Betty Joseph
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Betty Joseph (7 March 1917 – 4 April 2013), was a British psychoanalyst and writer, and a follower of the work of
Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...
. According to her obituary in ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', she "was widely considered to be one of the great psychoanalysts of her day".


Biography

Betty Joseph was born on 7 March 1917, at 403 Gillott Road,
Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, the daughter of Henry Joseph (1879–1941), an electrical engineer, and his wife, Nennie May Joseph, née Rudelsheim (1883–1966). Both of her parents were from Anglo-Jewish families that had come to the UK from
Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
in the early eighteenth century. She was educated at
Wolverhampton Girls' High School Wolverhampton Girls' High School is a grammar school for girls in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England. Overview Wolverhampton Girls' High School, founded in 1911, educates girls from the age of 11 to 18. There are 1178 girls enroll ...
, followed by training in social work at
Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
, and the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Joseph worked in civil defence, and was a lorry driver at one point, and worked with often traumatised child evacuees. She went into analysis with
Michael Balint Michael Balint ( ; 3 December 1896 – 31 December 1970) was a Hungarian psychoanalyst who spent most of his adult life in England. He was a proponent of the object relations school. Life Balint was born Mihály Mór Bergsmann in Budapes ...
, and later with
Paula Heimann Paula Heimann (née Klatzko; 2 February 1899 – 22 October 1982) was a German psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, who established the phenomenon of countertransference as an important tool of psychoanalytic treatment. Life in Germany Born in ...
. Joseph was known for her meta-analysis, the analysis of the process of psychoanalysis itself, and for taking an empirical, scientific approach to the subject. Joseph thought that it was important for the analyst to focus on what the patient was doing during analysis sessions, not just what they were saying, in trying to get at the underlying "psychic reality". Joseph was the chairman of the Melanie Klein Trust from 1991 to 2006. She never married. Joseph died on 4 April 2013 from heart disease, at her home in Clifton Hill,
St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...
, London.


Selected publications

In 1989, she published ''Psychic Equilibrium and Psychic Change'', a selection of her papers.


Awards and honours

In 1995, Joseph received the
Sigourney Award Sigourney may refer to: People Surname * Brita Sigourney (born 1990), American freestyle skier * Charles Sigourney (1778–1854), American businessman, banker, philanthropist, husband of Lydia Sigourney * Edith Sigourney (1895–1982), American ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Betty 1917 births 2013 deaths British psychoanalysts People educated at Wolverhampton Girls' High School Health professionals from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of the London School of Economics Analysands of Michael Balint