James Allan Gooch M.D.

November 2, 1934 - April 4, 2020 A psychiatrist and psychoanalyst for adults and children, who deeply influenced the lives of colleagues, students, and others who knew him, died of a terminal illness at his home in Beverly Hills, California, where he lived and practiced for over fifty years. He is survived by his loving wife of sixty-two years, Shirley, also a psychoanalyst; by four sons, David (and Diane), Todd (and Kathy), Adam, and Alan (and Vicky-Lynn); and eleven grandchildren, Anika, Camilla, James, Zoe, Eli, Maggie, Liam, Anna, Gretchen, Stella, and Delilah. He was predeceased by his younger sister, Phyllis. Born in Stanford, Kentucky, to a loving family, Jim left for college at sixteen, graduating from Andrews University in Michigan. He studied medicine at Loma Linda University (class of 1959) before pursuing a residency in psychiatry at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital (now Cedars-Sinai). From 1964-66 he served as Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy in Long Beach while completing analytic training. In 1977 Jim became the Assistant Medical Director and Director of Education and Research at the Reiss-Davis Child Study Center, where he remained Chief Psychoanalyst until 2004. While at Reiss-Davis, Jim ran a weekly case seminar behind a one-way window where fellows could watch him conduct parent and child interviews, which he also did for over seven years on a weekly basis at Camarillo State Hospital. He served for a number of years as professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Southern California. From 1981 to 1986 Jim served as Chair of the Department of Psychoanalysis at the California Graduate Institute. From 1984 to 1990 he served as the founding president of the Psychoanalytic Center of California, an independent institute, which became a component society of the International Psychoanalytic Association in 1993. An analysand of Wilfred Bion, Jim participated in numerous international conferences devoted to Bion's innovative analytic theories. A well informed student of geography and culture, Jim was able to see much of the world together with Shirley. He shared his love of nature with family, who retain many fond memories of summer camping trips on the beach at Leo Carrillo State Park, visits to numerous national parks, and ski trips to Mammoth Mountain, where Jim was still skiing at the age of eighty. He lived his life with determination, devotion, generosity, compassion and caring, and will be deeply missed.