Feminist Family Therapy Flashcards
who was Rachel-Hare Mustin (Villanova) and what did she do
wrote the first paper examining the gender bias in Family Therapy, and was the first to use the term, Feminist Family Therapy.
-Pointed out that there was a lot of female blaming in family therapy, often putting the mom as the one who has to make the changes
-She pointed out that Feminism and Postmodernism are not completely compatible: expecting a family to devise its own solution can lead to historical oppression
explain what Carol Gilligan found in In a Different Voice
-Women’s morality based on “caring”
-Men’s morality is based on “rights”
-Thus: Women’s needs, and rights suffer.
-Additionally, Gilligan pointed out that psychological research was predominantly about men.
explain Feminist Stonehedge Meetings
Formed by Monica McGoldrick, Carol Anderson, and Froma Walsh with active support from Peggy Papp, Olga Silverstein, and Marianne Walters held three national and international meetings (1984, 1986, and 1991) which resulted in numerous publications and the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy (Lois Braverman)
-We need to be clear about what feminist family therapy is, what it looks like, and why it is important
explain Deb Luepnitz and The Family Interpreted
Warned against relying on a historical perspective since mother blaming, mother as caregiver, and women’s role, was a continuation of oppression.
explain Thelma Jean Goodrich Feminist Family Therapy: Empowerment in Social Context
The therapist must look at their own belief systems
-White women had created the movement, and it needed to include the voices of “sisters of color”
-Movement within the movement to address the need of women of color
-Feminism needed to join with the larger field of Multiculturalism
-There has been some push back against the word “feminism” because some people believed that it was “anti-men”, but this is not true
how did family therapists/ systems thinkers react to feminist therapy
Family Therapy was Caught Off Guard
-The field had believed that having left Freudian thinking behind, it had moved to a more neutral, non-sexist position. However, FFT thinkers challenged this idea.
-Believed it had spent years attacking other therapies for being ant-women
-Mom enmeshed
-Mom too coddling of children
-Mom as caregiver
-Dad as provider
-Dad as hero for doing some parenting
what do feminist family therapists believe about systemic formulations
Systemic Formulations are inadequate (by themselves)
Appeared neutral, but
-Divorced from historical, economic, political and social context
-By focusing out of context, dysfunction had to be in the interpersonal relationship, thus, one is forced to lose sight of the sociopolitical context
-Believed that family therapists were a part of an oppressive class and were ignoring sociopolitical contexts
-Systems thinking (in the FFT opinion) put an emphasis on maintaining the dysfunction, rather than what caused it.
-True family therapists believed that the ideas of oppression need to be addressed every session, these are things that cannot be ignored
feminist therapy on circularity
-Relational violence
-FFT believed that circularity and neutrality created a sophisticated version of blaming the victim
-Members of a system were assumed to share equal power in maintaining a problem.
-Rendered power differences invisible.
what traditional roles did feminists believe were reinforced in therapy
-Marriage is good for women
-Women received less attention in the therapy room
-Child rearing continued to be defined as women’s role
-Husband’s need were dominate over the wife’s needs
-Because a lot of people were worried about the man leaving therapy, people wanted to keep him in treatment; e.g. would follow what the man wanted if there was a disagreement on what time the kids should go to bed
what actual differences were highlighted in feminist therapy
Talk about gender issues during therapy ($, power, childcare, household work)
-Not just when it was the problem, but you always bring up money, power, childcare, household work, etc.
Therapist needs to be direct about their own views (otherwise, could be tacitly supporting ongoing oppression)
Relabel deviance and redefine normalcy to highlight women’s strengths (e.g. connection)
Focus on individual women’s need, not just relationships
Reduce or stop woman blaming
Examine your own values and socialization
how did feminists want to shift the power balance
-Both Genders should change
-Sometimes give greater weight to the woman’s change request
-Challenge traditional childcare, housework balance
-Defining parenting as an important role that men need to embrace (research shows that children need a father figure in their lives, even after divorce, women with no relationship with dad have a lower trust level of men)
-Value women’s work as much as man’s work
Virginia Goldner on family systems thinking
-Goldner believed that systems thinking, particularly family systems thinking, was quick to embrace the idea that those practicing this model were advanced, especially regarding social justice.
-Her contention was that this occurred because there was not enough understanding of the wider context.
Goldner on original systems family thinking
-Goldner believed that originally, family systems thinking would oppose the idea that social forces could differentially regulate the participation in a family. In other words, she felt that to accept that there were ongoing social forces that could alter the power structure in the family would create a system wherein some people (e.g. men) would be more equal than others.
-Goldner suggests that field wanted to avoid this painful truth.
Goldner on the gender dichotomy
-Goldner went on to suggest that women became linked to the home, and childcare, whereas men got linked with the outside.
-Women were Expressive: Men were Instrumental
-Due to this dichotomy, women were both too powerful (in decisions about the family) and simultaneously socially degraded.
Goldner on Men in therapy
-Goldner makes the very interesting point that men were “risking” the status quo by coming into treatment, thus, therapists would protect men.
-As family therapy tends to look for alternative patterns in order to create change, men’s status as being marginal, thus mysterious, led to multiple interventions that suggested that putting dad in charge of family interactions would magically turn things around.
