APF At Home: Fireside Chat with Lenore E.A. Walker, EdD, ABPP

Lenore E.A. Walker, EdD, ABPP, is a 2023 recipient of the American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal Award for Impact in Psychology. She is joined by APF Trustee Dr. Dorothy Canto for this Fireside chat.

Dr. Walker was awarded this honor in recognition of her ground-breaking work with a particularly vulnerable population which she named Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS). Dr. Lenore Walker’s work has had a transformational impact in psychology, in the courts, in public policy, and in the lives of countless women over a period of more than 40 years. BWS is accepted as a criminal defense in federal court and all state courts and may be raised as “state of mind” for damages in personal injury cases and in family courts. The central tenet of Dr. Walker’s contributions is that the victims of trauma from familial and intimate partner violence, abuse, and degradation, all share a common need for effective and specific mental health treatment. Her work has impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of abused women and their families and continues to be used and expanded upon today.