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Harriet Lerner

Harriet Lerner is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Harriet Lerner rather than just read about it. In short: Harriet Lerner (born November 30, 1944), is a clinical psychologist best known for her contributions to psychoanalytic concepts regarding family and feminist theory and therapy, and for her many psychology books written for the general public. From 1972 to 2001, Lerner was a staff psychologist at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and a faculty member and supervisor at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry.

Key takeaways

  • Harriet Lerner belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Harriet Lerner to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Harriet Lerner from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Harriet Lerner (born November 30, 1944), is a clinical psychologist best known for her contributions to psychoanalytic concepts regarding family and feminist theory and therapy, and for her many psychology books written for the general public. From 1972 to 2001, Lerner was a staff psychologist at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and a faculty member and supervisor at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry. During this time she published extensively on the psychology of women and family relationships, revising traditional psychoanalytic concepts to reflect feminist and family systems perspectives.

Early life and education Lerner did her undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin, where she received a government grant to study and pursue independent research in Delhi, India. She received her M.A. in Educational Psychology from Teachers College of Columbia University, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The City University of New York. She did her pre-doctoral internship at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco, and completed her postdoctoral training at the Menninger Clinic, where she subsequently joined the staff.

Writing Lerner is best known for her general-audience books which provide a framework for understanding and improving family and work relationships. Lerner has appeared in multiple podcasts, including Brene Brown's podcast, Unlocking Us, where the two discuss "How to Apologize & Why it Matters" in a 2020 two-episode special, based on Lerner's 2017 book, "Why Won't You Apologize?" The Dance of Anger, a New York Times bestseller that has been translated into more than 35 foreign languages, was the first book published in the United States on the subject of women's anger. Women in Therapy is a compilation of her professional publications related to the psychology of women. In addition to her scholarly work, she is a children's book author with her sister, Susan Goldhor.

Books The Dance of Anger, 1985, revised in 2005 Women in Therapy, 1988 The Dance of Intimacy, 1989 The Dance of Deception, 1993 Life Preservers, 1996 The Mother Dance, 1998 The Dance of Connection, 2001 The Dance of Fear, 2004 Marriage Rules, 2012 Why Won't You Apologize, 2017

Children's books What’s So Terrible About Swallowing An Apple Seed?, 1996 Franny B. Kranny, There’s a Bird in Your Hair!, 2001

Personal life Lerner is married to Steve Lerner, a psychologist and filmmaker, with whom she has two sons: Matt Lerner, the co-founder of Walk Score, and Ben Lerner, a writer and MacArthur Fellow.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Harriet Lerner

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Harriet Lerner claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Harriet Lerner before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Harriet Lerner ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Harriet Lerner

In research
Harriet Lerner appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Harriet Lerner in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Harriet Lerner is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1944 births, 20th-century American non-fiction writers, 20th-century American psychologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Harriet Lerner outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Harriet Lerner in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Harriet Lerner means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Harriet Lerner out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Harriet Lerner in simple terms?

Harriet Lerner (born November 30, 1944), is a clinical psychologist best known for her contributions to psychoanalytic concepts regarding family and feminist theory and therapy, and for her many psychology books written for the general public. From 1972 to 2001, Lerner was a staff psychologist at t…

Why does Harriet Lerner matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Harriet Lerner?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Harriet Lerner.

Tags

  • 1944 births
  • 20th-century American non-fiction writers
  • 20th-century American psychologists
  • 20th-century American women non-fiction writers
  • 21st-century American non-fiction writers
  • 21st-century American psychologists
  • 21st-century American women non-fiction writers
  • American clinical psychologists
  • American feminist writers
  • American psychology writers
  • American women children's writers
  • American women psychologists

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