Jean Baker Miller

Jean Baker Miller (1927–2006) was a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, social activist, feminist, and author. She wrote Toward a New Psychology of Women, which brings psychological thought together with relational-cultural theory. Early life and education Jean Baker Miller was born on September 29, 1927, in the Bronx in New York City to a Jewish family. She was diagnosed with polio at an early age, and was inspired to pursue a career in medicine while in the care of nurses. She attended Hunter College High School in New York City and in '48 graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. She received her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1952, and was in New York for psychiatric residency programs at Montefiore Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital Center, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Upstate Medical Center, New York Medical College, where she completed her psychoanalytic training. Work and publications Miller opened a private practice in New York, and then moved to Boston in 1973. She edited Psychoanalysis and Women: Contributions to New Theory and Therapy (1973), and then wrote Toward a New Psychology of Women (1976), which has become a classic in its field and has been translated into twenty languages. Miller describes the "relational model" of human development ("Relational-Cultural Theory"), proposing that "growth-fostering relationships are a central human necessity and that disconnections are the source of psychological problems." Inspired by Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, and other feminist classics from the 1960s, Relational-Cultural Theory proposes that "isolation is one of the most damaging human experiences and is best treated by reconnecting with other people," and that therapists should "foster an atmosphere of empathy and acceptance for the patient, even at the cost of the therapist’s neutrality." The theory is based on clinical observations and sought to prove that "there was nothing wrong with women, but rather with the way modern culture viewed them." Following the publication of Toward a New Psychology of Women, Miller became the first director of the Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies at Wellesley College, which incorporated the relational model into all aspects of the Stone Center's treatment.