| Nathaniel Branden | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 9, 1930 Brampton, Ontario |
| Occupation | Psychotherapist |
| Known for | Founder of self-esteem movement in psychology, former associate of Ayn Rand |
Nathaniel Branden (born 9 April 1930) is a Canadian psychotherapist and writer known for his work in the psychology of self-esteem. A former associate and one-time romantic partner of novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand, Branden also played a prominent role in the 1960s in promoting Rand's philosophy, Objectivism. Rand and Branden split acrimoniously in 1968, after which Branden focused on developing his own psychological theory and mode of therapy.
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Nathaniel Branden was born Nathan Blumenthal in Brampton, Ontario, and grew up alongside three sisters, two older and one younger.[1]
A gifted student, he became impatient with his studies during his first year of high school and skipped school often in favor of the library. After getting failing grades as a result, he convinced his mother to send him to a special accelerated high school for adults, and subsequently did well in that environment.[2]
After graduating from high school, Branden went on to earn his BA in psychology from the University of California Los Angeles, an MA from New York University,[3] and in 1973, a Ph.D. in psychology from the California Graduate Institute (CGI).[4][5]
After reading The Fountainhead and exchanging letters and phone calls with Ayn Rand, Branden and his then girlfriend Barbara Weidman visited Rand and her husband Frank O’Connor at their Los Angeles home in 1950, and the four became fast friends, with Branden and Rand in particular sharing a vivid interest in philosophical explorations and development.[6]
After the publication of Rand’s most explicitly philosophical novel, Atlas Shrugged, and sensing an interest on the part of Rand’s readers in further philosophic education, Branden created in 1958 the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI) to disseminate Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, by offering live and taped lecture courses by Rand, Branden, and a variety of other Objectivist intellectuals (including Alan Greenspan, whom Branden had brought into Rand’s fold). During this time Branden also contributed articles to Rand’s newsletters on subjects ranging from economics to politics to psychology.[7]
NBI expanded considerably over the course of its existence, ultimately offering courses in 80 cities and establishing an office in the Empire State Building.[8] Then, in 1968, Rand publicly broke with Branden and published an article denouncing him and accusing him of a variety of offenses, such as philosophic irrationality and unresolved psychological problems.[9] Branden, in response, sent out a letter to the NBI mailing list, suggesting that the actual cause of Rand’s denunciation of him was her inability to accept his unwillingness to engage in a romantic relationship with her.[10] (Branden later explained in his memoir that he and Rand had in fact been romantically intimate for a period of time in the late 1950s; see personal life.)
After the break, Branden went on to publish The Psychology of Self Esteem (many chapters of which he had published originally in Rand’s newsletter), and then to develop his theory and mode of therapy more independently of Rand’s influence. Though he remained supportive of the broad essentials of Rand’s philosophy, he eventually offered criticisms of aspects of her work, naming as problems her tendency to encourage emotional repression and moralizing, her failure to understand psychology beyond its cognitive aspects, and her failure to appreciate adequately the importance of kindness in human relationships.[11]
Branden argues that self esteem is a human psychological need and that to the extent this need remains unmet, pathology (defensiveness, anxiety, depression, difficulty in relationships, etc.) tends to occur.[12] He defines self esteem formally as “the disposition to experience oneself as competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and as worthy of happiness,”[13] and proposes that, while others (parents, teachers, friends) can nurture and support self esteem in an individual, self esteem also relies upon various internally generated practices. These consist of self-acceptance, living consciously, self-responsibility, living purposefully, self-assertiveness, and personal integrity.[14]
Branden distinguishes his approach to self esteem from that of many others by his inclusion of both confidence and worth in his definition of self esteem, and by his emphasis on the importance of internally generated practices for the improvement and maintenance of self esteem. For this reason, he has at times expressed lack of enthusiasm about the teachings of the “self esteem movement”,[15] which he is sometimes credited with having spawned. (He has been referred to as “the father of the self esteem movement.”[16])
While Branden began his practice of therapy as, primarily, a cognitivist,[17] starting in the 1970s he rapidly shifted toward a decidedly technically eclectic stance, utilizing techniques from gestalt therapy, psychodrama, neo-Reichian breathwork, Ericksonian hypnosis, etc., as well as original techniques such as his sentence completion method, which he favored. In a piece from 1973, he characterized his mode of therapy as consisting of four aspects: education, emotional unblocking, stimulation of insight, and encouragement of behavior change. In contrast to the exclusively experiential or exclusively cognitive (insight-oriented) methods of the day, Branden saw aspects of his mode of therapy as distinguished in part by “the integration of the emotional and the cognitive, the practice of constantly moving back and forth between the experiential and the conceptual.” [18]
Sentence completion, a method that figures prominently in Branden’s mode of therapy, is a good example of this back and forth practice. In its most common variation, it consists of a therapist giving a client an incomplete sentence — a sentence stem — and having the client repeat the sentence stem over and over, each time adding a new ending, going quickly, without thinking or censoring, and inventing endings when stuck. In this way, a therapist can facilitate the generation of awareness and insight (for example, with a stem such as, “If my fear could speak, it might say—”), as well as shifts in cognitive-motivational structures (for example, with a stem such as, “If I were to be kinder to myself when I’m afraid—”). By improvising a succession of such stems, many based on endings generated by a previous stem, a therapist can, according to Branden’s statements and anecdotes, lead a client on a sometimes dramatically emotional journey of self exploration and self discovery.[19]
More recently, Branden has integrated techniques from the field of energy psychology, such as Thought Field Therapy and Seemorg Matrix work, into his practice, viewing psychological trauma (which such techniques target) as a significant barrier to growth and development. He has described human problems as occurring both “above the line” — that is, in the realm of cognition and volitional behavior — and “below the line” — that is, in the realm of unconscious trauma stored in the body.[20]
Branden married Barbara Wiedman in 1953, with close friends Ayn Rand and Rand’s husband Frank O’Connor in attendance. Branden would later state the marriage was unwise, and troubled from the beginning.[21] In the context of these troubles, and Rand’s reported frustrations in her own marriage, Branden and Rand — who had a passionate philosophic bond — developed amorous feelings for each other, and, with the reluctant permission of their spouses, began a love affair in 1954.[22][23] The affair lasted until the publication of Atlas Shrugged in 1957, after which, according to Branden, Rand became depressed, and the affair, practically speaking, ended.[24]
Branden reports that Rand remained psychologically dependent on him after this period, and eventually began pushing for a resumption of their affair; his own marriage, meanwhile, was deteriorating, although he and Barbara were becoming closer as friends.[25] Branden then met and fell in love with a student at NBI, Patrecia Scott. The two began an affair in 1964, shortly after which Nathaniel separated from Barbara and informed her of the affair.[26] He (and Barbara) kept the affair secret from Rand, though, fearing an explosion.[27] In 1968, Rand learned of the affair, and, in response, violently condemned both Brandens, dissociated herself from them, and denounced them publicly.[28][29]
Branden at this point moved to California with Patrecia, the two married in 1969, and they lived together happily for seven years.[30] In 1977, Patrecia died in a freak drowning accident, falling into a pool after presumably suffering a mild epileptic seizure.[31] After a period of mourning, Branden married businesswoman (and later psychotherapist) Estelle Devers. The two later divorced, though remained good friends.[32] Branden subsequently married Leigh Horton, with whom he lives currently.[33]
Branden's books have been translated into 18 languages, with more than 4 million copies in print. In addition, Branden contributed essays to two of Rand's essay collections, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal and The Virtue of Selfishness.