A passionate concern for social justice was a prime motivation for the work of the psychologist and psychotherapist Josephine Klein, who has died aged 92. It was the basis for what she achieved as a researcher and writer, in addition to her practice.
Born in Dusseldorf to secular Jewish parents, a German father and a Dutch mother, the family lived in Amsterdam at the time of the Nazi invasion. Pro bably her memories of the traumatic ordeals the family experienced in escaping by boat from Holland four days after the invasion led to many of her initiatives, not least the founding in 1999 of the Refugee Therapy Centre in north London, which offered a course for refugees to become counsellors. While many of her relatives who had not fled failed to survive, she never wanted to be labelled a ‘survivor’ herself.
Once they had reached the English coast, after being rescued by HMS Malcolm, the Royal Navy destroyer, the family were semi-conscious and taken to a hospital in Maidstone. On their recovery, the Kleins planned to emigrate to America but were prevented by visa problems. They subsequently settled in Chester, where Josephine attended the Queen’s school and was offered a scholarship to study at London University, where she took two courses simultaneously, gaining a BA in French at University College and a first class in Sociology at LSE.
She gained her PhD at Birmingham University, and became a social studies lecturer there from 1949 till 1962. She was a research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, for three years and subsequently a reader in social relations at Sussex University for five years until 1970. She founded a ground-breaking course on youth and community work at Goldsmiths’ College and worked as course director for the next four years. She managed to appear non-judgemental and retain her independence of thought in the face of orthodoxy and resistance to change.
In the course of her studies she had published several books. The Study of Groups and Working with Groups offered a practical guide for change in youth and community work and in psychotherapy. A later book, Samples from English Cultures analysed post-war social changes and the upbringing of children. While living in Brighton during the mid-1960s, she had set up the Archway Venture, offering shelter and support initially to mods, rockers, hippies, beatniks and flower people, and later to children escaping physical and sexual abuse. She was dubbed “The Arch Angel” by beneficiaries of the Archway project, no doubt due to her rare ability to analyse which methods helped the vulnerable most.
In the early 1970s she trained as a psychanalytic psychotherapist and brought out some more books: Our Need for Others and Its Roots in Infancy (1987); Doubts and Certainties in the Practice of Psychotherapy; (1995) and in 2003, Jacob’s Ladder: An approach to Mysticism.
These books synthesised approaches previously regarded as incompatible, introducing new ways of working with patients, helping practitioners to better understand their needs. Significantly her approach diverged from many current conventions in work with youth and communities and psychotherapy.
Josephine lived in an 18th-century terraced house near Waterloo and for 30 years she offered private therapy to many patients and trained many psychotherapists. Even after retiring, she continued to supervise trainee psychotherapists.
After her last session of the day she would listen to Handel and Bach in the Purcell Room. She also enjoyed walking in the countryside, admiring the beautiful fuchsias in her garden and embracing her pet cat.
Her abiding memory was the kindness of the sea captain who had rescued the Kleins in 1940. It symbolised the British tradition of providing refuge for those in need – something she sought to celebrate .Her wisdom and warmth and her ability to share the highs and lows in other people’s lives were greatly respected and valued by friends and colleagues. She is survived by two nieces and a nephew.
Emma Klein
Josphine Klein: born October 17, 1926. Died November 13, 2018.
