Profile
Marion Breiter
Birth:
1952
Training Location(s):
Dr., University of Vienna (1978)
Primary Affiliation(s):
Frauen beraten Frauen [Women Counsel Women]
Netzwerk Österreichischer Frauen- und Mädchenberatungsstellen [Network of Austrian Women's and Girls' Counseling Centers]
SOFIA- Institute for Comprehensive and Applied Social Research
Career Focus:
Feminist psychotherapy; feminist pedagogy; social science and women’s studies; music therapy.
Biography
Marion Breiter, social scientist, educator, psychotherapist, project manager, and musician, was born on January 29, 1952 in Vienna. She was one of the founders of the first Austrian women's counseling center "Frauen beraten Frauen" (Women Counsel women) in 1980 and of the "Netzwerk österreichischer Frauen- und Mädchenberatungsstellen" (Network of Austrian Women's and Girls' Counseling Centers) in 1996. She also founded the SOFIA Institute for Social Research in Vienna.
Breiter describes the fact that her career has been particularly devoted to women and women-specific topics as an ongoing learning process based on many experiences and insights. As a young woman she was urged by her mother not to take on more housework than her brother. What seemed irritating to her at the time she later recognized as a feminist attitude. She also recalls attending the girls' grammar school as a valuable space for discussion about women-specific inequalities, for example in terms of education and profession.
Her work as a kindergarten teacher in the student kindergarten, which was oriented towards anti-authoritarian educational concepts, strongly influenced and sensitized her to gender and power relations as well as social privileges, especially through contact with single mothers and their living conditions.
During her studies in education and psychology, she completed internships at the Institute for Depth Psychology and in the psychosomatic clinic of the gynecological hospital, which Breiter describes as eye-opening for her feminist understanding of the therapeutic field. There, in the very male-dominated and psychoanalytic, individualistically-oriented psychiatric clinic for children, she noticed that hardly any attention was paid to the living conditions of the mothers and their social circumstances. In many cases, however, she was able to identify adverse living conditions as the cause behind somatic complaints and symptoms of both the children and their mothers.
Breiter, who was training in psychotherapy at this time, built up a network of women from various professions (including psychology, medicine, social work) in order to develop a concept of a women-specific counseling service in Vienna, following the example of the Munich Women's Therapy Centre. In their concept, they proposed that social contexts and power relations needed to be more integrated into counseling and psychotherapy. This approach formed the basis for women's specific psychotherapy and has since then also been a guiding principle in Marion Breiter's work: "[...] Without taking these social relationships into account, one cannot really get to the root of the problems” (Breiter, interview with V. Luckgei, 2020). Feminist psychotherapy and counseling assumes that it is "normal" for women to react to life circumstances that make them ill by becoming ill. It is a healing process for women to understand this connection and to put their energy in changing these circumstances rather than into self-reproach, Breiter notes.
Breiter describes the founding of the women's counseling center "Frauen beraten Frauen" in 1980 (the first of its kind in Vienna and indeed in Austria) as a labor-intensive and strenuous time, during which one's own persistence with politics and grant donors was particularly necessary. The counselling center services immediately faced an enormous demand and the limits of capacity were soon reached - it was through the work of Breiter and her colleagues that the need for women-specific counselling became apparent in the first place. Breiter describes the political fights and resistances of women as being decisive for later political and legal changes in favor of women's counselling: "It was less the laws, they came later, but first there was public awareness work and questioning taboos". Breiter remembers especially strong women who appeared in public with strong opinions although they were criticized, especially Minister for Women's Affairs Johanna Dohnal, who supported Breiter and her colleagues: "And then (N.B: during a meeting with all the Austrian counselling centers for women) she asked the incredible question 'What do you need?’ No one's ever asked us that before [...] yeah, that was kind of spectacular. The result was a kind of basic provision ... for women's counseling centers, which still exists today, a basic provision subsidy" (Breiter, interview with V. Luckgei, 2020).
