Robert Karen

Robert Karen is a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York City and author of The Forgiving Self among other books. His cover stories on attachment and shame, both in The Atlantic, and his legendary book, Becoming Attached (first edition), have all been widely taught in psychology programs across the US and translated for readers abroad. "Shame" was also awarded the National Psychology Award for Excellence in the Media. In 2024 the 30th Anniversary revised edition of Becoming Attached, with twelve new chapters and numerous updates and revisions, was brought out by The Oxford University Press. Dr. Karen has written widely for mainstream media, including New York Magazine, The Nation, The Sunday News Magazine, The Yale Review, O (The Oprah Magazine), Mirabella, and Vogue, among others. His professional articles have appeared in Contemporary Psychoanalysis, The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Readings, The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, and The Psychoanalytic Review. He teaches on the faculty of the Postgraduate Program in Group Psychotherapy at Adelphi University.