FEMINIST THERAPY
Some Contemporary Feminist Therapists
JEAN BAKER MILLER, MD (1928–2006)
● Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and Director of
the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Stone Center, Wellesley College
● She wrote Toward a New Psychology of Women and co-authored The Healing
Connection: How Women Form Relationships in Therapy and in Life and Women’s
Growth in Connection.
● collaborated with diverse groups of scholars and colleagues on the development of
relational–cultural theory
CAROLYN ZERBE ENNS, PhD
● Professor of Psychology and an active participant in the Women’s Studies program at
Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa
● devotes much of her work to exploring the profound impact that feminist theory has on
the manner in which therapists implement therapeutic practices, and she discusses this
impact in Feminist Theories and Feminist Psychotherapies: Origins, Themes, and
Diversity (2004)
● Her most recent efforts are directed towardes at San Diego State University and core
faculty at the California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego.
● Espin has published on psychotherapy with Latinas, women immigrants and refugees,
the sexuality of Latinas, language in therapy with fluent bilinguals, and training
clinicians to work with multicultural populations.
LAURA S. BROWN, PhD
● founding member of the Feminist Therapy Institute, an organization dedicated to the
support of advanced practice in feminist therapy, and a member of the theory
workgroup at the National Conference on Education and Training in Feminist Practice.
● written several books considered core to feminist practice in psychotherapy and
counseling, and Subversive Dialogues: Theory in Feminist Therapy (1994) is considered
by many to be the foundation book addressing how theory informs practice in feminist
therapy.
INTRODUCTION
● Feminist therapy is built on the premise that it is essential to consider the social, cultural,
and political context that contributes to a person’s problems in order to understand that
person.
● A central concept in feminist therapy is the importance of understanding and
acknowledging the psychological oppression of women and the constraints imposed by
the sociopolitical status to which women have been relegated.
● The socialization of women inevitably affects their identity development, self-concept,
goals and aspirations, and emotional wellbeing
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FEMINIST THERAPY
Natalie Rogers (1995) has observed, socialization patterns tend to result in
women giving away their power in relationships, often without being aware of it
The majority of clients in counseling are women, and the majority of psychotherapy
practitioners at the master’s level are women.
Theories are developed from the experiences of the “developer,” and feminist theory is
the first therapeutic theory intervention proposal from the perspective of a female
“lens.”
Early feminist therapy efforts focused on valuing women’s experiences, on political
realities, and on advocacy for the unique issues facing women within a patriarchal
system.
Today’s feminists believe that gender cannot be effectively considered apart from other
identities related to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and sexual orientation
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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
● No single individual can be identified as the founder of this approach, reflecting a
central theme of feminism collaboration.
● the beginnings of feminism can be traced to the late 1800s, it is really the women’s
movement of the 1960s that laid the foundation for the development of feminist therapy
○ 1960s was a time when women began uniting their voices to express their
dissatisfaction with the limiting and confining nature of traditional female roles.
● A sisterhood developed, and some of the services that evolved from women’s collective
desires to improve society included shelters for battered women, rape crisis centers, and
women’s health and reproductive health centers.
● Changes in psychotherapy occurred when women therapists participated in
consciousness-raising groups and were changed by their experiences.
● A profusion of research on gender-bias emerged in the 1970s, which helped further
feminist therapy ideas, and formal organizations began to foster the development and
defining of feminist therapy
○ Association for Women in Psychology (AWP)
● The 1980s were marked by efforts to define feminist therapy as an entity in its own right
(Enns, 1993), and individual therapy was the most frequently practiced form of feminist
therapy
○ Feminist therapists began to formally examine the relationship of feminist theory
to traditional psychotherapy systems, and integrations with various existing
systems were proposed.
● By the 1980s feminist group therapy had changed dramatically, becoming more diverse
as it focused increasingly on specifi c problems and issues such as body image, abusive
relationships, eating disorders, incest, and other sexual abuse
● Enns (1993, 2004; Enns & Sinacore, 2001) identified four enduring feminist philosophies,
which are often described as the “second wave” of feminism: liberal, cultural, radical,
and socialist feminism.
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FEMINIST THERAPY
1) Liberal feminists: focus on helping individual women overcome the limits and
constraints of traditional gender-role socialization patterns
○ argue for a transformation from accepting traditional gender roles to
creating equal opportunities for both women and men
○ These feminists tend to believe the differences between women and men
will be less problematic as work and social environments become more
bias-free.
