Jean Baker Miller
—Noted Feminist, Psychoanalyst, Social Activist; 1927-2006
Jean Baker Miller, MD, noted feminist, psychoanalyst, and social activist died at her Brookline, Massachusetts home July 29, 2006 after a 13-year struggle with emphysema and post-polio effects. Her 1976 groundbreaking book, “Toward a New Psychology of Women,” traced the connection between women’s mental health and sociopolitical forces. Dr. Miller maintained that women’s desire to connect with others and their emotional accessibility were essential strengths, not weaknesses as they were traditionally regarded.
“Toward a New Psychology of Women,” a bestseller and classic in the fields of psychology and women’s studies, was translated in over 20 languages and distributed around the world. Dr. Miller also co-authored “The Healing Connection: How Women Form Relationships in Therapy and in Life” and “Women’s Growth in Connection”; she edited “Psychoanalysis and Women” and authored and contributed to numerous articles on depression, dreams, and the psychology of women.
“’Toward a New Psychology of Women’ maps the interplay between empathy and politics masterfully and for the first time,” says Christina Robb, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the new book, “This Changes Everything: The Relational Revolution in Psychology.” “In it, Dr. Miller created the first democratic psychology - that is, the first psychology of people who at last can realistically hope and learn to work with and love their political equals all their lives.”
