Contents

George Weinberg (psychologist)

George Weinberg (May 17, 1929 – March 20, 2017) was a Jewish-American psychologist. He was the author of several books. He coined the term "homophobia" in the 1960s, it first appearing in the press in 1969.

Early life[edit]

George Weinberg was born on May 17, 1929, to a Jewish family.^[1] His father, Frederick Weinberg, was a lawyer while his mother, Lillian Hyman, was a secretary for a law firm.^[1] He grew up without his father in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.^[1]

Weinberg graduated from City College of New York, and went on to earn a master's degree in English from New York University in 1951, where he also studied statistics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.^[1] He subsequently earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Columbia University.^[1] Weinberg's extensive background in mathematics was reflected in his doctoral thesis, "Clinical versus Statistical Prediction in Psychology", and he later wrote the textbook, Statistics, An Intuitive Approach.^[1]

Career[edit]

Weinberg coined the term "homophobia". He began contemplating it after remembering having witnessed abhorrence towards a lesbian friend while preparing to deliver a speech in 1965.^[1][2] The word was first printed in Screw on May 5, 1969, followed by Time a few months later.^[1] Gay Times stated after his death in 2017 that he invented it in 1965.^[3] By 1972, Weinberg explained the use of term in Society and the Healthy Homosexual. He suggested that those who harbor prejudice against homosexuals, and not homosexuals themselves, are suffering from a psychological malady, an irrational state of mind^{[citation needed]}. Weinberg, though heterosexual himself, became a leader in the (successful) campaign to have homosexuality removed as a diagnostic category from the DSM, the professional therapeutic handbook. He was instrumental in shifting public perception of homosexuality.^[2]

Weinberg's widely read, seminal 1984 book, The Heart of Psychotherapy, described innovative therapeutic methods that de-emphasize traditional therapy's approach.^[4] He instead presented immediately practical tools that patients can use to help themselves.^[4]

Personal life and death[edit]

Weinberg was married to Dianne Rowe,^[1][3] with whom he collaborated. He died of cancer on March 20, 2017.^[1][3]

Bibliography[edit]

• The Action Approach. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1969. First printing, July, 1970
• The Heart of Psychotherapy: A Journey into the Mind and Office of a Therapist at Work. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984, reprinted 1996.
• Invisible Masters: Compulsions and the Fear that Drives Them. New York: Grove/Atlantic Press, 1993.
• Nearer to the Heart's Desire. New York. Grove/Atlantic Press, 1992.
• Numberland. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987.
• The Pliant Animal: Understanding the Greatest Human Asset. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981.
• Self Creation. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978.
• Shakespeare on Love. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.
• Society and the Healthy Homosexual. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1972, reprinted 1983.
• Statistics: An Intuitive Approach. Belmont, California: Brook's/Cole, fourth printing, 1981.
• The Taboo Scarf. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990.
• Why Men Won't Commit: Getting what you Both Want Without Playing Games. New York: Atria Books, 2003.

Collaborations with Dianne Rowe[edit]

• The Projection Principle. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988.
• Will Power! Using Shakespeare's Insights to Transform Your Life. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website