○ The major goals of therapy include personal empowerment of individual
women, dignity, self-fulfillment, shared power in decision making in
relationships, and equality.
○ Another key goal is to eliminate psychotherapy practices that have
supported traditional socialization and are based on biased views about
women and men
2) Cultural feminists: believe oppression stems from society’s devaluation of
women’s strength, values, and roles.
○ believed the solution to oppression lies in feminization of the culture so
that society becomes more nurturing, intuitive, subjective, cooperative,
and relational.
○ The major goal of therapy is social transformation through the infusion of
feminine values (such as cooperation, altruism, and connectedness) into
the culture.
3) Radical feminists: focus on the oppression of women that is embedded in
patriarchy and seek to change society through activism and equalizing power.
○ They challenge the many ways that women are denied power.
○ The major goals are to transform gender relationships, transform societal
institutions, and increase women’s sexual and procreative
self-determination.
4) Socialist feminists: share with radical feminists the goal of societal change.
However, in that they focus on multiple oppressions and believe solutions to
society’s problems must include considerations of class, race, sexual orientation,
economics, nationality, and history.
○ The major goal of therapy is to transform social relationships and
institutions.
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Enns (2004) states that this “third wave” of feminism embraces diversity with its
inclusion of women of color, lesbians, and the postmodern and constructivist viewpoints
espoused by many of the most recent generation of feminist women
1) Postmodern feminists: provide a model for critiquing the value of other
traditional and feminist approaches, addressing the issue of what constitutes
reality and proposing multiple truths as opposed to a single truth.
○ This approach calls attention to the limitation of knowledge and the
fallibility of “knowers.”
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FEMINIST THERAPY
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2) Women of color feminists: believe it is essential that feminist theory be
broadened and made more inclusive
○ They challenge feminist theory to include an analysis of multiple
oppressions, an assessment of access to privilege and power, and to
emphasize activism.
3) Lesbian feminists: share commonalities with many aspects of radical feminism.
Both perspectives view women’s oppression as related to sexualized images of
women.
○ This perspective calls for feminist theory to include an analysis of
multiple identities and their relationship to oppression and to recognize
the diversity that exists among lesbians.
4) Global international feminists: take a worldwide perspective and seek to
understand the ways in which racism, sexism, economics, and classism affect
women in different countries
○ Global feminists assume that each woman lives under unique systems of
oppression.
○ They see a need to address those cultural differences that directly
contribute to women’s oppression.
It is clear that there is no single, unifi ed feminist theory. Rather, a variety of feminist
theories provide a range of different but overlapping perspectives
Feminist therapists believe that understanding and confronting gender-role stereotypes
and power are central to therapeutic practice and that addressing a client’s problems
requires adopting a sociocultural perspective: namely, understanding the impact of the
society and culture in which a client lives.
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
● Men were assumed to be the norm and the only group studied or understood; women
were often dismissed as “probably similar to men.”
● Worell and Remer (2003) are critical of traditional theories for being:
1) androcentric (using male oriented constructs to draw conclusions about human,
including female, nature),
2) gendercentric (proposing two separate paths of development for women and
men),
3) heterosexist (viewing a heterosexual orientation as normative and desirable and
devaluing lesbian, gay male, and bisexual orientation)
4) deterministic (assuming that personality patterns and behavior are fixed at an
early stage of development),
5) and having an intrapsychic orientation (attributing behavior to internal causes,
which often results in blaming the victim and ignoring sociocultural and political
factors)
● Worell and Remer (2003) describe the constructs of feminist theory as being gender-fair,
flexible–multicultural, interactionist, and life-span-oriented.
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FEMINIST THERAPY
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Gender-fair approaches explain differences in the behavior of women and men
in terms of socialization processes rather than on the basis of our “innate”
natures, thus avoiding stereotypes in social roles and interpersonal behavior.
Flexible–multicultural perspective uses concepts and strategies that apply
equally to individuals and groups regardless of age, race, culture, gender, ability,
class, or sexual orientation
Interactionist view contains concepts specific to the thinking, feeling, and
behaving dimensions of human experience and accounts for contextual and
environmental factors
life-span perspective assumes that human development is a lifelong process and
that personality patterns and behavioral changes can occur at any time rather
than being fixed during early childhood.
FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE ON PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
● Feminist therapists emphasize that societal gender-role expectations profoundly
influence a person’s identity from the moment of birth and become deeply ingrained in
adult personality
● As a result of her studies on women’s moral and psychosocial development, Gilligan
came to believe women’s sense of self and morality is based on issues of responsibility
and care for other people and is embedded in a cultural context.
○ The concepts of connectedness and interdependence—virtually ignored in male
dominated developmental theories—are central to women’s development.
● In feminist therapy women’s relational qualities are seen as strengths and as pathways
for healthy growth and development instead of being identified as weaknesses or
defects.
● The founding scholars of relational-cultural theory have elaborated on the vital role that
relationships and connectedness with others play in the lives of women
○ These scholars suggest that a woman’s sense of identity and self-concept develop
in the context of relationships.
● Surrey (1991) believes the mutually empathic mother–daughter relationship is a crucial
model for other relationships, including therapeutic relationships
● Kaschak (1992) used the term engendered lives to describe her belief that gender is the
organizing principle in people’s lives.
● Because women occupy a subordinate position, to survive they must be able to interpret
the needs and behaviors of the dominant group
○ women have developed “women’s intuition” and have included in their gender
schema an internalized belief that women are less important than men
● Feminist therapists remind us that traditional gender stereotypes of women are still
prevalent in our cultures.
○ They teach their clients that uncritical acceptance of traditional roles can greatly
restrict their range of freedom
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FEMINIST THERAPY
PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST THERAPY
1) The personal is political.
○ based on the assumption that the personal or individual problems that
individuals bring to counseling originate in a political and social context.
○ core of feminist therapy: Acknowledgment of the political and societal impact on
an individual’s life
2) Commitment to social change
○ Feminists view their therapy practice as existing not only to help individual
clients in their struggles but also to advance a transformation in society.
○ The goal is to advance a different vision of societal organization that frees both
women and men from the constraints imposed by gender-role expectations to
promote individual change.
○ Social Activism
3) Women’s and girl’s voices and ways of knowing are valued and their experiences are
honored.
○ A goal of feminist therapy is to replace patriarchal “objective truth” with feminist
consciousness, which acknowledges diverse ways of knowing.
○ Women are encouraged to value their emotions and their intuition and to use
their personal experience as a touchstone for determining what is “reality.”
4) The counseling relationship is egalitarian.
○ Feminist therapists recognize that there is a power imbalance in the therapeutic
relationship, so they take measures to strive for an egalitarian relationship,
keeping in mind that the client is the expert on her or his life.
○ feminist therapists believe all relationships should strive for equality, or
mutuality (a condition of authentic connection between the client and the
therapist).
5) A focus on strengths and a reformulated definition of psychological distress.
○ feminist therapists consider intrapsychic factors as only partial explanations for
the pain that brings people to therapy
○ Psychological distress is reframed, not as disease but as a communication about
unjust systems.
○ Feminist therapists talk about problems in the context of living and coping skills
rather than pathology
6) All types of oppression are recognized.
○ Feminist therapists work to help individuals make changes in their lives, but
they are also committed to working toward social change that will liberate all
members of society from stereotyping, marginalization, and oppression
○ Framing clients’ issues within a cultural context leads to empowerment, which
can be realized only through social change
THERAPEUTIC PROCESS
THERAPEUTIC GOALS
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FEMINIST THERAPY
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According to Enns (2004), some goals of feminist therapy include empowerment,
valuing and affirming diversity, striving for change rather than adjustment, equality,
balancing independence and interdependence, social change, and self-nurturance.
Enns adds that a key goal of feminist therapy is to assist individuals in viewing
themselves as active agents on their own behalf and on behalf of others.
the ultimate goal of this approach is to create the kind of society where sexism and other
forms of discrimination and oppression are no longer a reality
Empowering the client is at the heart of feminist therapy, which is the overarching
long-term therapeutic goal
to depathologize women’s experiencing and to influence society so that female voices
are honored and relational qualities are valued
According to Worell and Remer (2003), feminist therapists help clients:
● Become aware of their own gender-role socialization process
● Identify their internalized messages and replace them with more self enhancing beliefs
● Understand how sexist and oppressive societal beliefs and practices infl uence them in
negative ways
● Acquire skills to bring about change in the environment
● Restructure institutions to rid them of discriminatory practices
● Develop a wide range of behaviors that are freely chosen
● Evaluate the impact of social factors on their lives
● Develop a sense of personal and social power
● Recognize the power of relationships and connectedness
● Trust their own experience and their intuition
THERAPISTS FUNCTION AND ROLE
● The therapist’s role and functions will vary to some extent depending on what theory is
combined with feminist principles and concepts.
