GERSHEN KAUFMAN was educated at Columbia University and received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Rochester. He is now professor emeritus, Counseling Center and Psychology Department, at Michigan State University. For thirty-six years he was actively engaged there in providing psychotherapeutic services to university students; consultation to university faculty and staff; clinical supervision and training to psychology practicum students and interns; research supervision to graduate students; and teaching a course on Affect and Self-Esteem in the Psychology Department. Kaufman also maintained a private practice as a licensed psychologist until 2010, where he treated a broad range of clientele in psychotherapy.

A pioneer in the study of shame, Kaufman is the author of The Psychology of Shame: Theory and Treatment of Shame-Based Syndromes, Second Edition (Springer Publishing Co., 1996) and Shame: The Power of Caring, Third Edition (Schenkman Books, 1992). He is the coauthor with Lev Raphael of Stick Up For Yourself! Every Kid’s Guide to Personal Power and Positive Self-Esteem, Third Edition (Free Spirit Publishing, 2019); A Teacher’s Guide to Stick Up For Yourself, Third Edition (Free Spirit Publishing, 2019); Coming Out of Shame: Transforming Gay and Lesbian Lives (Doubleday, 1996); and Dynamics of Power: Fighting Shame and Building Self-Esteem, Second Edition (Schenkman Books, 1991).

Kaufman has been widely in demand as a lecturer over the past forty years throughout the United States, Canada, Israel, and England. He has lectured as well as conducted seminars and workshops on the role of shame in personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy; on shame and self-esteem; and on the significance of shame for gender, culture, and society. He has lectured at universities, medical centers, teaching hospitals, meetings of the American Psychiatric Association, state Psychological Association meetings, state Social Workers Association meetings, addiction treatment centers, and numerous conferences. Kaufman has also presented to many professional and lay groups an innovative self-esteem curriculum that can be implemented either in clinical or educational settings.