FEMINIST THERAPY
It was found by women who had become aware of the pressures of patriarchy, sexism and male chauvinism that therapy and counselling were not exempt from these pressures. They discovered that they were put down in a number of subtle ways, and that all sorts of expectations about the female role and how it should be played were built in to the therapy process. So they started to set up their own therapy centres and their own network of therapists. In this way a feminist therapy started to come into being.
In the UK the Women's Therapy Centre was set up by Susie Orbach and Luise Eichenbaum, and they have published several books on their work. Many self-help groups were set up by women, and an excellent book came out about that too, written by Lucy Goodison and Sheila Ernst, showing how many of the methods which are described in the present booklet can be used for the benefit of women.
Sometimes women found that they needed to do some very basic things indeed - for example assertiveness training or consciousness raising - before even beginning to do any kind of deep therapy, simply because they had been deprived of the very basic independence training which men can take for granted. Rape crisis work, working with battered women and other emergency actions were also necessary.
When it comes to therapy proper, one of the key insights has been that "the personal is political". Feminist therapy helps the client differentiate between what she has been taught and has accepted as socially appropriate, and what may actually be appropriate for her as a woman, and as herself.
Three themes often come up in feminist therapy - anger, self-nurturance and autonomy. Women often turn their anger inwards, and may need a good deal of encouragement to direct it where it really belongs. Women are taught to nurture others, but may not be good at nurturing themselves. Women are taught cooperation and find networking very easy, but may need a lot of help to see out through their own eyes and ask "what do I need myself"? This question tends to arouse much anxiety and even guilt, and a feminist approach is necessary if women are to feel that these reactions are unnecessary. Group support very often supplements individual therapy.
Sometimes certain stages can be recognised: (1) Increasing self-awareness: (2) Acceptance of self-awareness: (3) Strengthening of self-acceptance: (4_ Developing the power to act: (5) Recognising societal restraints: (6) Accepting or combating societal restraints: (7) Acceptance of self and other women.
One of the main issues in feminist therapy is a woman's relation to her work. It is important to see that doing well at a job does not have to be a masculine act. The ability to make choices, and to sustain these choices, is hard-won but possible for many women.
BOOKLIST
Brodsky, A M & Hare-Mustin A (eds)(1980) Women and psychotherapy Guilford Press, New York. A compendium with a good chapter by L A Gilbert.
Brown, L & Liss-Levinson, N (1981) 'Feminist therapy' in R Corsini (ed) Handbook of innovative psychotherapies Wiley, New York. A helpful essay in an excellent book.
Chaplin, Jocelyn (1988) Feminist counselling in action Sage, London. Takes a Goddess-oriented look at the journey of initiation into and out of the labyrinth that is counselling.
Dutton-Douglas, Mary Ann & Walker, Lenore E A (eds)(1988) Feminist psychotherapies: Integration of therapeutic and feminist systems Ablex, Norwood. Very high standard of contributions.
Forisha, B (1981) 'Feminist therapy' in R Corsini (ed) Handbook of innovative psychotherapies Wiley, New York. Another good essay.
V Franks & V Burtle (eds) Women in therapy Brunner/Mazel, New York. A useful compendium.
Horney, Karen (1967) Feminine psychology Routledge, London. Some deep remarks from a pioneer.
E Howell & M Bayes (eds) Women and mental health Basic Books, New York. Contains some very interesting chapters.
McLellan, Betty (1995) Beyond psychoppression: A feminist alternative therapy Spinifex Press, North Melbourne. Brilliant and hardhitting. Good rundown on approaches.
Mowbray, C T, Lanir, S & Hulce, M (eds)(1985) Women and mental health Harrington Park Press, New York. Compendium with a chapter by J Israel.
Olivier, Christiane (1989) Jocasta's children Routledge, London. Brilliant critique of psychoanalysis from the inside.
Orbach, S & Eichenbaum, L (1985) Understanding women Penguin, London. Uses object relations theory to explain women's problems.
Rosewater, L B & Walker, L E A (1985) Handbook of feminist therapy Springer, New York. Not as good as the Dutton-Douglas book, but useful.
Wehr, Demaris (1988) Jung and feminism Routledge, London. A brilliant critique of Jung from the inside.
Previous Table of Contents Next 
Association for Humanistic Psychology