● Feminist therapists have integrated feminism into their approach to therapy and into
their lives.
○ They are committed to monitoring their own biases and distortions, especially
the social and cultural dimensions of women’s experiences
● Feminist therapists are also committed to understanding oppression in all its
forms—sexism, racism, heterosexism—and they consider the impact of oppression and
discrimination on psychological well-being.
● They value being emotionally present for their clients, being willing to share themselves
during the therapy hour, modeling proactive behaviors, and being committed to their
own consciousness-raising process.
● Feminists share common ground with Adlerian therapists and their emphasis on social
equality and social interest, and with existential therapists who emphasize therapy as a
shared journey, one that is life changing for both client and therapist, and with their
basic trust in the client’s ability to move forward in a positive and constructive manner.
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FEMINIST THERAPY
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Feminist therapists believe the therapeutic relationship should be a nonhierarchical,
person-to-person relationship, and they aim to empower clients to live according to their
own values and to rely on an internal (rather than external or societal) locus of control in
determining what is right for them.
Feminist therapists work to free women (and men) from roles that have constrained
them from realizing their potential.
CLIENTS EXPERIENCE IN THERAPY
● Clients are active participants in the therapeutic process.
● Feminist therapists do not restrict their practice to female clients; they also work with
males, couples, families, and children.
● The therapeutic relationship is always a partnership, and the client, if a male, will be the
expert in determining what he needs and wants from therapy.
● The shared journey of empowerment can be both frightening and exciting—for both
client and therapist.
○ Clients need to be prepared for major shifts in their way of viewing the world
around them, changes in the way they perceive themselves, and transformed
interpersonal relationships.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THERAPIST AND CLIENT
● The very structure of the client–therapist relationship models how to identify and use
power responsibly
● Feminist therapists work to equalize the power base in the relationship by employing a
number of strategies
1) they are acutely sensitive to ways they might abuse their own power in the
relationship, such as by diagnosing unnecessarily, by interpreting or giving
advice, by staying aloof behind an “expert” role they are acutely sensitive to
ways they might abuse their own power in the relationship, such as by
diagnosing unnecessarily, by interpreting or giving advice, by staying aloof
behind an “expert” role
2) therapists actively focus on the power their clients have in the therapeutic
relationship and make this part of their informed consent processes.
3) feminist therapists work to demystify the counseling relationship by sharing
with the client their own perceptions about what is going on in the relationship,
by making the client an active partner in determining any diagnosis, and by
making use of appropriate self-disclosure.
● A defining theme of the client–counselor relationship is the inclusion of clients in both
the assessment and the treatment process.
○ helps to keep the therapeutic relationship as egalitarian as possible
● When counselors make decisions about a client for the client rather than with the client,
they rob the client of power in the therapeutic relationship.
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FEMINIST THERAPY
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Collaboration with the client in all aspects of therapy leads to a genuine partnership
with the client.
APPLICATION: THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES
THE ROLE OF ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS
● Feminist therapists have been sharply critical of the DSM classification system, and
research indicates that gender, culture, and race may influence assessment of clients’
symptoms
● From the perspective of feminist therapy, diagnostic criteria were establsihed through a
system that views male gender-role traits as “ normative”. Thus women’s behavior are
more prone to becoming pathologize
● Feminist therapists believe diagnostic labels are severely limiting for these reasons:
1) they focus on the individual’s symptoms and not the social factors that cause
dysfunctional behavior
2) as part of a system developed mainly by White male psychiatrists, they may
represent an instrument of oppression
3) they (especially the personality disorders) may reinforce gender-role stereotypes
and encourage adjustment to the norms of the status quo
4) they may reflect the inappropriate application of power in the therapeutic
relationship
5) they can lead to an overemphasis on individual solutions rather than social
change
6) they have the potential to dehumanize the client through the label.
● Using diagnostic categories may contribute to a victim-blaming stance and dull the
therapist's sensitivity to external factors that contribute to a client’s symptoms.