In the following years, "Frauen beraten Frauen" was to establish itself as an important institution for women in Vienna and developed a wide range of counseling and therapy services. During this time Marion Breiter completed additional training in music therapy and integrative therapy, offered courses in women self-defense, and was involved in women's therapy congresses. During the war in Bosnia, she led several seminars in 1995 as a supervisor for women who worked in refugee aid. Breiter also published articles about the situation. In spite of difficult times at the counseling center, both due to political conditions and internal conflicts, Breiter positively emphasizes the cohesion among the colleagues as a feminist principle: "We have always held on to what is our common goal - ultimately to improve the situation of women, to improve [the] social situation and [...] to hold on to that [...] despite all personal problems" (Breiter, interview with V. Luckgei, 2020).
In 1996, Marion Breiter founded the umbrella organization "Network of Austrian Women's and Girls' Counseling Centers" together with colleagues from numerous other women's counseling centers in order to be able to speak up for the interests of women in politics and to be able to carry out more effective public relations work, as well as to create a platform for professional exchange. Breiter has been very engaged in the Network since then and was still a board member in 2020.
Between 1996 and 2010 Marion Breiter worked for the Network as a project manager, on various national and international research projects (including ESF-EQUAL projects, EU projects) on gender equality, and as a researcher for the SOFIA Institute, especially in the areas of violence against women and violence prevention, women's health, women with disabilities, labor market equality, and quality management for women's counseling centers. In addition, she conceptualized and directed various training series with this focus, gave numerous lectures, and wrote articles.
From 1987 until 2018 she was a lecturer at the University of Vienna and taught educational science and gender studies. She gave courses on women and disability, the multiple burden on mothers, and gender-specific socialization. From 1996 to 2019 she also worked as a psychotherapist, and after her mediation training as a supervisor, became a coach and mediator in her own practice.
For her achievements in the field of women's counseling and women's research she was awarded the Golden Badge of Honor for Services to the City of Vienna in 2019.
By Nina Franke and Vera Luckgei (2020)
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Marion Breiter
Breiter, M. (1995). Vergewaltigung – Ein Verbrechen ohne Folgen? Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik.
Breiter, M. & Weschke, C. (1996). Solidarität im Frauenteam. In H. Rothbucher & Salzburger Internationale Pädagogische Werktagung (Eds.), Ich und die anderen: Kinder und Erwachsene in der Konkurrenzgesellschaft (pp.221-225). Otto Müller Verlag.
Breiter, M. & Witt-Löw, K. (2005). „…nicht Mitleid, sondern faire Chancen!“ PERSPEKTIVA - Studie zur Lebens- und Berufssituation blinder und hochgradig sehbehinderter Frauen in Wien. Verlag Guthmann-Peterson.
Breiter, M. (2005). Grundlagen weiblicher Sozialisation, Berufswahl und Lebensplanung von Frauen: Strategien für Arbeitssuche, Karriere und Lobbying. In Transnationale AG SARA der EQUAL Entwicklungsgemeinschaft NORA / SABINA (Ed.), Frauen verändern die Arbeitswelt. Anleitung für politische und individuelle Strategien gegen Diskriminierung. FF communication.
Breiter, M. (2010). Feministische Beratung und strategisch-vernetztes Handeln. In Frauen beraten Frauen (Ed.) In Anerkennung der Differenz. Feministische Beratung und Psychotherapie (pp.119-130). Psychosozial Verlag.
Breiter, M. (2013). Gefährdung durch körperliche Beeinträchtigungen und Behinderungen. In Boothe, B. & Riecher-Rössler, A. (Eds.) Frauen in Psychotherapie. Grundlagen- Störungsbilder – Behandlungsangebote (pp.75-82). Schattauer Verlag.
Vobruba, A. & Breiter, M. (2020). Freiheit, Gleichheit, Solidarität. In Frauen* beraten Frauen* (Ed.), Freiheit und Feminismen (pp. 67-80). Psychosozial-Verlag.
By and about Marion Breiter
Breiter, M. (2020, January 14). Interviewed by V. Luckgei [Video recording].
