Oral history interview with Mitchell Rosenthal, 2015

Biographical Note

Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal founded Phoenix House in May 1967, while serving as deputy commissioner of New York City's Addiction Services Agency. He resigned his City post in 1970 to lead Phoenix House as a private, nonprofit organization. As a psychiatrist at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Oakland, California, from 1957 to 1965, he established the first service-sponsored therapeutic community for the treatment of alcoholism, drug addiction and character disorders. Rosenthal received his B.A. from Lafayette College in 1956 and his M.D. in 1960 from the State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center. He has been a White House advisor on drug abuse, a special consultant to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and chaired the New York State Advisory Council on Drug Abuse from 1985 to 1997. In February 2007, as part of his succession plan, Dr. Rosenthal stepped down as President and CEO

Scope and Contents

In the first session, Mitchell Rosenthal discusses his childhood, and formative moments in becoming a doctor and a successful politician. He then speaks to the impacts of organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Synanon on the creation of Phoenix House. Rosenthal also discusses therapeutic methods used in Phoenix House and in drug rehabilitation overall, and his use of these methods as a doctor in the Navy. He highlights challenges in beginning to work with the therapeutic community model, and his eventual move to New York City to work in drug rehabilitation government services after his naval career. Rosenthal concludes with a story about the origins of Phoenix House. In the second session, Rosenthal discusses his position as the Deputy Commissioner for Rehabilitation Services in the Office of the Coordinator of Addiction Programs. Following his career in public service, Rosenthal develops an interest in rehabilitation, influenced by organizations such as Daytop Village and Odyssey House. Rosenthal then details the conflict after the Hornblass Report was published, and Phoenix House's resultant relationship with Cravath, Swaine and Moore, LLP. Finally, Rosenthal tells of the move from Hart Island to West 73rd Street, including anecdotes highlighting the organization's relationship with the Abraham Beame administration. In the third session, Rosenthal echoes a discussion from the previous session by describing the context surrounding Phoenix House's move from Hart Island to West 73rd Street. He gives attention to individuals involved in the move, and the community's reaction to the move. Rosenthal then discusses the founding of Phoenix Academy of Yorktown. He also details the studies that the organization conducted to analyze the effectiveness of its programs. Rosenthal goes on to narrate the Phoenix House's expansion to California, and the incident with the Nancy Reagan Center. He concludes by recounting the events that led to the eventual formation of Lake View Terrace, the California chapter of Phoenix House, and the creation of the IMPACT program. In the fourst session, Rosenthal discusses of the employees of Phoenix House, and examines the tension between hiring former patients versus professionals. He moves on to the challenges of finding a successor. Rosenthal also discusses the organization's interactions with drug and imprisonment laws. He then analyzes the development of therapeutic communities and their changing populations. Lastly, Rosenthal examines the challenges of raising money-both private donors and government support-and the importance of both income sources. In the fifth session, Rosenthal recounts formative experiences in his life, beginning with his family's influence and the effect of working with drug-addicted soldiers while in the Navy on his decision to pursue a career in substance abuse rehabilitation. Rosenthal then moves to the origin story of Phoenix House-it began with a small group from a detox unit. He focuses on the trials in the early Phoenix House, beginning with the Hart Island facility and then moving to the Riverside Plaza Hotel. He also discusses the organization's encounters with various politicians, from New York City Mayors to the Reagans. Rosenthal concludes his interview by focusing on how Phoenix House's practices have changed in response to public policies, healthcare laws, drug epidemics and their own developments in treatment processes.

Subjects

• Alcoholics Anonymous.
• Beame, Abraham D. (Abraham David), 1906-2001.
• Bertin-Mahieux, Caitlin, interviewer.
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
• Daytop Village, inc.
• Drug abuse--Treatment--New York (State)--New York.
• Drug abuse--United States--History.
• Drug addicts--Rehabilitation--United States.
• Drug courts--United States
• Drug courts--United States
• Executives--Interviews.
• Fund raising.
• Interviews.
• Kaplan, Sue (oral history interviewer), interviewer.
• Lake View Terrace (Calif.)
• Nonprofit organizations--Management.
• Oak Knoll Naval Hospital (Oakland, Calif.)
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Phoenix House (Organization)
• Reagan, Nancy, 1921-2016.
• Rosenthal, Mitchell S., 1935---Interviews.
• Substance abuse--Treatment.
• Synanon (Foundation)
• Therapeutic communities.

Access Conditions

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