● The feminist approach emphasizes the importance of considering the context of
women’s lives and points out that many symptoms can be understood as coping or
survival strategies rather than as evidence of pathology
● In keeping with the focus on client empowerment, diagnosis is a shared process in
which clients are the experts on the meaning of their distress
● Reframing symptoms as coping skills or strategies for survival and shifting the etiology
of the problem to the environment avoids “blaming the victim” for her problems.
● In the feminist therapy process, diagnosis of distress becomes secondary to identification
and assessment of strengths, skills, and resources
● Therapist who participate in the process of diagnosis have a personal responsibility to
challenge the current diagnostic systems
● The therapist is careful to review with the client any implications of assigning a
diagnosis so the client can make an informed choice, and discussion focuses on helping
the client understand the role of socialization and culture in the etiology of her problems
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FEMINIST THERAPY
TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES
● Feminist therapy does not prescribe any particular set of interventions; rather feminist
therapy tailor interventions to clients’ strength with the goal of empowering clients
while evoking feminist consciousness.
EMPOWERMENT
● At the heart of feminist strategies is the goal of empowering the client
● Feminist therapists work in an egalitarian manner and use empower- ment strategies
that are tailored to each client
● Informed consent offers a place to begin a relationship that is egalitarian and
collaborative
○ Informed consent offers a place to begin a relationship that is egalitarian and
collaborative
● "What is the most powerful thing you could do right now?" – The intent of this question
is to "interrupt the trance of powerlessness"
SELF-DISCLOSURE
● Feminist therapists use therapeutic self-disclosure in the best interests of the client to
equalize the client-therapist relationship, to provide modeling, to normalize women's
collective experiences, to empower clients, and to establish informed consent.
● Believing that there is no such thing as therapist neutrality or objectivity, therapists who
disown the reality of being knowable and known to clients are at greater risk of abusing
their power
● The therapist can share how she decides when to be open about her personal life and
how to balance relating in a less open way
● Effective therapist self-disclosure is grounded in authenticity and a sense of mutuality
● The therapist considers how the disclosures may affect the client by using what
relational-cultural theorists refer to as "anticipatory empathy."
GENDER-ROLE ANALYSIS
● Gender-role analysis explores the impact of gender-role expectations on the client's
psychological well-being and draws upon this information to make decisions about
future gender- role behaviors
● Some feminist therapists prefer the term "social identity analysis" because it reflects the
importance of assessing all relevant aspects of a client's identity, including multiple
memberships in both socially disempowered and privileged groups.
● Hayes (2008) proposes an ADDRESSING model that includes the elements of age,
disability status, religion, ethnicity, race, social class, and sexual orientation along with
gender
● Gender-role analysis begins with clients identifying the societal messages they received
about how women and men should be and act.
EXAMPLES:
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FEMINIST THERAPY
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asking the client to identify messages she has received related to sexualiity and
appearance from her culture, society, her peers, the media, and her family
talks about how body image expectations differ between females and males in
our culture and how they may differ in other cultures.
GENDER-ROLE INTERVENTION
● Placing the clients concern in the context of society’s role expectations for women
● By placing the client's concern in the context of societal expectations, the therapist gives
insight into how these expectations have affected her psychological condition and have
contributed to her feelings (depressed and anxious about judgment from others)
● The therapist's statement also paves the way for the client to think more positively about
her unity with other women and even to think about how she might contribute as a role
model for girls and young women
POWER ANALYSIS
● Power analysis refers to the range of methods aimed at helping clients understand how
unequal access to power and resources can influence personal realities.
● The client will become aware of the power difference between men and women as well
as the power differences associated with sexual orientation in our society
○ helping the client identify alternate kinds of power she may exercise and to
challenge the gender-role messages that prohibit the exercise of that kind of
power.
○ helping the client learn to appreciate herself as she is, regain her self-confidence
based on the personality attributes she possesses, and set goals that will be
fulfilling to her within the context of her cultural values.
BIBLIOTHERAPY
● Nonfiction books, psychology and counseling textbooks, autobiographies, self-help
books, educational videos, films, and even novels can all be used as bibliotherapy
resources.
● Reading about feminist perspectives on common issues in women’s lives (incest, rape,
battering, and sexual harassment) may challenge a woman’s tendency to blame herself
for these problems
● Reading can supplement what is learned in the therapy sessions, and the client can
enhance her therapy by exploring her reactions to what she is reading.
ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING
● By teaching and promoting assertive behavior, women become aware of their
interpersonal rights, transcend stereotypical gender roles, change negative beliefs, and
implement changes in their daily lives.
● The therapist and client consider what is culturally appropriate, and the client makes
decisions about when and how to use the new skill of assertion.
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REFRAMING AND RELABELING
● Reframing includes a shift from “blaming the victim” to a consideration of social factors
in the environment that contribute to a client’s problem.
○ rather than dwelling exclusively on intrapsychic factors, the focus is on
examining societal or political dimensions.
● Relabeling is an intervention that changes the label or evaluation applied to some
behavioral characteristic.
EXAMPLE:
○ Alma is encouraged to talk about herself as a strong and healthy woman rather
than as being "selfish" or too "masculine."
○ Susan is encouraged to talk about herself as a strong and healthy woman, rather
than being “fat.”
SOCIAL ACTION
● Therapists may suggest to clients as they become more grounded in their understanding
of feminism that they become involved in activities such as volunteering at a rape crisis
center, lobbying lawmakers, or providing community education about gender issues.
● Participating in such activities can empower clients and help them see the link between
their personal experiences and the sociopolitical context in which they live.
GROUP WORK
● Group work became popular as a way for women to discuss their lack of voice in many
aspects of society.
● Although these groups are as diverse as the women who comprise them, they share a
common denominator emphasizing support for the experience of women
● These groups can provide women with a social network, decrease feelings of isolation,
create an environment that encourages sharing of experiences, and help women realize
that they are not alone in their experiences
● Groups provide a supportive context where women can share and begin to critically
explore the messages they have internalized about their self-worth and their place in
society.
● Through their group participation, women learn that their individual experiences are
frequently rooted in problems within the system.
● Participation in a group experience can inspire women to take up some form of social
action.
THE ROLE OF MEN IN FEMINIST THERAPY
● Men can be Feminist Therapist and Feminist Therapy can be practice with male clients
● Male Feminist Therapists are willing to understand and “own” male privilege, confront
sexist behavior in themselves and others, redefine masculinity and femininity according
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to other than traditional values, work toward establishing egalitarian relationships, and
actively support women’s efforts to create a just society.
The principles and practices of feminist psychotherapy are useful in working with men,
individuals from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, and people who are
committed to addressing social justice issues in counseling practice
○ Social mandates about masculinity such as restrictive emotionality, overvaluing
power and control, the sexualization of emotion, and obsession with
achievement can be limiting to males
Some feminist therapists routinely work with men, especially with abusive men and in
battering groups
Issues that men can deal with productively in feminist therapy
1) learning how to increase their capacity for intimacy
2) expressing their emotions and learning self-disclosure
3) balancing achievement and relationship needs
4) accepting their vulnerabilities
5) creating collaborative relationships at work and with significant others that are
not based on a “power-over” model of relating.
FEMINIST THERAPY FROM A MULTICULTURAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE PERSPECTIVE
STRENGTHS FROM A DIVERSE PERSPECTIVE
● Feminist therapy has the most in common with the multicultural and social justice
perspectives.
○ All three approaches emphasize the need to promote social, political, and
environmental changes within the counseling context.
○ Practitioners of all three theories strive to create an egalitarian relationship in
which counselor and client co-construct the clients’ problems from a contextual
perspective and collaborate in setting goals and choosing strategies
○ All three approaches reject the “disease model” of psychopathology: they view
clients as symptoms of their experiences of living in an unjust society rather than
as having intrapsychic origin.
○ The all emphasize direct actions for social change as part of the role of the
therapist
● Feminist are committed to taking a critical look at cultural beliefs and practices that
discriminate against, subordinate, and restrict the potential of groups of individuals,
which can be either a strength or a shortcoming.
SHORTCOMINGS FROM A DIVERSITY PERSPECTIVE
● Remer (2008) acknowledges this practice of critically evaluating societal values and
structures that subordinate certain groups as shortcomings of the approach.
● Remer claims “a potential danger inherent in feminist counseling is that counselors’
values will too strongly infl uence clients or will confl ict with clients’ values”
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It is essential that therapists understand how their own cultural perspectives are likely to
influence their interventions, especially when they are working with culturally diverse
clients.
○ A safeguard against value imposition is for feminist therapists to clearly present
their values to clients early in the course of the counseling relationship so that
clients can make an informed choice about continuing this relationship
SUMMARY AND EVALUATION
● origins of feminist therapy are connected with the women’s movements of the late 1800s
and the 1960s, when women united in vocalizing their dissatisfaction over the restrictive
nature of traditional female roles.
