Sue Gerhardt (

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, 1953) is a British

psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk the ...

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

in private practice since 1997. She was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, but grew up in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She was educated at

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where she achieved a degree in English literature, and campaigned successfully for women to be given places in the previously single sex men's colleges.''Sue Gerhardt Biography'' Amazon.com
/ref> She was an active

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. She was trained as a psychotherapist and achieved an MA in Child Observation at the

Tavistock Clinic The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Kin ...

in London.Jones, Elizabeth
''Sue Gerhardt'', Baby-Birth, 18 March 2013
In 1998 she co-founded the Oxford Parent Infant Project (OXPIP), a pioneering charity that provides psychotherapeutic help to parents and babies in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. She has two adult children and lives in Oxfordshire.

''Why Love Matters''

Gerhardt is best known as the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed ''Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain'' (2004). The book presents evidence that babies' brains develop differently in the first few months of life depending on the amount and type of care they receive in that time. The evidence suggests that the

prefrontal cortex In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. It is the association cortex in the frontal lobe. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, ...

and, within that, the

orbitofrontal cortex The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a prefrontal cortex region in the frontal lobes of the brain which is involved in the cognitive process of decision-making. In non-human primates it consists of the association cortex areas Brodmann area 11, 1 ...

are stimulated and interconnect more powerfully when a child is demonstrably

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

d. The advantage of positive development is increased confidence and an ability to empathise with others.

Neglect In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness and ...

can lead to increased

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

, insensitivity and

aggression Aggression is behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, some might channel it into creative and practical outlets. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In h ...

. The findings may have

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

implications, since the demand for parents to reduce the time they spend with their child because of work commitments leads to an increased emphasis on institutional

child care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

. There are also implications for

gender politics Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, social background, political affiliation, caste, age, education, disability, opinion, int ...

as women are frequently expected to take on the burden of child care, rather than the father, and this developmental finding could be used to argue for a reduced role for women in the workplace. Gerhardt commented: "I think that the Women's Movement was an unfinished revolution. We ended up joining the working world as defined by men and struggling to live on its terms. I think we got stuck in trying to live up to male-defined expectations. That world (including male-dominated governments) didn't (and still doesn't) take into account the fact that babies or small children need very personal one-to-one care. Because we were so determined to escape domesticity, I think we feminists had a bit of a blind spot around children’s emotional needs and ignored this uncomfortable fact." Other books by Sue Gerhardt include ''The Selfish Society''.Hogan, Phil
''The Selfish Society by Sue Gerhardt''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, 10 April 2010

References

External links

''Why Love Matters'' (official site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerhardt, Sue British writers Living people 1953 births British psychologists Attachment psychologists British psychoanalysts Systems psychologists Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement British psychotherapists Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge South African emigrants to the United Kingdom English people of South African descent

''Why Love Matters''

See also

References

External links