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Les GreenbergCanadian psychologist originally from South Africa
Date of Birth: 30.09.1945
Country:  Canada |
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Biography of Les Greenberg
Les Greenberg, a Canadian psychologist originally from South Africa, is one of the initiators and primary developers of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) for individual, couples, and family approaches. Leslie Samuel Greenberg was born on September 30, 1945, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a distinguished professor of psychology at York University in Toronto and the director of the Emotion-Focused Therapy Clinic. His research addresses topics related to empathy, therapeutic processes, therapeutic alliance, and emotions in human functioning.
Early Career and Education
Leslie studied engineering and worked as an engineer before earning a Ph.D. in psychology from York University in 1975. With the support of his mentor, Laura North Rice, who studied with Carl Rogers at the University of Chicago, Greenberg began researching therapeutic processes, attempting to create a mathematical model of interaction between therapist and client using task analysis techniques.
Early in his career, Leslie was influenced by the neo-Piagetian constructivist model of intelligence developed by Juan Pascual-Leone. He obtained his first academic position at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Counseling Psychology. In 1981, he completed postdoctoral training at the Mental Research Institute in California. Initially trained in client-centered therapy, Leslie later encountered gestalt therapy and was exposed to many other approaches, including systemic-interactional, psychodynamic, and cognitive therapies. He returned to York University in 1986, where he became a professor of psychology.
Contributions and Recognition
Greenberg has published numerous articles and co-authored major books on Emotion-Focused Therapy. He became one of the founders of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI). Leslie served as the president of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR), receiving the Career Research Award in 2004. The Canadian Psychological Association awarded him the Professional Award for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology. Additionally, the American Psychological Association recognized Leslie for his professional contributions to applied research. He was also awarded the Carl Rogers Award.
Leslie has served on the editorial boards of several psychotherapy journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology, Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, and Journal of Family Psychology. He has also contributed to the development of journals such as the Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, and Psychotherapy Research.
