Profile
Margaret Brenman-Gibson
Birth:
1914
Death:
2004
Training Location(s):
PhD, University of Kansas (1942)
MA, Columbia University
BA, Brooklyn College (1939)
Primary Affiliation(s):
Menninger Clinic (1940)
Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis (1950s)
Harvard University (1982)
Austen Riggs Center (1947 – 1960s; 1990s)
Erikson Institute for Education and Research (1990s)
Career Focus:
Creativity, hypnotherapy, psychoanalysis, clinical psychology, activism.
Biography
Margaret Brenman-Gibson earned her BA in Psychology from Brooklyn College in 1939. She then pursued an MA in Anthropology at Columbia University, followed by a PhD in Psychology at the University of Kansas which she received in 1942. During this time, she married playwright William Gibson, and they decided against having children so as not to interfere with her training.
In 1940, Brenman-Gibson took an internship at the Children’s Division of the Menninger Clinic, a psychiatric hospital in Topeka, Kansas. While delivering her first seminar on hypnosis, her potential was recognized by the chief of staff at Menninger, Robert Knight, who would become her mentor. She was invited to work at the main building as a research fellow and quickly rose through the ranks at Menninger Clinic, a fact that she partially attributed to the lack of psychiatrists at home during World War II.
Brenman-Gibson worked with Menninger Clinic resident psychiatrist Merton Gill on a study of hypnotherapy, and in 1944 they published a co-written monograph titled “Hypnotherapy.” In 1959, she and Gill published “Hypnosis and Related States,” which examined the connection between hypnosis and creativity. She believed that hypnosis and creativity both required altered states of consciousness and an openness to oneself that could only be accomplished through letting go of one’s usual “rational” and “analytical” ways of thinking.
In 1947, Robert Knight invited the best staff from Menninger, including Brenman-Gibson, to work at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. This was a psychoanalytic treatment center that their team transformed into their pioneering “open therapeutic community” program. The concept of having a hospital where patients could have both community and therapy was important to Brenman-Gibson.
In 1951, the Austen Riggs Center hired famous psychologist Erik Erikson and his spouse, dancer and art therapist Joan Mowat Erikson. Brenman-Gibson became interested in Joan Erikson’s idea of establishing an area in the hospital where patients could pursue interests without the use of therapy or diagnosis. She was drawn to the idea of having art teachers rather than art therapists, and to using these activities to focus on the positives of the individual. She believed that therapists could work alongside teachers “to address the whole person.” The Activities Program run at Austen Riggs connected patients to their community, and in one-on-one therapy Brenman-Gibson would encourage patients to get out into the world, whether this was by rejoining their community, pursuing school, or finding a job. While this was not to the liking of all her colleagues, she was steadfast in her belief that this should be encouraged, as having a passion could in some circumstances be more beneficial than therapy.
Another way in which Brenman-Gibson deviated from the traditional model of psychoanalysis was in her dislike of holding a rigid, formal “role” during therapy sessions. Preferring spontaneity and diversity in her methods, she was known by clients and colleagues for her authenticity, earnestness and full presence in everything she did.
In the 1950s Brenman-Gibson saw patients, did administrative work, and supervised staff. Outside of her work at Austen Riggs, she consulted with the Department of Student Mental Hygiene at Yale and was a training analyst to the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis, teaching dream interpretation.
At age 35, she began reconsidering whether to start a family. When a conversation with anthropologist Margaret Mead assured her that she could have both a career and children, Brenman-Gibson made the decision to start a family. In the 1960s, she had two sons, an experience that she felt deeply enriched her life. During this period she took on less patients, but still supervised fellows. The social activism of this decade directed Brenman-Gibson’s attention towards gender awareness and societal conflict.
Her many years of working with Erik Erikson had a great influence on her research. In 1963, Brenman-Gibson’s interest in creativity compelled her to begin writing a “clinical biographical study” of late playwright Clifford Odets, with whom she and her husband shared a decades-long friendship. This began as a study of Odets’ creative process as influenced by his life history, but shortly into writing it, she realized that the biopsychosocial elements of his life were interwoven with her own study of creativity. Erikson encouraged her to examine the social and political influences present at the time of Odets’ life, which became critical to giving context to the humanist views in his work.
She was very outspoken about her stance against nuclear weapons during the Cold War. As reflected in her life’s work, it was crucial for Brenman-Gibson to be fully present and engaged by actively picketing with other protestors, which even led to her arrest. She believed that the risks this posed to her career and reputation were arbitrary compared to ignoring “the dangers of the planet.”
In 1982, Brenman-Gibson became one of the first women appointed as a full professor at Harvard’s Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Hospital. She worked there as a Clinical Professor of Psychology. Outside of this, she worked once more for Austen Riggs and also participated in creating the Erikson Institute for Education and Research.
Margaret Brenman-Gibson passed away in 2004 and was survived by her husband and two sons.
By Larissa Mienicki (2020)
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Margaret Brenman-Gibson
Brenman-Gibson, M. (1952). On teasing and being teased: and the problem of “moral masochism”. The psychoanalytic study of the child, 7(1), 264-285.
Breman-Gibson, M. (1981). Clifford Odets: American Playwright. New York: Atheneum.
Brenman, M., & Gill, M. M. (1947). Hypnotherapy; a survey of the literature. New York: Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.
Gill, M. M., & Brenman, M. (1959). Hypnosis and related states: Psychoanalytic studies in regression. New York: International University Press.