● Feminist therapy largely grew out of the recognition by women that the traditional
models of therapy suffer from basic limitations due to the inherent bias of earlier
theoreticians.
● Viewing problems in a sociopolitical and cultural context rather than on an individual
level
● Recognizing that clients know what is best for their lives and are experts on their own
lives
● Striving to create a therapeutic relationship that is egalitarian through the process of
self-disclosure and informed consent
● Demystifying the therapeutic process by including the client as much as possible in all
phases of assessment and treatment, which increases client empowerment
● Viewing women’s experiences from a unique perspective
● Understanding and appreciating the lives and perspectives of diverse women
● Understanding that gender never exists in isolation from other aspects of identity
● Challenging traditional ways of assessing the psychological health of women
● Emphasizing the role of the therapist as advocate as well as facilitator
● Encouraging clients to take social action to address oppressive aspects of the
environment
● aimed at both personal and social change.
● The major goal is to replace the current patriarchal system with feminist consciousness
and thus create a society that values equality in relationships, that values diversity, that
stresses interdependence rather than dependence, and that encourages both women and
men to define themselves rather than being defined by societal demands.
● Feminist therapists share a number of basic assumptions and roles: they engage in
appropriate self-disclosure; they make their values and beliefs explicit so that the
therapy process is clearly understood; they establish egalitarian roles with clients; they
work toward client empowerment; they emphasize the commonalities among women
while honoring their diverse life experiences; and they all have an agenda to bring about
social change.
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FEMINIST THERAPY
CONTRIBUTIONS OF FEMINIST THERAPY
● One of the major contributions feminists have made to the field of counseling and
psychotherapy is paving the way for gender-sensitive practice and an awareness of the
impact of the cultural context and multiple oppressions.
● According to Gilbert and Rader (2007), feminist therapists have brought about
significant theoretical and professional advances in counseling practice. Includes:
1) power sharing with clients
2) cultural critiques of both assessment and treatment approaches, and
3) the validation of women and their normative experiences.
● holding individuals responsible for their problems and not giving full recognition to
social and political realities that create problems.
● A key contribution feminists continue to make is reminding all of us that the proper
focus of therapy includes addressing oppressive factors in society rather than expecting
individuals to merely adapt to expected role behaviors.
● Feminists pointed out the consequences of failing to recognize and take action when
children and women were victims of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.
● Building community, providing authentic mutual empathic relationships, creating a
sense of social awareness, and the emphasis on social change are all significant strengths
of this approach.
SIMILARITIES FROM DIFFERENT APPROACHES
● Both feminist and Adlerian therapists view the therapeutic relationship as
egalitarian.
● Both feminist and person-centered therapists agree on the importance of
therapist authenticity, modeling, and self-disclosure; empowerment is the basic
goal of both orientations.
● When it comes to making choices about one’s destiny, existential and feminist
therapists are speaking the same language—both emphasize choosing for oneself
instead of living a life determined by societal dictates.
● Gestalt therapy and feminist therapy share the goal of increasing the client’s
awareness of personal power.
● Cognitive behavioral therapies and feminist therapy are compatible in that they
view the therapeutic relationship as a collaboration and the client as being in
charge of setting goals and selecting strategies for change.
LIMITATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF FEMINIST THERAPY
● Feminist therapists do not take a neutral stance; they believe therapy is a value oriented
process.
○ they need to identify any sources of bias and work toward restructuring or
eliminating biased aspects in any theories or techniques they employ.
○ However, there is a danger that therapists may unduly influence clients,
especially those who lack a strong sense of their own values.
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FEMINIST THERAPY
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Feminist therapists challenge clients’ unexamined choices, but they must honor clients’
choices as long as those choices are indeed informed.
Feminist therapists are committed to helping clients weigh the costs and benefits of their
current life choices but should not push clients too quickly toward changes they feel are
beyond their reach.
viewing the source of a client’s problem as being in the environment could contribute to
the client not taking personal responsibility to act in the face of an unfair world.
NO CREDENTIALING ORGANIZATION CONFERS OFFICIAL STATUS AS A
QUALIFIED FEMINIST THERAPIST
EVIDENCE-BASED RESEARCHES ARE LACKING
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