Sophie or Sofie Lazarsfeld (''née'' Munk; May 26, 1881 – September 24, 1976) was an Austrian-American therapist and writer, a student of

Alfred Adler Alfred Adler ( ; ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, a ...

Life

Sophie Munk was born in

Troppau Opava (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia and was a historical capital of Czech Silesia. Administr ...

on May 26, 1881. She married Robert Lazarsfeld, a lawyer: the sociologist

Paul Lazarsfeld Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (February 13, 1901August 30, 1976) was an Austrian-American sociologist and mathematician. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted influence over the techniques and the organizat ...

was their son. Friedrich Adler lived with the family for some time: on the morning that Adler assassinated Austria's prime minister, he sent them a postcard saying he was in good spirits after leaving the house. In the later judgement of Paul Lazarsfeld, "My mother was responsible for destroying three men, my father, Friedrich Adler, and myself. I always say this." Apparently introduced to the ideas of

(no relation to Friedrich) by her son, Lazarsfeld joined the Vienna Individual Psychology Society after the First World War, and underwent training with Alfred Adler in the 1920s. She coined the phrase "the courage to be imperfect", first using it at the 1925 Second International Congress of Individual Psychology, and expanding on the idea in later writing. ''How Women Experience Men'' (1931) drew on the work of marriage clinics set up by Alfred Adler. She escaped Austria for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1938, and then the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1941,The Use of Fiction in Psychotherapy
/ref> where she settled and built a psychological practice in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She became Honorary President of the American Society of Adlerian Psychology, and contributed several articles to its journal, ''The American journal of individual psychology''. She died in 1976 in

Work

* ''Vom häuslichen Frieden'', 1926. With a foreword by

. * ''Richtige Lebensführung'', 1926 * ''Das lügenhafte Kind'', 1927 * ''Die Ehe von heute und morgen'' (The marriage of today and tomorrow), 1927 * ''Erziehung zur Ehe'' (Training for marriage), 1928. * (ed.) ''Technik der Erziehung; ein Leitfaden für Eltern und Lehrer'', 1929 * ''Wie die frau den mann erlebt; fremde bekenntnisse und eigene betrachtungen'' (How women experience men), 1931. Translated by Karsten and E. Pelham Stapelfeldt as ''The Rhythm of Life: A Guide to Sexual Harmony for Women'', London: G. Routledge and Sons, 1934. Also published in translation as ''Woman's experience of the male'', London: Encyclopaedia Press, 1938, with an introduction by

Norman Haire Norman Haire, born Norman Zions (21 January 1892, Sydney – 11 September 1952, London) was an Australian medical practitioner and sexologist. He has been called "the most prominent sexologist in Britain" between the wars. Life When Norman was ...

. * ''Sexuelle Erziehung'' (Sexual education), 1931 * 'Did Oedipus Have an Oedipus Complex?', ''

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry The ''American Journal of Orthopsychiatry'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering orthopsychiatry. It is published by the American Psychological Association on behalf of the Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justic ...

'' 14 (1944): 226-29; ''The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease'', 101, no. 1 (1945) * 'War and Peace Between the Sexes', ''Individual Psychology Bulletin'' Vol. 6, Nos. 1-2 (1947), pp. 74–9 * 'The Use of Fiction in Psychotherapy: A Contribution to Bibliotherapy', ''American Journal of Psychotherapy'', Vol. 3, No. 1 (January 1949), pp. 26–33 * 'Pitfalls in Psychotherapy', ''The American Journal of Individual Psychology'', 10 (1952), pp. 20–26. * 'The courage for imperfection', ''Journal of Individual Psychology'', 22 (1966), pp. 163–65.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarfeld, Sophie 1881 births 1976 deaths Writers from Opava People from Austrian Silesia Austrian Jews Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States Austrian women psychologists Austrian psychologists Adlerian psychology 20th-century American psychologists Lazarsfeld family