Richard Fisch (1926–2011) was an American psychiatrist best known for his pioneering work in brief therapy. Dick Fisch graduated from Colby College, studied for a year at Columbia University School of Anthropology, and then entered the New York Medical College where he graduated in 1954. Dr. Fisch completed a Psychiatric Residency at the Sheppard Pratt Health System, Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center in 1958. While at Sheppard Pratt, he was heavily influenced by Harry Stack Sullivan's Interpersonal Theory of Behavior and had his first indirect contact with Don D. Jackson who would later bring him to the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, CA.