Joseph Berke

American born psychotherapist (1939–2021)

Joseph H. Berke, M. D., (January 17, 1939 – January 11, 2021) was an American–born psychotherapist, author and lecturer.

Joseph Berke studied at Columbia College of Columbia University and graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Berke moved to London in 1965 where he worked with R. D. Laing in the 1960s when the Philadelphia Association was being established. Berke was a resident at Kingsley Hall, where he helped Mary Barnes, a nurse who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, emerge from madness. Barnes later became an artist and writer. A stage play based on the book that Berke and Barnes wrote together (Mary Barnes: Two Accounts of a Journey Through Madness) was adapted as a stage play by David Edgar. A film adaptation of the book is currently under consideration. Berke collaborated on a number of projects with Laing, including the Dialectics of Liberation international conference in London, July 15–30, 1967, where he was the principal organizer. Berke worked as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist for individuals and families. He was the co founder of the Arbours Association in London in 1970, and the founder and director of the Arbours Crisis Centre (1973 2010) in London. He was the author of many articles and books on psychological, social, and religious themes. Berke died in London on January 11, 2021. A great part of Joseph Berke's estate is held at the PET Archives and Collections: Personal papers of Dr Joseph Berke including materials relating to the Institute of Phenomenological Studies, Research Committee on Cannabis, Fire Magazine and Arbours Association. Alongside these materials are the professional papers of Berke including notes for two publications 'Paranoia and Persecution' and 'Beyond Madness'. Within the collection is a series of correspondence regarding the Dialectics of Liberation Congress 1967.