Obituary of Douglas H. Frayn MD

DOUGLAS H. FRAYN, M.D., FAPA, FRCP(C) Peacefully at Mt. Sinai Hospital on Wednesday, July 1, 2015. Doug Frayn was a well-known Toronto psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. He is predeceased by his parents Harmon and Luella Frayn (Kingston) and older brother William (Dallas). He is survived by his wife Eileen (McGhie), daughter Cheryl Rogers (husband Chris), grandchildren Brian and Erin (Ottawa) and son Michael (Vancouver). He was Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Training Psychoanalyst and past Director of the Toronto Institute of Psychoanalysis. Dr. Frayn did research on dreaming and gave academic, TV and public talks on the subjects of supervision, dreaming, graffiti and self-analysis. He contributed to a number of scientific articles and books, and is the author of Musings Behind the Couch; Understanding your Dreams, Psychoanalysis in Toronto, The Clarke and its Founders and What is Psychotherapy? Dr. Frayn received Distinguished Achievement and Distinguished Scholar Awards from the University of Toronto as well as from the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society, and was the recipient of the Citation of Honour from the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society in 2004. He was also a past recipient of the Miguel Prados Award for psychoanalytic literature. Born in Kingston, Ontario (1936), Dr. Frayn was the youngest son of the deputy warden at the Kingston Penitentiary. He played junior hockey with Don Cherry, sang at Westminster Abbey, performed in operettas and enjoyed playing violin and saxophone. He graduated from Medicine at Queen's University in 1961 after realizing he wasn't going to be a successful hockey player or musician. He then completed his specialty training in Psychiatry and Neurology at the Institute of Living, Hartford Connecticut. He returned to Canada in 1965 and was a faculty member at Queen's before coming to the University of Toronto where he completed his psychoanalytic training and was one of the original staff psychiatrists at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. His interests included painting with watercolours, writing, his cats, jazz and classical music, poker and, when younger, curling, karate and squash. Dr. Frayn had lived in midtown Toronto since 1967 and took great pleasure in his winter breaks in Aruba. He enjoyed a wry sense of humour and chuckled over the truth of Wilfred Bion's quote "He was loaded with honours and sank without a trace!" The family will receive friends at the HUMPHREY FUNERAL HOME A.W. MILES - NEWBIGGING CHAPEL, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Davisville Avenue) from 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 18 followed by a memorial service in the chapel at 1:00 p.m. Donations may be made to Toronto Psychoanalytic Institute Library Fund by contacting Jean Bowlby at 416-922-7770 or to the Humane Society. Condolences and memories may be forwarded through www.humphreymilesnewbigging.com.