Luciano L'Abate

Who is Luciano L'Abate?

Luciano L'Abate is the father of relational theory and author, co-author, editor or co-editor of more than 55 books in the field of American psychology, with his work translated into ten languages.

Luciano L’Abate was born in Brindisi, and educated in Florence, Italy. He came to the USA as an exchange student under the auspices of the Mennonite Central Committee to Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas from which he graduated with high honors in two years with majors in English and Psychology. After receiving a UNESCO scholarship at Wichita University where he received a M.A., he earned a Ph.D. from Duke University. After working for two years as a clinical psychologist at the Pitt County Health Department and teaching in the extension division of East Carolina College, he received a USPHS postdoctoral fellowship in child psychotherapy at Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. After this training, he became Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. Moved to Atlanta, Georgia when he became Associate Professor and Chief Psychologist in the Child Psychiatry division of the Department of Psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine. Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University since 1965, where he was Director of the Family Psychology Training Program and the Family Study Center. Retired as Professor Emeritus of Psychology from GSU on December 1990.