David Wolitzky

Dr. David Wolitzky was the beloved eldest son of Clara and Abraham Wolitzky, who both came to America, after fleeing pogroms in Eastern Europe. He and his younger brother, Sidney, were born and raised in New York City.

David received his BA from the City College of New York in 1957 and his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rochester in 1961. He then received a postdoctoral Fellowship from the New York University Research Center for Mental Health. Following the completion of the Fellowship, Dr. Wolitzky was appointed to the faculty of the Psychology Department at New York University and remained as a faculty member until his retirement in 2017. He also completed psychoanalytic training at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. During his long tenure at New York University, Dr. Wolitzkty served as Director of the doctoral Clinical Psychology Program. He also served as Co-director of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. During the last 8 years, Dr. Wolitzky was an Editor of the Psychological Issues series of books and monographs. In addition to these activities, Dr. Wolitzky co-edited four books, and published numerous and important papers on various topics, including repression, clinical inference, clinical case studies, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and changing conceptions of psychoanalytic theory. Through his teaching and both clinical supervision and supervision of doctoral dissertations, Dr. Wolitzky has had a lasting influence on a generation of psychologists.

David married the love of his life, Dr. April Kuchuk, in 1978 and they were blessed with two daughters, Rachel and Sara. He leaves a large community of dear friends, colleagues and former students, all of whom will never forget his infectious and brilliant sense of humor. He is survived by his loving wife April, his daughter Rachel Wolitzky and son-in-law Chris Sbaratta, daughter Sara Wolitzky and son-in-law Geordie Broadwater, and delicious granddaughters, Scarlett Sbaratta and August Broadwater. He is also survived by his brother Sidney, nieces Anna Wolitzky and Kate Taylor, and nephew Max Wolitzky.

A funeral service for David will be held Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 10:30 AM.