Elissa Panush Benedek (born September 28, 1936) is an American psychiatrist specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. She is an adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical Center. She served as director of research and training at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ann Arbor for 25 years and was president of the American Psychiatric Association from 1990 to 1991. She is regarded as an expert on child abuse and trauma, and has testified in high-profile court cases. She also focuses on ethics, psychiatric aspects of disasters and terrorism, and domestic violence. In addition to her own books, book chapters, and articles, she has collaborated with her husband, attorney Richard S. Benedek, on studies of divorce, child custody, and child abuse.
Early life and education
Elissa Panush was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 28, 1936 to Louis and Tillie Panush. Her father was a school principal and science teacher, and her mother taught in elementary school.
She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and went on to attend the medical school on the same campus. She chose to specialize in psychiatry since it was one of the few specialties open to women physicians in that era, and would also allow the flexibility of maintaining a medical practice while raising a family. She maintains a private practice in Ann Arbor for child, adolescent, adult, and forensic psychiatry. She was accused of child abuse by Foretich's ex-wife Elizabeth Morgan, who surreptitiously filmed Benedek during her examination of her daughter, and was accused of perjury by Morgan's mother, who filed a complaint with the APA over Benedek's testimony that Morgan had probably been abused by her own father. She testified for the U.S. government in a 1998 lawsuit against Playboy Television about signal bleed of adult material on cable television.
Benedek mentors medical students, psychiatry residents, and forensic psychiatry fellows at the University of Michigan, allowing the latter to "shadow" her during her courtroom appearances.
Awards and honors
In 2016 Benedek received the Alexandra Symonds Award from the APA and the Association of Women Psychiatrists in recognition of her "significant contributions to promoting women's health and the advancement of women". He received his J.D. in 1958 and they married between Elissa's sophomore and junior years. They have four children.