Jeanne Safer
Jeanne Safer (born 1947 in Cincinnati, Ohio) has a BA degree in Philosophical Psychology from the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois and a PhD in Psychology from The Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research in New York City. Dr. Safer is also a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology. She has lived and worked in New York City since 1969.
Career
Safer has been a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist in private practice since 1974, and taught Clinical Assessment and Dream Interpretation for many years. She began writing professionally in her mid-forties, and published her first book, Beyond Motherhood: Choosing a Life Without Children, in 1996. She has written six books (and contributed an essay to a seventh), two of which (Beyond Motherhood and The Normal One) were Finalists for the Books for a Better Life Award for Best Self-Improvement Books of the Year. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other publications. The New York Times Book Review called hers "a deeply intelligent, fully informed, and thoroughly welcome voice."
Personal
Dr. Safer and her husband, historian and political journalist Richard Brookhiser, have written together for The Washington Post, appeared on CNN, and were profiled in Life Magazine about the pleasures and perils of their politically mixed marriage. They were the subjects of a segment on "The Daily Show" on "Inter-party Dating" in 2015.
Books
- Beyond Motherhood: Choosing a Life without Children Pocket Books, 1996, ISBN 0-671-79344-6
- Forgiving and Not Forgiving: Why Sometimes It’s Better Not to Forgive Quill HarperCollins, 1999, ISBN 0-380-97579-3
- The Normal One: Life with a Difficult or Damaged Sibling Delta, 2002, ISBN 0-385-33756-6
- Death Benefits: How Losing a Parent Can Change an Adult’s Life—For the Better, 2008, Basic ISBN 978-0-465-07211-8
- Cain’s Legacy: Liberating Siblings from a Lifetime of Rage, Shame, Secrecy, and Regret Basic ISBN 978-0-465-01940-3
- Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids (contributor) Picador ISBN 978-1-250-05293-3
- The Golden Condom and Other Essays on Love Lost and Found April 2016 Picador ISBN 978-1-250-05575-0