Molly Harrower
Encyclopedia
Molly Harrower was a pioneering clinical psychologist who devised a Rorschach test
for group therapy
. She published a classic article concerning the psychology of Nazi war criminals as determined by the Rorschach. Harrower developed a scale, based on a set of projective techniques, that effectively predicted which patients would profit from psychoanalytic treatment
.
near London and she was educated in England.
in 1928, she worked as a Girl Friday for the Cambridge scholar Charles Kay Ogden
. She briefly studied dance and painting in France but was persuaded to continue her education on a fellowship at Smith College
, Massachusetts
with the theorist Kurt Koffka
, a founder of Gestalt theory
. Working for Koffka, she obtained her Ph.D. in 1934 at a time when Smith had no Ph.D program.
for 3 years; 6 months with Kurt Goldstein
at the Montefiore Hospital in New York and the balance working with Wilder Penfield
at the Montreal Neurological Institute
. In the latter position, she worked on the psychological effects of the famous electrical brain stimulation research conducted by Penfield. There, she also began work developing a group Rorschach test. She developed her own set of inkblot cards to administer to groups of Canadian military recruits in World War II. Known as the Harrower Blots, the tests were used to help analyze personality traits through a subject's interpretation of a standard series of inkblot designs. She also refined diagnostic tests to measure tolerance for stress. She followed her first husband, neurosurgeon Theodore Erickson, to Madison, Wisconsin
, but the two divorced and she moved to New York and undertook a personal analysis.
, and the Unitarian-Universalist Church
. She helped develop a program of certification for practicing psychologists in the State of New York. Concerned with the effectiveness of her work, she combined her science and practice interests in a major study of the effectiveness of predictors of patient improvement with therapy. Upon the death of her second husband, she moved to Gainesville, Florida
in 1967 and served on the University of Florida
faculty until the age of 70.
Rorschach test
The Rorschach test is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning...
for group therapy
Group therapy
Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group...
. She published a classic article concerning the psychology of Nazi war criminals as determined by the Rorschach. Harrower developed a scale, based on a set of projective techniques, that effectively predicted which patients would profit from psychoanalytic treatment
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
.
Family background
Dr. Harrower was born as Mary Rachel Harrower in South Africa, the daughter of James Harrower and Ina White, while they were visiting. Her maternal grandfather John Forbes White http://www.dundee.ac.uk/umis/conf1998.htm#melville was one of Scotland's foremost art patrons and critics. Her parents, although originally from Scotland, settled in CheamCheam
Cheam is a large suburban village close to Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton, England, and is located close to the southern boundary between Greater London and Surrey. It is divided into two main areas: North Cheam and Cheam Village. North Cheam includes more retail shops and supermarkets,...
near London and she was educated in England.
Training and Early Career
After graduating in journalism and psychology from the Bedford College of the University of LondonUniversity of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
in 1928, she worked as a Girl Friday for the Cambridge scholar Charles Kay Ogden
Charles Kay Ogden
Charles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer. Described as a polymath but also an eccentric and outsider, he took part in many ventures related to literature, politics, the arts and philosophy, having a broad impact particularly as an editor, translator, and activist on...
. She briefly studied dance and painting in France but was persuaded to continue her education on a fellowship at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
with the theorist Kurt Koffka
Kurt Koffka
Kurt Koffka was a German psychologist. He was born and educated in Berlin and earned his PhD there in 1909 as a student of Carl Stumpf...
, a founder of Gestalt theory
Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology or gestaltism is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies...
. Working for Koffka, she obtained her Ph.D. in 1934 at a time when Smith had no Ph.D program.
