Feminist Therapy

Question 1

Feminist therapy

Answer 1

emphasis on the power differences between women and men and how that differential impacts on both men’s and women’s behavior

Question 2

Feminist Therapy-

View of Maladaptive Behavior

Answer 2

Symptoms are considered to be:

1. related to the nature of traditional feminine roles or conflicts that are inherent to those roles
2. survival tactics or a means of exercising personal power
3. arbitrary labels that society has assigned to certain behaviors to impose sanctions or exert social control

Question 3

Goals of Feminist therapy

Answer 3

Less interested in changing their clients to fit the mainstream than in identifying and altering the oppressive forces in society that have affected their clients lives; a primary goal is empowerment, or helping women become more self-defining and self-determining

Question 4

Feminist Therapy Techniques

Answer 4

• Striving for an egalitarian relationship
• avoiding labels
• avoiding revictimization
• involvement in social action

Question 5

Feminist therapy vs. nonsexist therapy

Answer 5

• both recognize the impact of sexism and avoid the use of gender-biased techniques
• feminist therapists prioritize the role of sociopolitical factors on a woman’s psychological functioning and the need for change
• nonsexist therapists focus more on individual factors and modifying personal behavior

Question 6

Self-in-relation theory

Answer 6

extends traditional object relations theory by proposing that many gender differences can be traced to differences in the mother-daughter and mother-son relationship