The daughter of a philosopher and feminist mother, Karen I. Margulies-Green focuses her career on women’s issues and achievements. She served as a private practice psychotherapist at Green Associates in Washington, DC, beginning in 1968, which she maintained for over 50 years until July 2019, and has also worked as a private practice clinical psychologist in Washington since 1972. During this time, Ms. Margulies-Green served as an English teacher at the Maryland School of Art and Design in Wheaton in 1980. Pursuing a role as a psychology consultant, she consulted for Providence Hospital from 1981 to 1982, New Ventures, Inc., in Bowie, Maryland, in 1984, Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, in 1985, Behavioral Factors, Inc., from 1986 to 1989 and Associated Health Practitioners from 1987 to 1990. More recently, she has worked as a literature professor at the University of the District of Columbia since 1991, also serving as an adjunct literature professor from 1967 to 1968. In addition to this tenure, she was a psychology consultant for the Public Defender Service of Washington and research psychologist for the President’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography from 1968 to 1970.
Prior to the start of her professional career, Ms. Margulies-Green’s parents divorced in their early 50s, after which her mother married a Frenchman and her father also remarried. There was a lot of conflict and difficulty, but she learned French and the cultural differences. She did things for the World Bank and people in the foreign services because she understands what it’s like to live in a country where people don’t speak any English or French. Ms. Margulies-Green pursued a formal education at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, earning a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, with distinction, in 1959. She then matriculated at Boston University, where she received a Master of Arts in 1960 and completed postgraduate coursework between 1960 and 1963. She went on to attain an additional Master of Arts in literature from American University in 1973. She is also a licensed psychologist in the District of Columbia.
A prolific writer, Ms. Margulies-Green wrote one play, “These Dead Ladies Are My Friends,” in 1983, which won a playwriting contest that same year, and directed two plays, “Songs We’ve Never Sung” in 1984 and “Where Has Love Gone” in 1985. Following this, she published two short stories, “Repetition” in 1990 and “Late Night Blossoms” in 2001, as well as her first poetry chapter book, “Bloodlines.” Likewise, she has contributed numerous articles to professional journals, and short stories and poems to anthologies, including “Ophelia’s Mom: Women Speak Out About Loving and Letting Go of Their Adolescent Daughters” in 2001. In recognition of her written work, Ms. Margulies-Green won the Editor’s Choice Award and the Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award from the National Library of Poetry in 1996. Another major highlight of her career was receiving a call from The New York Times, which wanted to publish her in its Sunday book review because they thought her book was authentic.
Outside of her primary trade, Ms. Margulies-Green maintains involvement with various organizations related to her field. She is an associate member of the American Psychological Association, and joined the Academy of American Poets in Washington in 2019. Moreover, Ms. Margulies-Green is active with the International Council of Psychologists, the District of Columbia Psychological Association, the National Register of Health Service Providers and Phi Beta Kappa. She also attended a seminar in Boston with Fritz Perls, which was fascinating because of the way he dealt and connected with people.
In light of her accomplishments, Ms. Margulies-Green was selected for inclusion in the 47th and 63rd editions of Who’s Who in America. Today, she is the proud mother of two wonderful children, Garth Lorin and Allison Dawne, as well as a loving grandmother to two grandsons, Simon and Alexander. She enjoys a variety of activities in her spare time such as flamenco and Greek oriental dancing, writing, acting, swimming, listening to jazz and the arts.
