Leslie Samuel Greenberg (born 30 September 1945) is a Canadian
psychologist born in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, and is one of the originators and primary developers of
Emotion-Focused Therapy for individuals and couples.
He is a professor
emeritus of
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
at
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, and also director of the Emotion-Focused Therapy Clinic in Toronto.
His research has addressed questions regarding
empathy
Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, co ...
,
psychotherapy process, the
therapeutic alliance
A therapeutic alliance, or working alliance, is a partnership between a patient and his or her therapist that allows them to achieve goals through agreed-upon tasks.
The concept of therapeutic alliance dates back to Sigmund Freud. Over the cour ...
, and
emotion
Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is currently no scientific ...
in human functioning.
Greenberg studied
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
and worked as an engineer before earning his Ph.D. in psychology from York University in 1975.
With his mentor
Laura North Rice, who had studied with
Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach (and client-centered approach) in psychology. Rogers is widely considered one of the founding fathers of ps ...
at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, he began doing psychotherapy process research, attempting to mathematically model therapist–client interactions and using techniques of
task analysis
Task analysis is the analysis of how a task is accomplished, including a detailed description of both manual and mental activities, task and element durations, task frequency, task allocation, task complexity, environmental conditions, necessary cl ...
.
He was also influenced early in his career by
Juan Pascual-Leone's neo-Piagetian constructivist model of mind.
His first academic position was at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...
in
counseling psychology
Counseling psychology is a psychological specialty that encompasses research and applied work in several broad domains: counseling process and outcome; supervision and training; career development and counseling; and prevention and health. ...
, and he completed an
externship
Externships are experiential learning opportunities, similar to internships, provided by partnerships between educational institutions and employers to give students practical experiences in their field of study. In medicine, it may refer to a visi ...
at the
Mental Research Institute
The Palo Alto Mental Research Institute (MRI) is one of the founding institutions of brief and family therapy.Nichols, M., & Schwartz, R. (2005). ''Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods'' (7th Edition), New York City: Prentice Hall. Founded by Do ...
in California in 1981.
Initially trained in a
client-centered therapy
Person-centered therapy, also known as person-centered psychotherapy, person-centered counseling, client-centered therapy and Rogerian psychotherapy, is a form of psychotherapy developed by psychologist Carl Rogers beginning in the 1940s and ...
approach, he then trained in
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility and focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist–client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life ...
and over the years was exposed to many other approaches including
systemic-interactional,
psychodynamic
Psychodynamics, also known as psychodynamic psychology, in its broadest sense, is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces underlying human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate t ...
and
cognitive therapy
Cognitive therapy (CT) is a type of psychotherapy developed by American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck. CT is one therapeutic approach within the larger group of cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) and was first expounded by Beck in the 1960s. Co ...
.
He returned to York University in 1986 as professor of psychology.
Greenberg has published numerous articles and co-authored the major books on emotion-focused approaches to psychotherapy. He is a founding member of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and a past president of the
Society for Psychotherapy Research
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
(SPR), from which he received the Distinguished Research Career Award in 2004.
The
Canadian Psychological Association
The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) is the primary organization representing psychologists throughout Canada. It was organized in 1939 and incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act, Part II, in May 1950.
Its objectives are to imp ...
awarded him the Professional Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Profession, and 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 ...
awarded him the
and the Carl Rogers Award.
He has been on the editorial board of many psychotherapy journals, including the ''
Journal of Clinical Psychology
The ''Journal of Clinical Psychology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering psychological research, assessment, and practice. It was established in 1945. It covers research on psychopathology, psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy, psyc ...
'', ''
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
The ''Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology'' is a monthly academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. Its focus is on treatment and prevention in all areas of clinical and clinical-health psychology and especiall ...
'', ''
Journal of Family Psychology
The ''Journal of Family Psychology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. It was established in 1987 and covers research in family psychology. The current editor-in-chief is Barbara H. Fiese.
The ...
'', ''
Journal of Marital & Family Therapy'', ''
Journal of Psychotherapy Integration
The ''Journal of Psychotherapy Integration'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association on behalf of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration. It was established in 1991 and covers r ...
'' and ''
Psychotherapy Research''.
Selected publications
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Notes
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Leslie
1945 births
York University faculty
York University alumni
University of the Witwatersrand alumni
Canadian psychologists
South African psychologists
Living people
Constructivism (psychological school)
Gestalt therapy