Career in Research
She obtained a post-doctoral fellowship from the Rockefeller FoundationRockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
for 3 years; 6 months with Kurt Goldstein
Kurt Goldstein
Kurt Goldstein was a German Jewish neurologist and psychiatrist who was a pioneer in modern neuropsychology. He created a holistic theory of the organism based on Gestalt theory which deeply influenced the development of Gestalt therapy...
at the Montefiore Hospital in New York and the balance working with Wilder Penfield
Wilder Penfield
Wilder Graves Penfield, OM, CC, CMG, FRS was an American born Canadian neurosurgeon. During his life he was called "the greatest living Canadian"...
at the Montreal Neurological Institute
Montreal Neurological Institute
The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital is an academic medical centre dedicated to neuroscience research, training and clinical care. The Institute is part of McGill University and the Hospital is one of the five teaching hospitals of the McGill University Health Centre, in Montreal,...
. In the latter position, she worked on the psychological effects of the famous electrical brain stimulation research conducted by Penfield. There, she also began work developing a group Rorschach test. She developed her own set of inkblot cards to administer to groups of Canadian military recruits in World War II. Known as the Harrower Blots, the tests were used to help analyze personality traits through a subject's interpretation of a standard series of inkblot designs. She also refined diagnostic tests to measure tolerance for stress. She followed her first husband, neurosurgeon Theodore Erickson, to Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, but the two divorced and she moved to New York and undertook a personal analysis.
Career in Therapy
In New York in 1945 she opened what she believed to be “the first full-time practice of psychodiagnostics and consulting, later to include psychotherapy”. After 22 years, her private practice ended in 1966 with the illness of her second husband, businessman Mortimer Lahm. During her time in private practice she did diagnostic work-ups of over 1600 patients and developed a method of poetry therapy using poems to show how poets cope with the experiences that clients find disturbing. Dr. Harrower wrote poetry through much of her life and published several books of poetry. She also consulted widely for groups as diverse as the United States Army and Air Force, the U. S. State Department, the Children’s Court of Manhattan, the National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyNational Multiple Sclerosis Society
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, a United States-based non-profit organization, and its network of chapters nationwide promote research, educate, advocate on issues relating to multiple sclerosis, and organize a wide range of programs, including support for the newly diagnosed and those...
, and the Unitarian-Universalist Church
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...
. She helped develop a program of certification for practicing psychologists in the State of New York. Concerned with the effectiveness of her work, she combined her science and practice interests in a major study of the effectiveness of predictors of patient improvement with therapy. Upon the death of her second husband, she moved to Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
in 1967 and served on the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
faculty until the age of 70.
Publications
- Harrower M. (1946) "Time to squander, time to reap" New Bedford, MA: Reynolds Publishing.
- Harrower M. (1952) "Appraising Personality"
- Harrower M. (1958) Personality Change and Development
- Harrower M. (1962) The Practice of Clinical Psychology
- Harrower, M. (1965) "Psychodiagnostic testing: An empirical approach.", Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
- Harrower M. (1971 Rev.) The Psychologist at Work
- Harrower M. (1972) "The Therapy of Poetry" Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
- Harrower M. (1978) "Changing horses in mid-stream: An experimentalist becomes a clinician." In T. S. Krawiec (Ed.), The psychologists: Autobiographies of distinguished living psychologists Vol. 3(pp. 85–104). Brandon, T: Clinical Psychology Publishing.
- Harrower M. (1983) "Kurt Koffka: an unwitting self-portrait." Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press.
- Harrower M., Bowers D. (1987) The Inside Story: Self-Evaluations Reflecting Basic Rorschach Types
- Harrower M. (1991) "Inkblots and poems." In C. E. Walker (Ed.) The history of clinical psychology in autobiography Vol. 1 (pp. 125–169). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
- Eric A. Zillmer, Molly Harrower, Barry A. Ritzler, Robert P. Arche (1995) The Quest for the Nazi Personality: A Psychological Investigation of Nazi War Criminals.
External links
- http://www.psych.yorku.ca/femhop/Molly%20Harrower.htm Molly Harrower (1906–1999): Lover of Life
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E2D6153CF93BA15751C0A96F958260&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Molly Harrower, 93, Expert on Rorschach Test
- http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00006059 Interview with Molly Harrower Nov 26 1982. Samuel Proctor Oral History Project - University of Florida.