He was of Moroccan descent on father's side and German on mother's side.
He grew up in Boston and attended Tufts Medical School, graduating in 1900.He was one of the founders of Boston Psychoanalytic Society, the first secretary in 1914 and president in years 1930-32.
Coriat was the only Freudian analyst in Boston during the period after James Jackson Putnam's death.Coriat worked with the Rev.
Elwood Worcester, served as the medical expert for the Emmanuel Movement and co-authored Religion and Medicine; The Moral Control of Nervous Disorders.
Coriat married Etta Dann in 1910.