Sheila Ernst

Sheila Hyah Sarah Ernst (25 July 1941 – 6 February 2015) was a British psychotherapist who helped to develop a radical feminist approach to group analysis.

Biography Ernst was born in London to Jewish parents from Palestine who trained as doctors and worked with children from concentration camps.

Ernst co-authored 'An Introduction to Groupwork' in 1999. This text book provides details of a process for establishing and conducting a group work for therapists or those supporting therapeutic groups, such as nurses, doctors and other professionals, in a variety of contexts. It does this by leading the group through exploring each member's experiences of groups, including the family. It seeks to uncover why things work as the do within groups, through the social, cultural and institutional dimensions within and outside of the group. It closed in 2019 because of a lack of funding. She worked with groups around the world including Russia, Northern Ireland and Israel. She help support groups in St. Petersburg, Russia where political suppression had its affects on the mind and personality. She was a consultant at the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture during a period of expansion at the centre.