Harriet Lerner
Harriet Lerner
Harriet Lerner, Ph.D.,is a clinical psychologist and a contributor to feminist theory and therapy. From 1972 to 2001 she was a staff psychologist at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas and a faculty member and supervisor in 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. Her son is the National Book Award-nominated poet and novelist Ben Lerner...
Harriet Lerner quotes about
wise fear self
Throughout evolutionary history, anxiety and fear have helped every species to be wary and to survive. Fear can signal us to act, or, alternatively, to resist the impulse to act. It can help us to make wise, self-protective choices in and out of relationships where we might otherwise sail mindlessly along, ignoring signs of trouble.
sex judging-people diagnosis
Judging people for whom they love (a same sex partner) rather than by whom they harm, should in itself merit a psychiatric diagnosis.
trying helpful sometimes
Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is to stop trying to be helpful.
family-and-friends our-relationship partners
You can't evaluate a prospective partner if you insulate your relationship from your family and friends--and his.
friendship true-friend vision
The more we seek exclusivity in friendship, the more it becomes obligatory and the less likely it is to fulfill the wonderful vision of what true friendship can be.
two intimacy intensity
Intensity is not the same as intimacy, although we tend to confuse these two words.
courageous about-yourself
The bolder and more courageous you are, the more you will learn about yourself.
good-enough enough reason
Love alone is never a good enough reason to marry.
self-esteem people feelings
Feeling essentially superior to other people is as sure a sign of poor self-esteem as feeling essentially inferior.
couple fighting patterns
It's remarkable how many couples can precisely describe their particular pattern of painful fighting, and claim to be helpless to change it.
sex men conversation
Men are often (though not always) the pursuers for sex, just like women are often (though not always) the pursuers for conversation.
husband women skills
While women once acquired relationship skills to "hook," "snare," or "catch" a husband who would provide access to economic security and social status, the position of contemporary women has not changed that radically. Much of our success still depends on our attunement to "male culture," our ability to please men, and our readiness to conform to the masculine values of our institutions.
hope long feels
As long as we can feel hope, there is hope.
love-yourself wells persons
It's a cliché, but also a deep truth (as cliché's tend to be), that you can't love another person very well if you don't love yourself.