Jean Baker Miller

Women's Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society
Students, as part of an advanced seminar, examined and wrote about the lives of these women, their intellectual contributions, and the unique impact and special problems that being female had on their careers.

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Jean Baker Miller

Family and Background
Jean Baker was born to a poor family in the Bronx (Backman, 1998). She suffered from polio from the age of eleven months (Backman, 1988). She had to wear braces until the age of seven and had two operations before twelve years old (Backman, 1988).Growing up during the Great Depression had a great impact on her view of women (Backman, 1988). Most of the families in the neighborhood had working women in them; these families were looked down upon (Backman, 1988). It was during her twice weekly visits to the area hospital brought her in contact with two working women who gave her a positive view of women, a view that would stay with her for the rest of her life. The women were two twin sisters who worked as nurses (Backman, 1988). They were able to convince Miller's mother to allow her to attend a special women's school, the Hunter College High School (Backman, 1988). The school was an hour away by subway, but because of the two nurses' insisting, she was allowed to attend the school , thus starting her on her career (Backman, 1988). Were it not for these two women, women's psychology may be quite different today.

Beginning of Career

The teachers at the school recognized Miller's intelligence and drive for success (Backman, 1988). They convinced her to apply to Sarah Lawrence College, an all women's school (Backman, 1988). She was able to get a scholarship to the school (Backman, 1988). Jean Baker Miller graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. in 1948 (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). She noticed that the only people around who were able to keep a job were doctors; at that point she decided that she would become a doctor herself (Backman, 1988). After deciding to make Psychiatry her career, Miller attended and received her MD from Columbia University in 1952 (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). At the New York Medical College, Miller took a Psychoanalytic Training course (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). Soon she was a certified Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst.

Jean married Mike Miller and had two sons with him, Jon and Ned (Miller, 1973). She is very thankful for the support that her family has given her throughout the years (Miller, 1973). She says that they try to understand her need to develop women's psychology (Miller, 1973).

The Women's Movement

In the early 60's Miller read The Feminine Mystique, a work of Betty Friedan (Backman, 1988). This began her life-long interest in women's psychology (Backman, 1988). Soon after reading the work she began to attend women's issues committees (Backman, 1988). Before long, Dr. Miller was leading some of these groups (Backman, 1988). In the early 70's Miller joined several consciousness-raising groups (Miller & Welch, 1995). She felt lucky to live in the time she did (Backman, 1988). Women were allowed to attend school and become professionals, unlike a mere generation or two earlier. Jean Baker Miller was able to use this freedom to make the world aware that women were not men gone wrong, but that they had issues of their own and psychologies separate from those of men (Jordan, 1997). Miller's goals soon became to "depatholoize" women's behaviors and show they world their strengths (Jordan, 1997). This would be a goal to last a lifetime.

Through her involvement with women's committees and her private practice, Miller began to develop several theories regarding women's psychology (Miller & Welch, 1995). She began to notice culture's affect on women. (Miller & Welch, 1995). The value that society places on being a man, has caused women to strive to be more like men (Miller & Welch, 1995). She feels that women are the ones who know how to make relationships work, hold their families together, and help them to survive and thrive (Miller & Welch, 1995). These are all great strengths to have; the problem is what society tells women (Miller & Welch, 1995). It tells them that these things are not strengths only what is expected of women; thus women do not recognize these things as strengths (Miller & Welch, 1995). Miller began to realize that women felt the men's developmental models are not quite right for them (Miller & Welch, 1995). Miller would soon try to remedy the lack of respect of women's psychological issues.

Contributions to Women's Psychology

Jean Baker Miller's work in women's psychology has made her an important figure in the field. She considers some of her major contributions to be having brought to the forefront women's strengths, giving the world a rational view of women, and creating places to help women (Miller & Welch, 1995). She has accomplished this by writing books and articles, lecturing to many groups of people, by developing new approaches to psychotherapy, and by leading and founding institutes directed to women (Miller & Welch, 1995; Wellesley Centers for Women; Miller, 1976).

Relational Approach

Dr. Miller feels that one of her greatest contributions to the field is her theory of the relational approach in psychotherapy (Miller & Welch, 1995). This theory says that the therapist and client need to work to "build a better connection" with one another (Miller & Welch, 1995). The therapist should not worry as much about interpreting what the client is telling him or her, rather he or she should be concerned with connecting with his or her client (Miller & Welch, 1995). The therapist should put his or her emotional responses into the session, also (Miller & Striver, 1997). She feels that relationships are the central need in human life; all problems that develop are caused by relational disconnections (Wellesley Centers). Miller feels this approach is far more useful than traditional psychotherapy (Miller & Welch, 1995).