Marion Breiter
Birth:
1952
Training Location(s):
Dr., University of Vienna (1978)
Primary Affiliation(s):
Frauen beraten Frauen [Women Counsel Women]
Netzwerk Österreichischer Frauen- und Mädchenberatungsstellen [Network of Austrian Women's and Girls' Counseling Centers]
SOFIA- Institute for Comprehensive and Applied Social Research
Career Focus:
Feminist psychotherapy; feminist pedagogy; social science and women’s studies; music therapy.
Biography
Marion Breiter, social scientist, educator, psychotherapist, project manager, and musician, was born on January 29, 1952 in Vienna. She was one of the founders of the first Austrian women's counseling center "Frauen beraten Frauen" (Women Counsel women) in 1980 and of the "Netzwerk österreichischer Frauen- und Mädchenberatungsstellen" (Network of Austrian Women's and Girls' Counseling Centers) in 1996. She also founded the SOFIA Institute for Social Research in Vienna.
Breiter describes the fact that her career has been particularly devoted to women and women-specific topics as an ongoing learning process based on many experiences and insights. As a young woman she was urged by her mother not to take on more housework than her brother. What seemed irritating to her at the time she later recognized as a feminist attitude. She also recalls attending the girls' grammar school as a valuable space for discussion about women-specific inequalities, for example in terms of education and profession.
Her work as a kindergarten teacher in the student kindergarten, which was oriented towards anti-authoritarian educational concepts, strongly influenced and sensitized her to gender and power relations as well as social privileges, especially through contact with single mothers and their living conditions.
During her studies in education and psychology, she completed internships at the Institute for Depth Psychology and in the psychosomatic clinic of the gynecological hospital, which Breiter describes as eye-opening for her feminist understanding of the therapeutic field. There, in the very male-dominated and psychoanalytic, individualistically-oriented psychiatric clinic for children, she noticed that hardly any attention was paid to the living conditions of the mothers and their social circumstances. In many cases, however, she was able to identify adverse living conditions as the cause behind somatic complaints and symptoms of both the children and their mothers.
Breiter, who was training in psychotherapy at this time, built up a network of women from various professions (including psychology, medicine, social work) in order to develop a concept of a women-specific counseling service in Vienna, following the example of the Munich Women's Therapy Centre. In their concept, they proposed that social contexts and power relations needed to be more integrated into counseling and psychotherapy. This approach formed the basis for women's specific psychotherapy and has since then also been a guiding principle in Marion Breiter's work: "[...] Without taking these social relationships into account, one cannot really get to the root of the problems” (Breiter, interview with V. Luckgei, 2020). Feminist psychotherapy and counseling assumes that it is "normal" for women to react to life circumstances that make them ill by becoming ill. It is a healing process for women to understand this connection and to put their energy in changing these circumstances rather than into self-reproach, Breiter notes.
Breiter describes the founding of the women's counseling center "Frauen beraten Frauen" in 1980 (the first of its kind in Vienna and indeed in Austria) as a labor-intensive and strenuous time, during which one's own persistence with politics and grant donors was particularly necessary. The counselling center services immediately faced an enormous demand and the limits of capacity were soon reached - it was through the work of Breiter and her colleagues that the need for women-specific counselling became apparent in the first place. Breiter describes the political fights and resistances of women as being decisive for later political and legal changes in favor of women's counselling: "It was less the laws, they came later, but first there was public awareness work and questioning taboos". Breiter remembers especially strong women who appeared in public with strong opinions although they were criticized, especially Minister for Women's Affairs Johanna Dohnal, who supported Breiter and her colleagues: "And then (N.B: during a meeting with all the Austrian counselling centers for women) she asked the incredible question 'What do you need?’ No one's ever asked us that before [...] yeah, that was kind of spectacular. The result was a kind of basic provision ... for women's counseling centers, which still exists today, a basic provision subsidy" (Breiter, interview with V. Luckgei, 2020).
