David Campbell obituary

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/19/david-campbell-obituary

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My friend David Campbell, who has died aged 84, was a soldier, psychiatrist and an international figure in the world of bioenergetic therapy, a form of therapy that assumes a correlation between mind and body, and works with both to resolve emotional issues.

David came from a medical family in Glasgow. After graduating in medicine from Glasgow University, he completed his early training in obstetrics at the Coombe hospital in Dublin. He told how a grateful mother gave him the price of a pint of Guinness as a reward for delivering her baby. David joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1952 and was attached to the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment in Aldershot. He had many fond memories, and great stories, of his time there.

Following his spell in the army he specialised in psychiatry at the Royal Edinburgh hospital and then branched out into psychotherapy. After working with John Bowlby, the renowned expert in attachment theory, David went into psychoanalysis with Winifred Rushforth. He then became medical director of the Davidson Clinic in Glasgow, which offered psychotherapy free of charge to those on low incomes.

Around this time, David was introduced to the specialism of bioenergetic therapy by Alexander Lowen who was visiting Britain from America. Lowen invited David to New York where he began teaching and training in bioenergetics and he continued in this field for the rest of his long professional life.

In addition to his duties as director of the Davidson, and frequently flying back and forth to New York and California, David was also a visiting lecturer at Jordanhill College in Glasgow, where he taught human growth and development to social work students.

David was a lifelong member of the Glasgow University judo club where he progressed to black belt (third dan). He was coaching and supporting budding judo players into his 70s.

He is survived by his wife, June, whom he married in 2001; his children, Rosemary and Gillian (from his first marriage, to Margery, which ended in divorce); and his granddaughter, Frances. His son, Roy, predeceased him.