Barbara S Held

Barbara S. Held is the Barry N. Wish Professor of Psychology and Social Studies at Bowdoin College, Maine. Her work focuses on the theoretical, philosophical, and practical aspects of movements in psychology and psychotherapy. She is the author of Back to Reality: A Critique of Postmodern Theory in Psychotherapy (1995); Stop Smiling, Start Kvetching: A 5-Step Guide to Creative Complaining (2001); and Psychology's Interpretive Turn: The Search for Truth and Agency in Theoretical and...See more

Barbara S. Held is the Barry N. Wish Professor of Psychology and Social Studies at Bowdoin College, Maine. Her work focuses on the theoretical, philosophical, and practical aspects of movements in psychology and psychotherapy. She is the author of Back to Reality: A Critique of Postmodern Theory in Psychotherapy (1995); Stop Smiling, Start Kvetching: A 5-Step Guide to Creative Complaining (2001); and Psychology's Interpretive Turn: The Search for Truth and Agency in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (2007) and a co-editor of Humanity's Dark Side: Evil, Destructive Experience, and Psychotherapy (2013). Held is the 2012 recipient of the American Psychological Foundation's Joseph B. Gittler Award, which recognizes significant scholarly contribution to the philosophical foundations of psychological knowledge. She is the author of numerous scholarly articles and chapters and has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including Theory and Psychology and the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. Held also served as the 2008-9 president of the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology of the American Psychological Association, of which she is a Fellow. Trained as a clinical psychologist, she practiced therapy for fifteen years. She has received extensive national and worldwide media attention, including features in the New York Times, People magazine, and Smithsonian Magazine, as well as appearances on NBC's Today show, ABC's World News, National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered, the BBC, and the CBC. See less