Carolyn Lewis Attneave (July 2, 1920 – June 22, 1992) was born in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, to Scandinavian and Delaware Native American parents. Attneave spent most of her early years in South Texas, but frequently spent summers with her Delaware relatives in Oklahoma. Her culturally aware upbringing would go on to influence her decision to research diversity. Attneave earned a bachelor's in English and Theatre at

Chico State College California State University, Chico, or commonly, Chico State, is a public university in Chico, California. Founded in 1887, it is the second oldest campus in the California State University system. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university had ...

in California in 1940. She would stay at Chico state College to earn another bachelor's in secondary education. After spending six years as a school teacher, she earned both her master's and doctorate in clinical psychology from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1947 and 1952, respectively.

Career and research

Attneave was the first Native American woman who earned her Ph.D. in psychology and is arguably the most "well-known psychologist of American-Indian background." In 1962, Attneave relocated to

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

to work for the Oklahoma State Department of Health, where she worked to provide mental health services to seven Native American tribes in the area. This work would go on to influence her later efforts to provide Native American-specific mental health treatment. In 1968, she moved to

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, to work at the Child Guidance Clinic. It was here that she began to focus on network therapy, an alternative to the hospitalization in which the clients focus on their personal networks that may include their families and neighborhood communities. In an attempt to gain a better cultural understanding of the cultural contexts of her clients, she relocated to a primarily black area of Philadelphia, where she was able to understand different therapy networks. In 1973, her book ''Family Networks'', written with Ross Speck, was published. Later, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she was a founding member of the Boston Indian Council which held the title as the largest Indian council in the country. In 1970, Attneave founded, wrote, and edited the Network of Indian Psychologist that facilitated cultural resources for Indian communities. The Network of Indian Psychologist newsletter eventually grew into what is now known as the Society of Indian Psychologists. Beginning in 1973, she began her teaching career at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

's School of Public Health and later joined the faculty at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, where she directed the University's American Indian Studies Program. Attneave retired in 1980 where she continued to write, lecture, and travel until her death in 1992.

Tributes

The Carolyn Attneave Diversity Award, given out annually by the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

, is named after her and recognizes "the promotion of diversity in family psychology." In 2019

’s Serra House where the

Clayman Institute for Gender Research Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...

is located was renamed the Carolyn Lewis Attneave House. It was formerly named after

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Attneave, Carolyn Lewis American women psychologists 20th-century American psychologists People from El Paso, Texas California State University, Chico alumni Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences alumni 1920 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American women American people of Native American descent