ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Carl Segal
Carl was born and raised in Philadelphia. He received his B.S and M.S degrees from Temple University School of Pharmacy and his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College of the Thomas Jefferson University. While serving in the United States Army he completed his Psychiatric Residency at Walter Reed General Hospital and Post-Residency Fellowship in Community Psychiatry at the Laboratory of Community Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. After serving as Chief of the Department of Psychiatry in the Division of Neuropsychiatry at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, he left the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1971.
Since then he has lived in Columbia, Maryland with his wife Helene where they raised their children Mark, Ellen, Marsha and Steven. He served as Director of Howard County's Bureau of Mental Health and Addiction for five years and has had a private practice of psychiatry since 1972. He is a Board Certified Psychiatrist and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
He has been interested in visiting zoos since his early childhood. Since 1988 he has visited more than 200 zoos throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. He has observed the evolution of the zoos throughout the past three decades. Previously, zoos primarily provided recreation and entertainment for their visitors by enclosing animals in cages. Today they have become enormously important facilities that educate people about the need for conservation of our natural habitat resources and the need to preserve the diversity of both animal and plant species. Increasingly, zoos display their animals in naturalistic environments. They provide educational and recreational opportunities for their visitors. They have developed research facilities for preservation of our threatened wildlife. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association plays an important role in developing high standards of care for the animals. Accredited zoos periodically undergo rigorous evaluations to be certain that they maintain high quality of their facilities and provide excellent care for their charges.
Carl believes that we can learn a great deal about the essential nature of humanity if we study animal behaviors and social structures more thoroughly then we have in the past. He believes therapists and patients would benefit from more effective application of this knowledge in our theoretical, research and clinical practices. The insights about animal behavior would enhance our understanding of and ability to treat many of the problems we encountrer in our day - to - day lives.
He also believes that a good sense of healthy humor is vitally important in attaining reasonable mental health and in providing mental health care services. Laughing WITH, not laughing AT others and ourselves, is essential for us all as we travel often time difficult trails through the forest of human existence.