Feminist therapy

Reported by:

Rheggine B. San Juan

Joselle S. Sadiang – Abay

Mc Niel P. Alcantara

Introduction

• Feminist therapy puts gender and power at the core of the therapeutic process. It is built on the premise that it is essential to consider the social and cultural context that contributes to a person’s problems in order to understand that person.

• A central concept in feminist therapy is the psychological oppression of women and the constraints imposed by the sociopolitical status to which women have been relegated.

History and Development

• Feminist therapy has developed in a grassroots manner, responding to challenges and to the emerging needs of women.

• No single individual can be identified as the founder of this approach, and its history is relatively brief.

• Feminist therapy can be traced to the women’s movement of the 1960’s, a time when women began uniting their voices to express their dissatisfaction with the limiting and confining nature of traditional female roles.

To become aware of one’s gender-role socialization process

To identify internalized gender-role messages and replace them with functional beliefs

To acquire skills to bring about change in the environment.

To develop a wide range of behaviors that are freely chosen.

To become personally empowered.

Goals of Feminist Therapy

Androcentric – used male-oriented construction to draw conclusions about human nature.

Gendrocentric – proposes separate development paths for women & men.

Ethocentric – assumes that human development & interaction are similar across races, culture & nation.

Worell & Remar (2003) describe 6 characteristics of traditional theories

that are outdated and contain biased elements:

Worell & Remar (2003) describe 6 characteristics of traditional theories that

are outdated and contain biased elements:

Hetrerosexis – views heterosexual orientation as normative, same-sex as abnormal.

Intrapsychic – attributes behavior to interpsychi causes; often result in blaming the victim.

Determinism – assumes present personality patterns & behavior are fixed at early development stage.

Worell & Remar (2003) describe the constructs of

feminist theory as being

Gender-fair - Explain diff. in behavior of women & men in terms of socialization processes (rather than ‘true’ nature)

Flexible-multicultural - Uses concepts/strategies that apply equally to both individuals & groups regardless of age, race, culture, gender, ability, class, or sexual orientation.

Worell & Remar (2003) describe the constructs of

feminist theory as being

Interactionist - Contains concepts specific to thinking, feeling, & behaving dimensions of human experience & account for contextual & environmental factors.

Life-span-oriented - Assumes that human development is a lifelong process & that personality patterns & behavioral changes can occur at any time than being fixed during early childhood.

Four Approaches to

Feminist Therapy

1. Liberal Feminism

– Focus

• Helping individual women overcome the limits and constraints of their socialization patterns.

–Major goals

• Personal empowerment of individual women

• Dignity

• Self - fulfilment

• Equality

• All the above possible with bias-free work & social environments

Four Approaches to

Feminist Therapy

2. Cultural Feminism

– Oppression stems from society’s devaluation of women’s strengths.

– Emphasize the differences between women and men.

– Believe the solution to oppression lies in feminization of the culture.

• Society becomes more nurturing, cooperative, and relational.

– Major goal of therapy is the infusion of society with values based on cooperation.

Four Approaches to

Feminist Therapy

3. Radical Feminism

– Focus

• The oppression of women that is embedded in patriarchy

• Seek to change society through activism

• Therapy is viewed as a political enterprise with the goal of transformation of society

– Major goals

• Transform gender relationships

• Transform societal institutions

• Increase women’s sexual and procreative self-determination

Four Approaches to

Feminist Therapy

4. Socialist Feminism

– Also have goal of societal change

– Emphasis on multiple oppressions

– Believe solutions to society’s problems must include consideration of:

• Class

• Race

• Other forms of discrimination

– Major goal of therapy is to transform social relationships and institutions.

Techniques and Strategies

Empowerment: getting the most from each session, clear expectations, identifying goals, and working toward a contract that will guide the process

Self-disclosure: is not just sharing information and experiences. Also involves a certain quality of presence the therapist brings to the sessions.

Techniques and Strategies

• Gender-role Analysis: explores the impact of expectations on the client’s well being or distress and draws upon this information to make decision about future gender-role behaviors.•Gender-role Intervention: placing it in context of society’s role expectations for women. The aim is to provide insight into the ways that social issues are affecting the problem.•Bibliotherapy: Books that address the consequences of society’s obsession with certain issues. Can explore and enhance therapy by reactions to what they are reading.

Techniques and Strategies

• Power Analysis and Power Intervention: becoming aware of the power difference between men and women in society and empowering to take charge of ones self and life. Also includes recognizing different kinds of power that clients possess or to which they have access.

• Assertiveness Training: Become aware of their interpersonal rights, transcend stereotypical gender roles, change negative beliefs, and implement changes in their daily lives.

• Group Work: Group work alone is often the preferred modality for some issues that women experience in out culture. Self help groups and advocacy groups help women experience their connectedness and unity with other women.

Techniques and Strategies

• Social Action: Participation in activities can empower clients and help them see the link between their personal experiences and the socio-political context in which they live.

• Reframing : Reframing implies a shift from “blaming the victim” to a consideration of social factors in the environment that contribute to a client’s problem. Shifting from an interpersonal to an interpersonal definition of a client’s problem.

• Relabeling : Relabeling is an intervention that changes the label or evaluation applied to some behavioral characteristic. Generally, the focus is shifted from a negative to a positive evaluation.

• Men can be nonsexist therapists

• Men can be pro-feminist therapists when they embrace the principles and incorporate the practices of feminism in their work. This entails being willing to confront sexist behavior in themselves and others, redefining masculinity and femininity according to other than traditional values, working toward establishing egalitarian relationships, and actively supporting women’s efforts to create a just society.

The Role of Men in Feminist Therapy

Contribution

Feminist therapy recognizes role of oppressive environmental forces on individuals.

Both feminist & multicultural therapists work to encourage change & not adjustment to status quo.

Feminist perspective of understanding use of power in relationships has applications for understanding inequalities due to racial & cultural factors as well.

Reference

Psychology 460 Counseling & Interviewing, Sheila K. Grant,

Ph.D., California State University, Northridge

Website

http://www.powershow.com/view/3bc863-

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