Happy Women’s History Month

Happy March and Happy Women’s History Month! In a time of legal battles over women’s rights to make medical decisions over their body, it can feel awfully precarious to be a woman. This month is to celebrate women’s contributions to history. As a psychologist, I want to use my platform to celebrate the women that came before me in this field.

Anna Freud expanded upon her father’s ideas about psychology and gave us the foundation for children’s development.

Mary Whiton Calkins was the first woman to study psychology at Harvard University and the first female president of the APA.

If you’ve heard about attachment styles, you can thank Mary Ainsworth for her research on mother-child attachment and the strange situation.

Dr. Inez Prosser was the first Black woman to earn her doctoral degree in psychology and taught at HBCUs.

Dr. Beverly Greene gave us the understanding of intersectionality when it comes to individuals with multiple marginalized identities.

To the women above, to the women I did not mention, to the women prioritizing themselves and their mental health in the midst of current sociopolitical attack: Happy Women’s History Month. Strong women: May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.

Until next time,
Dr. Riojas