Psychiatric Bulletin (2001) 25: 36. doi: 10.1192/pb.25.1.36-a
© 2001 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Psychiatric Bulletin (2001) 25: 36
© 2001 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Denis Vernon Carpy
Formerly Psychoanalyst, Consultant Psychotherapist, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow
J. Gallagher and
M. Malcolm
Denis Carpy was born on 24 July 1951 and died on 9 June 2000. His early
death has robbed British psychoanalyis and Scottish psychiatry of one of its
most prominent figures. His contributions as a clinician, supervisor and
teacher were widely recognised and his loss is sorely felt.
Denis Carpy was brought up in Rutherglen and educated at Holy Cross High
School in Hamilton. He went to Glasgow University in 1968 to study medicine
and graduated in 1974. He was elected MRCP in 1977. His early postgraduate
posts were in general medicine, but it was always his intention to practise
psychiatry and he became a registrar in psychiatry at the Southern General
Hospital in 1977. Thereafter, he was a lecturer in psychological medicine at
the University of Glasgow before moving to London to specialise in
psychoanalysis. He worked initially at the Cassel Hospital before moving to
the Tavistock Clinic as a senior registrar in psychotherapy. He completed his
psychoanalytic training and became an associate member of the British
Psycho-Analytical Society and a consultant psychotherapist at the Tavistock
Clinic. Throughout his time in London he remained close to his roots in the
West of Scotland and, when the opportunity arose, he returned and became
consultant psychotherapist at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow in
1990.
After his return to Glasgow he remained active in the British
Psycho-Analytical Society. His reputation there had been high and it increased
in the years that followed. He was very keen to foster wider links between
psychotherapists based in Scotland and the practitioners of the British
Psycho-Analytical Society.
Dr Carpy was an inspiring teacher, keenly interested in teaching the
effectiveness of psychoanalytic theory in understanding people who present
with emotional problems. To further this aim he took on the position of course
organiser for the West of Scotland Postgraduate Training Scheme in
Psychiatry.
In the field of psychotherapy in Scotland he provided a degree of
intellectual leadership that was much admired. He was specialty tutor for
psychotherapy in the West of Scotland Postgraduate Training Scheme, a training
analyst and secretary of the Psychoanalytic Training Committee of the Scottish
Institute of Human Relations, an active member of the Scottish Association of
Psychoanalytical Psychotherapists and of the Psychotherapy Section of the
Royal College of Psychiatrists. He was elected MRCPsych in 1979, and elected
to the Fellowship in 1999.
In his work at the Southern General Hospital, Dr Carpy exhibited a high
level of clinical expertise. He was keenly aware of the importance of
psychotherapeutic insights to the work of general psychiatry and he worked
hard to build links between these two disciplines. His opinions on clinical
matters were widely sought by psychotherapy colleagues and general
psychiatrists. His pupils and colleagues found his insight helpful, but he was
also memorable for the humour and rich language he brought to his work. A
paper published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis on the
mutative effect of tolerating the countertransference has been a seminal
contribution much quoted in the international psychoanalytic literature.
Despite his heavy professional commitments the most important part of Denis
Carpy's life was his marriage and his family. He was happily married to his
wife Carol-Anne and their close relationship and mutual support for each other
was recognised by all who knew them. Together they established a loving and
caring environment in which they raised their two children, Brian and
Eleanor.
Dr Carpy's life was cut short, but not before he had made a lasting
contribution that will live on in many lives; his family, his friends and
colleagues, his patients and his students.