In the following years, "Frauen beraten Frauen" was to establish itself as an important institution for women in Vienna and developed a wide range of counseling and therapy services. During this time Marion Breiter completed additional training in music therapy and integrative therapy, offered courses in women self-defense, and was involved in women's therapy congresses. During the war in Bosnia, she led several seminars in 1995 as a supervisor for women who worked in refugee aid. Breiter also published articles about the situation. In spite of difficult times at the counseling center, both due to political conditions and internal conflicts, Breiter positively emphasizes the cohesion among the colleagues as a feminist principle: "We have always held on to what is our common goal - ultimately to improve the situation of women, to improve [the] social situation and [...] to hold on to that [...] despite all personal problems" (Breiter, interview with V. Luckgei, 2020).
In 1996, Marion Breiter founded the umbrella organization "Network of Austrian Women's and Girls' Counseling Centers" together with colleagues from numerous other women's counseling centers in order to be able to speak up for the interests of women in politics and to be able to carry out more effective public relations work, as well as to create a platform for professional exchange. Breiter has been very engaged in the Network since then and was still a board member in 2020.
Between 1996 and 2010 Marion Breiter worked for the Network as a project manager, on various national and international research projects (including ESF-EQUAL projects, EU projects) on gender equality, and as a researcher for the SOFIA Institute, especially in the areas of violence against women and violence prevention, women's health, women with disabilities, labor market equality, and quality management for women's counseling centers. In addition, she conceptualized and directed various training series with this focus, gave numerous lectures, and wrote articles.
From 1987 until 2018 she was a lecturer at the University of Vienna and taught educational science and gender studies. She gave courses on women and disability, the multiple burden on mothers, and gender-specific socialization. From 1996 to 2019 she also worked as a psychotherapist, and after her mediation training as a supervisor, became a coach and mediator in her own practice.
For her achievements in the field of women's counseling and women's research she was awarded the Golden Badge of Honor for Services to the City of Vienna in 2019.
By Nina Franke and Vera Luckgei (2020)
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Marion Breiter
Breiter, M. (1995). Vergewaltigung – Ein Verbrechen ohne Folgen? Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik.
Breiter, M. & Weschke, C. (1996). Solidarität im Frauenteam. In H. Rothbucher & Salzburger Internationale Pädagogische Werktagung (Eds.), Ich und die anderen: Kinder und Erwachsene in der Konkurrenzgesellschaft (pp.221-225). Otto Müller Verlag.
Breiter, M. & Witt-Löw, K. (2005). „…nicht Mitleid, sondern faire Chancen!“ PERSPEKTIVA - Studie zur Lebens- und Berufssituation blinder und hochgradig sehbehinderter Frauen in Wien. Verlag Guthmann-Peterson.
Breiter, M. (2005). Grundlagen weiblicher Sozialisation, Berufswahl und Lebensplanung von Frauen: Strategien für Arbeitssuche, Karriere und Lobbying. In Transnationale AG SARA der EQUAL Entwicklungsgemeinschaft NORA / SABINA (Ed.), Frauen verändern die Arbeitswelt. Anleitung für politische und individuelle Strategien gegen Diskriminierung. FF communication.
Breiter, M. (2010). Feministische Beratung und strategisch-vernetztes Handeln. In Frauen beraten Frauen (Ed.) In Anerkennung der Differenz. Feministische Beratung und Psychotherapie (pp.119-130). Psychosozial Verlag.
Breiter, M. (2013). Gefährdung durch körperliche Beeinträchtigungen und Behinderungen. In Boothe, B. & Riecher-Rössler, A. (Eds.) Frauen in Psychotherapie. Grundlagen- Störungsbilder – Behandlungsangebote (pp.75-82). Schattauer Verlag.
Vobruba, A. & Breiter, M. (2020). Freiheit, Gleichheit, Solidarität. In Frauen* beraten Frauen* (Ed.), Freiheit und Feminismen (pp. 67-80). Psychosozial-Verlag.
By and about Marion Breiter
Breiter, M. (2020, January 14). Interviewed by V. Luckgei [Video recording].