Education and Training
photo by Jon CrispinKenneth H. Talan,
M.D. is board-certified in adult psychiatry and child psychiatry. After
medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine, he completed three
years of an adult psychiatry training program at the Yale University School
of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Talan then served three years
as a medical officer in the United States Air Force, during which time he
ran an inpatient adult psychiatric unit in Wiesbaden, Germany. He then returned
to Yale, at the Child Study Center, where he completed a two year fellowship
in child psychiatry.
Private Practice and Public Sector Work
In 1976, following child psychiatry training, Dr. Talan moved with his wife and two daughters to Amherst, Massachusetts where he entered private practice. Half of his professional time was spent serving in the public sector. He worked at three outpatient child psychiatry agencies/clinics and remained at each of those clinics for over 20 years. In all of those settings, he saw children and adolescents along with their families and provided psychological therapy as well as medication treatment. In each venue he ran training seminars for staff.
He still continues as the psychiatric consultant at a residential school in Northampton Massachusetts for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed adolescents and school-aged children. He has been at the Cutchins Programs for Children and Families, Inc., for almost 30 years.
Dr. Talan has had a long association with the public school systems in his area and has served for over 20 years as a psychiatric consultant about troubled children to teachers, psychologists, counselors, and administrative staff. He also had first-hand contact with the children and families of 9/11 victims.
Psychoanalysis
Dr. Talan also had five years of training in psychoanalysis and graduated from the Western New England Psychoanalytic Institute in New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Talan's private office practice has included a mix of children and adolescents, seen in individual psychotherapy as well as in family therapy, both with and without medication. He has worked with adults of all ages and engages in adult psychoanalysis.
Professional Memberships
Dr. Talan is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, to which he was elected a Distinguished Fellow, as well as a member of the American Psychoanalytic Association , and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has served as president of his local Psychiatric Association and has been involved in organizing educational seminars for other professionals that brought nationally recognized adult and child psychiatrists to their area.
Public Speaking
In addition to his extensive direct clinical experience, Dr. Talan has also spent much time in front of groups, directly educating both professionals and the lay public about the problems and treatment of children. He was a lecturer in Child Psychopathology (emotional and behavioral disorders) for several years at the Smith College School of Social work in Northampton, Massachusetts, and has given daylong seminars on child psychotherapy to social workers and psychologists in the Midwest. He has presented at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting, most recently on the topic of "The Effect of Having Children on a Child Psychiatrist," and has spoken to school-parent associations, CHADD groups, and teachers on topics related to children and their difficulties. He has made several videos about psychiatric medications for groups of paraprofessionals.
Publications
Dr. Talan has been a co-author on articles that appeared in the Archives of General Psychiatry and the Journal of the American Psychiatric Association. He was the sole author on an article that appeared in the Psychoanalytic Study of the Child.