Nathaniel Branden

Who is he: Dr. Nathaniel Branden is a practicing psychotherapist in Los Angeles and also does corporate consulting. Dr. Branden offers workshops, seminars and conferences on applying self-esteem principles to the problems of modern business. He addresses the relationship between self-esteem and such issues as leadership, effective communication and managing change. Dr. Branden has a Ph.D. in psychology and a background in philosophy and has written 20 books, which have been translated into 18 languages.

More than 4 million copies of Dr. Branden's books are in print, including the classic The Psychology of Self-Esteem, originally published in 1969. In it, Dr. Branden explains the need for self-esteem, the nature of that need, and how self-esteem – or lack of it – affects our values, responses and goals.

Nathaniel Branden's many books include Honoring the Self, The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, The Art of Living Consciously, and a personal memoir, My Years with Ayn Rand. Many of Dr. Branden's books have been translated into foreign languages. Branden's most recent book, Self-Esteem at Work, deals with the application of his work in the field of self-esteem to the challenges of business in an information age economy. More information is available on the official Nathaniel Branden website.

Background: Nathaniel Branden was born in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and in 1958 established the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI) to support Randism from a psychological perspective. Nathaniel had both a professional and personal relationship with Ayn Rand. This came to an end in May 1968 when Rand and Branden's romantic relationship terminated following his decision to move on. Subsequently, Rand declared he would no longer be her heir. Rand even went so far as to remove Dr. Branden from the dedication page of Atlas Shrugged, her most famous novel. The motivation for Rand's behavior was not entirely philosophical or intellectual.

Dr. Branden did not let the schism affect him professionally and continued his work. Branden explains his work as follows: "...The establishment of Wilhelm Wundt's experimental laboratory in 1879 is often regarded as the formal beginning of scientific psychology. But when one considers the views of man and the theories of his nature that have been put forth as knowledge in the past hundred years, it remains a moot question whether the starting date of the science of psychology lies behind us – or ahead."

Dr. Branden has forged a worldwide reputation with his work on self-esteem and its necessity for successful living. By focusing on a fundamental building block of individual character, Nathaniel clarified larger issues of psychological health. Branden's work has had an impact on others in the field and several of his texts are standard reading in wider venues.

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