Brian Lake trained in psychiatry at Warlingham Park Hospital and practised as psychotherapist and lecturer in Nottingham. He was consultant psychotherapist at St James’s University Hospital, Leeds, and senior lecturer at Leeds University from 1980 until his retirement in 1987.
Following object relations theory, he wrote about affectionate, secure, and enjoyable relationships. He worked with those suffering from severe neurotic disorders, developed psychotherapy in Yorkshire, and published a seminal paper “Ego strength.” He published with his wife, also a distinguished psychotherapist, The Challenge of Attachment for Caregiving in 1997. They both received honorary doctorates from the University of York in 2001.
Brian Lake was a delightful person in private life, a Christian gentleman. In his dealings with everyone his courteous truthfulness improved every organisation with which he worked.
He is survived by his widow, Dr Dorothy Heard, and three stepdaughters.
Former consultant psychotherapist St James’s University Hospital, Leeds, and to the Yorkshire region (b 20 January 1922; q Edinburgh 1940; DCH, DPM, FRCPsych), died from cardiovascular disease on 14 December 2007.