Larry Lifson ’63, of  West Newton, Mass., was honored recently for his his 30 years of providing continuing education to the mental health community at the  annual conference he organizes each year on psychodynamic psychotherapy. As part of their tribute to Lifson, who has spent 40 years as a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and teacher of mental health, conference sponsors announced that they would be endowing the conference and re-naming it The Lawrence E. Lifson, M.D. Psychotherapy Conference on the Therapeutic Action of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy; Current Concepts of Cure.

“It’s always been a labor of love,” says Lifson. “I can’t tell you how touched I am. I feel so privileged and honored and appreciative. I also consider this honor to be shared with all the gifted teachers who have contributed so much to the success of this conference over the years.”

Lifson has also been named the 2012 recipient of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society’s Outstanding Psychiatrist Award for Education, which will be presented to him May 1. In addition to being a practicing clinician, Lifson is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts Medical School, Lecturer of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and on the faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. As a teacher, he is considered to be central to the development of continuing education programs on psychotherapy and psychiatry in Boston.