Synopses & Reviews
We are, therefore I am: an introduction to and political history of the psychology of relationships.
In 1977, Carol Gilligan published the essay In a Different Voice,” describing the discrepancy in morality and self-expression between men and women. In a radical break with the Freudian school that dominated psychology, Gilligan and her peers identified relationships rather than the notion of self as the foundation of our psychological and physical states. Initially met with patronizing indulgence by colleagues, this essay, along with early work by the psychiatrists Judith Lewis Herman and Jean Baker Miller, would go on to radically alter the way we understand the psychology of women, shed new light on misunderstood conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder, and inspire a trove of bestselling and sometimes controversial booksranging from Reviving Ophelia to Raising Cain and The Courage to Heal to You Just Dont Understandthat focused intense concern on childhood development, womens relationships, and psychological trauma. In This Changes Everything, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Christina Robb tells the story of relational psychology and recounts the untold work of a pioneering group of psychologistsmostly womenwho at times took monumental risks, crossing boundaries and breaking institutional taboos, in order to fully understand the ways in which relationships shape our every experience of the world.
Christina Robb was for more than twenty years a writer for The Boston Globe, where she was part of a team of journalists who won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1983. This is her first book. In 1977, Carol Gilligan published the essay "In a Different Voice," describing the discrepancy in morality and self-expression between men and women. In a radical break with the Freudian school that dominated psychology, Gilligan and her peers identified relationships rather than the notion of self as the foundation of our psychological and physical states. Initially met with patronizing indulgence by colleagues, this essay, along with early work by the psychiatrists Judith Lewis Herman and Jean Baker Miller, would go on to radically alter the way we understand the psychology of women, shed new light on misunderstood conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder, and inspire a trove of bestselling and sometimes controversial booksranging from Reviving Ophelia to Raising Cain and The Courage to Heal to You Just Dont Understandthat focused intense concern on childhood development, women's relationships, and psychological trauma. In This Changes Everything, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Christina Robb tells the story of relational psychology and recounts the untold work of a pioneering group of psychologistsmostly womenwho at times took monumental risks, crossing boundaries and breaking institutional taboos, in order to fully understand the ways in which relationships shape our every experience of the world."This Changes Everything is full of . . . intriguing details; Robb meticulously documents the process by which an insight grows into a school of thought . . .
Robb has written . . . an authorized biography of the movement."Annie Murphy Paul, The New York Times Book Review "Christina Robb turns up the volume on a few quiet women who discovered the missing link between feminist politics and female reality. Their contribution to relational psychology really did 'change everything'and Robb paints an exciting portrait of this paradigm shift."Jennifer Baumgardner, co-author of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future
"This Changes Everything provides a long overdue service to three remarkable women whose contributions to our collective understanding of gender, politics, and psychology are truly immeasurable. Like many, much of my work is founded on these women's insights so it was wonderful to learn about their experiences as educators both inside and outside of their fields of expertise."Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees
"It is deliciously appropriate that in reading this fascinating account about relational psychology, you will become intimately connected with the psychologists who developed the field. This Changes Everything movingly and absorbingly describes their struggle to legitimate an entirely new, out-of-the-box way of thinking about human beings. Their work is nothing short of revolutionary: It has had an undeniable impact on politics, feminism, human rights movements, and, of course, personal relationshipsliterally changing people's lives. You will learn not only the history of relational psychology but about the very things you need to know to make and sustain fruitful human connections."Leora Tanenbaum, author of Slut! Growing Up Female With a Bad Reputation and Catfight: Rivalries Among WomenFrom Diets to Dating, From the Boardroom to the Delivery Room
"At last we have an erudite and exciting history of the pioneers of relational psychology. Robb's narrative makes a page turner of a most unlikely storya group of feminist academics who changed the world one research paper at a time."Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia
Review
"Christina Robb turns up the volume on a few quiet women who discovered the missing link between feminist politics and female reality. Their contribution to relational psychology really did 'change everything'--and Robb paints an exciting portrait of this paradigm shift."--Jennifer Baumgardner, co-author of
Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future"This Changes Everything provides a long overdue service to three remarkable women whose contributions to our collective understanding of gender, politics, and psychology are truly immeasurable. Like many, much of my work is founded on these women's insights so it was wonderful to learn about their experiences as educators both inside and outside of their fields of expertise." --Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees
"It is deliciously appropriate that in reading this fascinating account about relational psychology, you will become intimately connected with the psychologists who developed the field. This Changes Everything movingly and absorbingly describes their struggle to legitimate an entirely new, out-of-the-box way of thinking about human beings. Their work is nothing short of revolutionary: It has had an undeniable impact on politics, feminism, human rights movements, and, of course, personal relationships--literally changing people's lives. You will learn not only the history of relational psychology but about the very things you need to know to make and sustain fruitful human connections."--Leora Tanenbaum, author of Slut! Growing Up Female With a Bad Reputation and Catfight: Rivalries Among Women--From Diets to Dating, From the Boardroom to the Delivery Room
"At last we have an erudite and exciting history of the pioneers of relational psychology. Robb's narrative makes a page turner of a most unlikely story-- a group of feminist academics who changed the world one research paper at a time."
--Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia
Review
"You will learn not only the history of relational psychology but about the very things you need to know to make and sustain fruitful human connections."--Leora Tanenbaum, author of
Slut!: Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation
"Robb describes theory without didacticism, disentangles misconceptions without condescension, and makes powerful political statements without rancor."--O, The Oprah Magazine
"Exciting . . . Robb's narrative makes a page-turner of a most unlikely story."--Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia
"In This Changes Everything, Christina Robb . . . has recounted, in magnificent manner, the evolution of relational psychology and with it the transformation of contemporary psychological theory and practice."--The Boston Globe "This Changes Everything provides a long overdue service to three remarkable women whose contributions to our collective understanding of gender, politics, and psychology are truly immeasurable. "--Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees
Synopsis
We are, therefore I am: an introduction to and political history of the psychology of relationships.
In 1977, Carol Gilligan published the essay "In a Different Voice," describing the discrepancy in morality and self-expression between men and women. In a radical break with the Freudian school that dominated psychology, Gilligan and her peers identified relationships rather than the notion of self as the foundation of our psychological and physical states. Initially met with patronizing indulgence by colleagues, this essay, along with early work by the psychiatrists Judith Lewis Herman and Jean Baker Miller, would go on to radically alter the way we understand the psychology of women, shed new light on misunderstood conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and inspire a trove of bestselling and sometimes controversial books--ranging from Reviving Ophelia to Raising Cain and The Courage to Heal to You Just Don't Understand--that focused intense concern on childhood development, women's relationships, and psychological trauma. In This Changes Everything, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Christina Robb tells the story of relational psychology and recounts the untold work of a pioneering group of psychologists--mostly women--who at times took monumental risks, crossing boundaries and breaking institutional taboos, in order to fully understand the ways in which relationships shape our every experience of the world.
Synopsis
In 1977, Carol Gilligan published the essay "In a Different Voice" describing the discrepancy in morality and self-expression between men and women. In a radical break with the Freudian school that dominated psychology, Gilligan and her peers went on to identify relationships rather than the notion of "self" as the foundation of our psychological and physical states. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Christina Robb recounts the untold efforts of a pioneering group of psychologists--Carol Gilligan, Jean Baker Miller, and Judith Lewis Herman--whose groundbreaking work really did change everything.
About the Author
Christina Robb was for more than twenty years a writer for
The Boston Globe, where she was part of a team of journalists who won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1983. This is her first book.