Margaret Brenman-Gibson
Birth:
1914
Death:
2004
Training Location(s):
PhD, University of Kansas (1942)
MA, Columbia University
BA, Brooklyn College (1939)
Primary Affiliation(s):
Menninger Clinic (1940)
Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis (1950s)
Harvard University (1982)
Austen Riggs Center (1947 – 1960s; 1990s)
Erikson Institute for Education and Research (1990s)
Career Focus:
Creativity, hypnotherapy, psychoanalysis, clinical psychology, activism.
Biography
Margaret Brenman-Gibson earned her BA in Psychology from Brooklyn College in 1939. She then pursued an MA in Anthropology at Columbia University, followed by a PhD in Psychology at the University of Kansas which she received in 1942. During this time, she married playwright William Gibson, and they decided against having children so as not to interfere with her training.
In 1940, Brenman-Gibson took an internship at the Children’s Division of the Menninger Clinic, a psychiatric hospital in Topeka, Kansas. While delivering her first seminar on hypnosis, her potential was recognized by the chief of staff at Menninger, Robert Knight, who would become her mentor. She was invited to work at the main building as a research fellow and quickly rose through the ranks at Menninger Clinic, a fact that she partially attributed to the lack of psychiatrists at home during World War II.
Brenman-Gibson worked with Menninger Clinic resident psychiatrist Merton Gill on a study of hypnotherapy, and in 1944 they published a co-written monograph titled “Hypnotherapy.” In 1959, she and Gill published “Hypnosis and Related States,” which examined the connection between hypnosis and creativity. She believed that hypnosis and creativity both required altered states of consciousness and an openness to oneself that could only be accomplished through letting go of one’s usual “rational” and “analytical” ways of thinking.
In 1947, Robert Knight invited the best staff from Menninger, including Brenman-Gibson, to work at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. This was a psychoanalytic treatment center that their team transformed into their pioneering “open therapeutic community” program. The concept of having a hospital where patients could have both community and therapy was important to Brenman-Gibson.
In 1951, the Austen Riggs Center hired famous psychologist Erik Erikson and his spouse, dancer and art therapist Joan Mowat Erikson. Brenman-Gibson became interested in Joan Erikson’s idea of establishing an area in the hospital where patients could pursue interests without the use of therapy or diagnosis. She was drawn to the idea of having art teachers rather than art therapists, and to using these activities to focus on the positives of the individual. She believed that therapists could work alongside teachers “to address the whole person.” The Activities Program run at Austen Riggs connected patients to their community, and in one-on-one therapy Brenman-Gibson would encourage patients to get out into the world, whether this was by rejoining their community, pursuing school, or finding a job. While this was not to the liking of all her colleagues, she was steadfast in her belief that this should be encouraged, as having a passion could in some circumstances be more beneficial than therapy.
Another way in which Brenman-Gibson deviated from the traditional model of psychoanalysis was in her dislike of holding a rigid, formal “role” during therapy sessions. Preferring spontaneity and diversity in her methods, she was known by clients and colleagues for her authenticity, earnestness and full presence in everything she did.
In the 1950s Brenman-Gibson saw patients, did administrative work, and supervised staff. Outside of her work at Austen Riggs, she consulted with the Department of Student Mental Hygiene at Yale and was a training analyst to the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis, teaching dream interpretation.
At age 35, she began reconsidering whether to start a family. When a conversation with anthropologist Margaret Mead assured her that she could have both a career and children, Brenman-Gibson made the decision to start a family. In the 1960s, she had two sons, an experience that she felt deeply enriched her life. During this period she took on less patients, but still supervised fellows. The social activism of this decade directed Brenman-Gibson’s attention towards gender awareness and societal conflict.
Her many years of working with Erik Erikson had a great influence on her research. In 1963, Brenman-Gibson’s interest in creativity compelled her to begin writing a “clinical biographical study” of late playwright Clifford Odets, with whom she and her husband shared a decades-long friendship. This began as a study of Odets’ creative process as influenced by his life history, but shortly into writing it, she realized that the biopsychosocial elements of his life were interwoven with her own study of creativity. Erikson encouraged her to examine the social and political influences present at the time of Odets’ life, which became critical to giving context to the humanist views in his work.
She was very outspoken about her stance against nuclear weapons during the Cold War. As reflected in her life’s work, it was crucial for Brenman-Gibson to be fully present and engaged by actively picketing with other protestors, which even led to her arrest. She believed that the risks this posed to her career and reputation were arbitrary compared to ignoring “the dangers of the planet.”
In 1982, Brenman-Gibson became one of the first women appointed as a full professor at Harvard’s Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Hospital. She worked there as a Clinical Professor of Psychology. Outside of this, she worked once more for Austen Riggs and also participated in creating the Erikson Institute for Education and Research.
Margaret Brenman-Gibson passed away in 2004 and was survived by her husband and two sons.
By Larissa Mienicki (2020)
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Margaret Brenman-Gibson
Brenman-Gibson, M. (1952). On teasing and being teased: and the problem of “moral masochism”. The psychoanalytic study of the child, 7(1), 264-285.
Breman-Gibson, M. (1981). Clifford Odets: American Playwright. New York: Atheneum.
Brenman, M., & Gill, M. M. (1947). Hypnotherapy; a survey of the literature. New York: Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.
Gill, M. M., & Brenman, M. (1959). Hypnosis and related states: Psychoanalytic studies in regression. New York: International University Press.