The misuse of moms according to Goldner
Goldner suggested that family therapy, at times, would exploit mom’s position (her willingness to try anything to help the family) for our own therapeutic leverage.
Interpersonal violence according to Goldner
-Goldner argued that some of the Feminist writers (Bogart) were too quick to toss out systems thinking when considering violence.
Goldner speculated that if one were to recognize psychodynamic ideas, combined with system’s theory, always with a Feminist lens, treatment could be more effective.
-Do not toss out systems work entirely
why not just change the violent individual?
Significant research has failed to prove that any individual method or single gender group method has success at changing violent men. Neither communication skills, the Duluth Model (the Power/Control Wheel), Appropriate Assertiveness, or Anger Management have proven effective and there is a huge dropout rate.
explain the two groups of violent men according to Goldner
Coercive/Controlling—The man uses threats to control the woman.
-These men are untreatable
Situationally violent-The man out of insecure attachment, past trauma, or shame lashes out and choses to use violence against their partner.
-Only the Situationally Violent man should be considered for conjoint treatment.
Goldner’s revision on the violent cycle
-The man’s violence is not caused by the relationship, however, it is “woven into the confusing melodrama” of the couple’s involvement.
-The woman did not cause the man to be violent, but there is something in the drama between the two of them that is bringing them out, may occasionally set up certain patterns that perpetuate the likelihood that men might lose it in certain situations
-Only by observing the idiosyncratic pull of the relationship can the violence be halted.
why not just get women to leave?
-A large number of women that are in such relationships feel responsible and have a desire to support the man.
-Many who leave, return.
-Violent victimization is 6X higher for those who leave (even with protection orders)
explain “double vision” to Goldner
To do this work, double vision is necessary.
-Feminist Perspective
-Systems Theory
what is therapuetically necessary according to Goldner
-There must be an alliance with both members of the couple.
-Goldner argues, “just because two people mutually participate does not mean they are mutually responsible.” For Goldner, this perspective allows us to integrate systems perspective without losing site of power differentials.
-Working with both people and working with individuals
-Consult and decide-couple is informed about the viability of conjoint treatment.
Therapy is not guaranteed
distress felt by the man, how does Goldner try to align with the man
When a man describes the distress he is feeling, it is seen as an explanation, not an excuse.
-Not trying to excuse the guy of this thing, but what is it about the man and his makeup that makes him more vulnerable to this kind of violence
The early work with the individual highlights the fact (that must be accepted) that the man is fully responsible for choosing to be violent.
Ideas for non-violent ways to deal with provocation are offered.
common characteristics of men who are situationally angry
-Family of Origin connection to violence
-Some variation of Insecure Attachment
-Abandonment fears
-A sense of shame and humiliation
explain clinical multiplicity
The therapist must be able to tolerate contradictory truths.
The paradox of:
-Men take control by losing control (man controls situation when he is feeling shamed or angry)
-Women love and protect men who hurt them
assessment of violence
-Explicit questions about violence.
-“What was the worst incident of violence?”
-Get a full understanding of violence outside and inside this relationship.
-What about their relationship makes them mutually reactive?
-Can they tolerate being in the room together?
Does the man take full responsibility for violence?
-Coercive men do not
what is needed from the man
-The man must be able to tolerate all of the words: Violence, Safety, Fear, Fairness…, tolerate the fact that the therapist is holding them accountable
-While there needs to be understanding of the violence, this needs to occur within the context of the man taking full responsibility for the violence he perpetuates.
explain female violence and the difference
-When asked if a violent male was actually fearful when attacked by a female partner, the vast majority of men acknowledged that, in fact, they were not in fear of being hurt.
-Women fear they will be killed in inter-partner violence, men do not
explain the woman’s responsibility
-The woman must take personal responsibility for her safety. Her first thoughts can not be about 1) her role, 2) his upset, 3) his regret.
-Rather, her first thought has to be, “where do I need to be, and what do I need to do, to be safe!”
-When discussing the woman’s responsibility this does not mean her taking responsibility for the violence itself it surrounds her taking responsibility for her own safety.
explain language in therapy with inter-partner violence
Men must get comfortable with the notion that violence is a choice.
“I lost it.” “What made you chose to lose it?”
-Always using language to return back to the active
The therapist expands the man’s self description without negating his experience. He is to be understood AND morally challenged.
example of softening man’s language
-“She is abusive and irrational.”
-Therapist: “So, when Tammi is forceful and choses to express herself…”
explain the necessary stance
-One must develop the most comprehensive understanding of abuse and victimization without compromising the moral vision of accountability.
-How does it happen? What fears or insecurities were at play? History of violence? All with the clear, constant acceptance that the abuser (man) is accountable for his violence.
what is important to form a linkage between in IPV
POWER AND CONTROL
And
VULNERABILITY AND DESPAIR
explain naming and framing to Goldner
Goldner discusses the odd conundrum of IPV
-“If your violence (spoken to the man) occurred on the street, you would be facing a judge, not me. And (speaking to the woman) you would never go back to that street corner to see how the violent man is doing.”