Book

Miller has been involved with many projects revolving around women's psychology (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). In 1976 she published an extensive work on women's psychology, Toward a New Psychology of Women (Miller, 1976). In this work Miller has put together many of her pieces on the psychology of women (Miller, 1976). She feels it is "part of a process...it is an effort to take a step toward a large eventual goal" (Miller, 1976). This goal would a better understanding of the psychology of women (Miller, 1976). Miller also says that the book is an attempt to understand all women better, in this culture and in others (Miller, 1976). She included in it issues that she feels affects all women (Miller, 1976). Her book has been translated to several other languages and is available throughout the world (11). In this book she included "challenging reductive theories of mothering" (Braham, 1995). She also examined gender stereotypes and cultural biases (Braham, 1995).

In 1997, Miller expanded on her earlier book in "The Healing Connection," a book that she coauthored with Irene Striver (Personal communication, September 4, 2002 II). The book expands on Miller's concept of the Relational Approach (Miller & Striver, 1997). It explains how various types of relationships can facilitate further development for the individuals (Miller & Striver, 1997). Miller and Striver also give examples of how the relationships with others lead to growth psychologically (Miller & Striver, 1997). Dr. Miller has been involved in the writing of many other works besides these two books (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). She has contributed to other books and articles throughout her career (Personal communication, September 4, 2002).

Stone Center

Miller began to direct the Elizabeth Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies in 1986 (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). This center was part of Wellesley College (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). The center worked in conjunction with the Stone House, an alternative to hospitals for people who would have traditionally been sent to psychiatric wards (Miller & Welch, 1995). Miller felt that here, she could reach the women who needed help the most (Miller & Welch, 1995). She continued directing the facility until 1995, when she became director a new Institute, which she also helped to found (Personal communication, September 4, 2002; Wellesley Centers).

Institute

The Jean Baker Miller Training Institute is part of the Stone center (Jean Baker Miller Training Institute). The Institute is "dedicated to the relational-cultural approach and research" (Wellesley Centers). The goal of the Institute is to train people in the relational-cultural approach in psychotherapy (Wellesley Centers). "This model focuses on growth-fostering relationships as the central human necessity and disconnections as the source of psychological problems. It assumes that all growth-fostering relationships and all disconnections are constructed within specific cultural contexts" (Wellesley Centers). It also offers workshops and courses through out the year (Wellesley Centers). Some examples of the workshops the Institute offered in 2002 are "September 11, One Year Later" and "Raising Resilient Children in a Risky World" (13). These workshops discuss issues that affect not just women, but all people today. Both focus on the relationship problems that occur within the broader topic (13).

Positions

Jean Baker Miller has held and currently holds several prominent positions in the fields of psychology and psychiatry (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). From 1982 to the present she has been a professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine (Personal communication, September 4, 2002; Jordan, 1997). She also has been a lecturer at Harvard Medical School since 1981 (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). Miller has also had private practices in both New York and Massachusetts at various points in her career (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). She also founded and is the current director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at Wellesley College (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). In addition to all of this, Miller was able to find time to serve on many committees, boards, and hold other positions as well (Personal communication, September 4, 2002). She also has received many honors such as invitations to lecture at distinguished organizations, and is featured in "Who's Who of American Women," and The World Who's Who of Women (Personal communication, September 4, 2002).

Jean Baker Miller has tried to change society's view of women throughout her career (Personal communication, September 4, 2002 II). If it were not for her work, women may still be viewed as "men gone wrong". She has pointed out women's strengths and attempted to explain the differences in their development as compared to men's. All in all Dr. Miller has helped pave the way for future generations of women to succeed in society.

References

Backman, M. (1988, July 7). Keeping Women in Mind. Profile, 9-10
Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (n.d.). Founding Scholars. Retrieved August 29, 2002, from http://www.wellesley.edu//JBMTI/scholars.html
Braham, J. (1995). Crucial Conversations: Interpreting Contemporary American Literary Autobiographies by Women. New York: Teachers College Press.
Jean Baker Miller Training Institute. (2002). Fall Calendar of Events, 2002. [Brochure]. Wellesley College: Author.
Jordan, J. V. (Ed.) (1997). Women's Growth in Diversity: More Writings from the Stone Center. New York: The Guilford Press.
Miller, J. B. (1976). Toward a New Psychology of Women. Boston: Beacon Press.
Miller J. B. (Ed.) (1973). Psychoanalysis and Women. Baltimore, Penguin Books.
Miller, J. B. & Stiver, I. P. (1997). The Healing Connection: How Women Form Relationships in Therapy and in Life. Boston: Beacon Press.
Miller, J. B., & Welch A. S. (1995). Learning from Women. In P. Chesler, E. D. Rothblum & E. Cole (Eds.), Feminist Foremothers in Women's Studies, Psychology, and Mental Health (pp. 335-346). New York: The Haworth Press, Inc.
Wellesley Centers for Women (n.d.). Who We Are: Key People. Retrieved August 29, 2002, from http://www.wcwonline.org/keypeople/miller.html

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Women's Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society Students, as part of an advanced seminar, examined and wrote about the lives of these women, their intellectual contributions, and the unique impact and special problems that being female had on their careers.
For information about referencing this paper - Click Here