1961-1974; 0.2 cubic feet) contains writings exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The collection also contains the correspondence between Aldous and Laura Huxley and Sanford Unger, and an excerpt from the 1966 CBS Reports feature, “LSD The Spring Grove Experiment.”
Dates: 1963

“Psychedelic (LSD) Therapy of Neurotic Disorders: Short Term Effects” by O. Lee McCabe, Charles Savage, Albert Kurland, and Sanford Unger, (Reprint from the Journal of Psychedelic Drugs, Volume 5, Number 1) , 1972

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 69, File 2, Item 11
Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Sanford Unger papers (1961-1974; 0.2 cubic feet) contains writings exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The collection also contains the correspondence between Aldous and Laura Huxley and Sanford Unger, and an excerpt from the 1966 CBS Reports feature, “LSD The Spring Grove Experiment.”
Dates: 1972

Savage, Charles (et al). "Current Status of Psychedelic Research," Prepared for the American Orthopsychiatric Association Meetings (photocopy), March 20 - 23, 1967

 Item — Box: 10, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 18, Item 16
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Includes published and unpublished preprints, reprints, abstracts, and drafts of articles on the use of psychotropic substances as a therapeutic agent. It also includes book chapters, letters to the editor, and conference presentations.
Dates: March 20 - 23, 1967

Savage, Charles (et al). "Therapeutic Applications of LSD," Prepared for the Third Annual Conference of Friends of Psychiatric Research, Inc (photocopy), March 30, 1967

 Item — Box: 10, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 18, Item 17
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Includes published and unpublished preprints, reprints, abstracts, and drafts of articles on the use of psychotropic substances as a therapeutic agent. It also includes book chapters, letters to the editor, and conference presentations.
Dates: March 30, 1967

Savage, Charles. "Research with Psychedelic Drugs," Psychedelic Drugs (reprint), 1969

 Item — Box: 10, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 18, Item 18
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Includes published and unpublished preprints, reprints, abstracts, and drafts of articles on the use of psychotropic substances as a therapeutic agent. It also includes book chapters, letters to the editor, and conference presentations.
Dates: 1969

"Stereospecific Actions of DOET (2,5-Dimethoxy-40Ethylamphetamine) in Man" by Solomon H. Snyder, Sanford Unger, Robert Blatchley, and Charles Barfknecht, 1974

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 69, File 2, Item 12
Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Sanford Unger papers (1961-1974; 0.2 cubic feet) contains writings exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The collection also contains the correspondence between Aldous and Laura Huxley and Sanford Unger, and an excerpt from the 1966 CBS Reports feature, “LSD The Spring Grove Experiment.”
Dates: 1974

“The Experimental Use of Psychedelic (LSD) Psychotherapy” by Walter N. Pahnke, Albert A. Kurland, Sanford Unger, Charles Savage, and Stanislav Grof (Reprint from the Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 212, Number 11), 1970

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 69, File 2, Item 10
Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Sanford Unger papers (1961-1974; 0.2 cubic feet) contains writings exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The collection also contains the correspondence between Aldous and Laura Huxley and Sanford Unger, and an excerpt from the 1966 CBS Reports feature, “LSD The Spring Grove Experiment.”
Dates: 1970

"The Experimental Use of Psychedelic (LSD) Psychotherapy," International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Therapy, and Toxicocology, Vol. 4, 1971

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 1, Sub-Series 2, Item 51
Scope and Contents Co-authored with Walter Pahnke, A.A. Kurland, Sanford Unger, and Charles Savage.
Dates: 1971

“The Psychedelic Use of LSD: Reflections and Observations” by Sanford Unger (Reprint from Psychedelic Drugs) , 1969

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 69, File 2, Item 9
Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Sanford Unger papers (1961-1974; 0.2 cubic feet) contains writings exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The collection also contains the correspondence between Aldous and Laura Huxley and Sanford Unger, and an excerpt from the 1966 CBS Reports feature, “LSD The Spring Grove Experiment.”
Dates: 1969

Unger, Sanford, Albert Kurland, John Shaffer, Charles Savage, Sidney Wolf, Robert Leighy, O. Lee McCabe, and Harry K. Shock. "Psychedelic Therapy," Prepared for the Third Conference on Research in Psychotherapy (photocopy of typed manuscript), June 1966

 Item — Box: 11, Folder: 3
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 20, Item 4
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Includes published and unpublished preprints, reprints, abstracts, and drafts of articles on the use of psychotropic substances as a therapeutic agent. It also includes book chapters, letters to the editor, and conference presentations.
Dates: June 1966

Unger, Sanford, Albert Kurland, John W. Shaffer, Charles Savage, Sidney Wolf, Robert Leighy, O. Lee McCabe, and Harry Shock. "LSD-Type Drugs and Psychedelic Therapy," Research in Psychotherapy. Vol. 3 (reprint), 1968

 Item — Box: 11, Folder: 3
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 20, Item 5
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Includes published and unpublished preprints, reprints, abstracts, and drafts of articles on the use of psychotropic substances as a therapeutic agent. It also includes book chapters, letters to the editor, and conference presentations.
Dates: 1968

Unger, Sanford et al. "On the Therapeutic Use of High-Dose LSD Sessions (Psychedelic Psychotherapy)." Rough Draft, undated

 Item — Box: 7, Folder: 4
Identifier: MSP 70, Series 4, File 8, Item 6
Scope and Contents From the Series: Contains manuscripts and undated manuscripts documenting Savage’s research, as well as miscellaneous manuscripts possibly created by Savage, his patients, or his colleagues. Materials are arranged chronologically when possible. Undated materials are arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name.
Dates: undated

Unger, Sanford M. "Mescaline, LSD, Psilocybin, and Personality Change," Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes. Vol. 26, No. 2, May 1963

 Item — Box: 11, Folder: 3
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 3, Sub-Series 2, File 20, Item 2
Scope and Contents Two copies, one reprint and one photocopy. Front page of reprint signed by Walter Pahnke.
Dates: May 1963