Prominent Psychiatrist Dies

Dr. Henry Holmes Babcock, a prominent Harvard psychiatrist who specialized in alternative treatments, died October 3 of lymphoma. He was 89.

Babcock began his work at Harvard when he joined University Health Services (UHS) in 1955. In years following, he helped develop UHS and watched it become a comprehensive treatment center.

Babcock was the first psychiatrist to work in Harvard Business School’s medical office. He was also a consultant at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge.

In 1967, Babcock opened a private practice in Cambridge, where he worked until his official retirement from psychiatry in 1984. After retiring, Babcock continued his research at Harvard as an honorary consultant.

Babcock kept abreast of breakthroughs in psychiatry and was receptive to new, controversial concepts, his son Bert Babcock said. One treatment, hypnotherapy, draws on the mind’s resources to combat mental and physical ailments.

Babcock worked closely with his friend Dr. Doug Powell to implement these alternative treatments. The two attempted to help those who could not be helped by conventional treatments.

Years later, their techniques earned respect and mainstream acceptance in the psychiatric community.

“We had people with panic attacks, phobias, migraines, people who tested poorly but were otherwise bright, people who couldn’t speak in public, people with writer’s block,” Powell said.

Babcock’s alternative treatments included hypnosis, biofeedback, relaxation techniques and systematic desensitization. And they worked, Powell said.

“The migraines went away. People who couldn’t speak in class were able to speak. Those with phobias were no longer afraid to fly, or to ride an elevator, or to pet a dog,” Powell said.

Babcock’s hypnotherapy was not limited to helping those with psychological problems. Using visualization techniques, Babcock attempted to help terminally ill cancer patients to overcome their disease. Some of his surviving former patients still attribute their unlikely recovery to hypnotherapy.

“They swear it cured them,” Bert Babcock said.

The senior Babcock was interested in more than just psychology. He loved the outdoors and was a gifted rower as a student at Yale, where he participated in top regattas. He was also a balloonist and nurtured an interest in gliding. Babcock remained physically active throughout his later years.

Babcock devoted time to public service. He was well-read in social justice and deeply involved in his community. Among other activities, he delivered food for Meals-On-Wheels and worked with clinics to help children. He sponsored a needy Chinese family that had escaped by boat from Vietnam and eventually saw the family establish a new life in Waltham, Mass.

Despite his successes, Babcock remained a model of modesty, his son said.

“Much of what he did I never knew until his passing,” Bert said. “He was never one to toot his own horn.”

Powell spoke of Babcock’s legacy.

“He was able to teach me to do something that made me a better therapist, and I was able to teach others,” Powell said. “I think that’s the mark of a great teacher.”

Babcock is survived by his wife, Frances, his sons, a niece, a nephew, and four grandchildren.