Dr. Alan Albert

Dr. Alan Philip Albert of Dedham, MA, passed away on April 10, 2021 at the age of 72. He was the beloved son of Samuel and Phyllis (Friedman) Albert. He leaves his wife, Susan Becker, his son and daughter in law, Tom Albert and Katerina Diplas, his step son and daughter in law, Sasha and Lea Nisenbaum, and his former wife, Martha Starr. He was a loving brother to James and Ann Albert, David and Meg Albert, Richard (Dick) and Mary Ann Albert, and Bernard Albert, and the cherished grandfather of Eli and Ori Albert, and Alexander and Olivia Nisenbaum. He was also a beloved uncle, great uncle, cousin, and friend.

Alan was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts. As an undergraduate, he studied at Boston University and the University of Iowa. He earned his M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of California-Davis and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. Alan was a practicing psychologist in Newton, working with countless individuals and couples with his singular humor, wit, and wisdom, and ran an ongoing group for more than twenty years. Alan was an active member of the Northeast Society for Group Psychotherapy.

Alan loved literature and wrote poetry from a young age; as an adult he was immersed in the poetry and creative writing community in the Boston area, shared his poems at numerous readings locally and nationally, and taught at regional colleges. His poems have a unique depth, sensibility and voice, as well as tenderness and humor. He was the recipient of several writing fellowships and awards, was widely published in journals and anthologies, and his first collection of poems, Fragments of the Natural, was published in 2015. For many years he was a friend of the PoemWorks community, a participant in UMass Boston’s Joiner Center for the Study of War and Its Social Consequences Writers Workshop, and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. Alan performed some standup comedy, loved to spend time with family and friends, avidly read and studied poetry, its craft, and a wide range of topics, loved art, galleries, museums and theater, traveled, hiked, followed and played tennis, enjoyed the ocean, especially Ogunquit, watched the Red Sox and Patriots, and indulged in his favorite fried clam roll with vanilla frappe. He exuded warmth, love and humor, and was much loved by his many colleagues, patients, friends, and family members.

Due to the pandemic, services attendance is limited. There will be a graveside service at Sharon Memorial Park for immediate family. It will be streamed online at about 1:10 PM on Sunday, May 16 at the following link: https://distantlink.com/StanetskyCanton.html

A larger memorial service will take place over the summer when circumstances allow. Details to follow.

In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy in Alan’s memory may be donated to Compassionate Care ALS (https://ccals.org), the Healey Center at Mass General https://giving.massgeneral.org/donate/healey-center/, or the Randy and Jay Fishman Program for Home Assisted Ventilation Gift Fund at UPenn https://giving.apps.upenn.edu/fund?program=MED&fund=603825.