Feminist Therapy Flashcards
Feminist therapy puts ______ & _______ at the core of the therapeutic process.
Gender & Power!
Feminist therapy is built on the premise that we must consider the:
Social & Cultural Context that contributes to a persons problem to understand the problem.
A central concept in feminist therapy is:
Psychological Oppression of Women and the constraints imposed by the sociopolitical status to which women have been relegated.
Our society reinforces these three behaviours in women:
Dependent
Submissive
Self-Sacrificing
Fem therapy began:
Grassroots in the 1960’s
Consciousness-Raising groups!
From consciousness raising groups grew:
Feminist therapy groups
Feminist therapy groups included the same norms as conscious-raising groups such as:
Nonhierarchical structures
Equal sharing of resource & power
Empowerment of women
Feminist therapists view therapy as a:
Partnership between equals
Feminist therapists became sensitive to the:
Potentially destructive power dynamics in therapy.
FT took the stance that therapy needed to move away from reliance on _________________ ____________ to a focus on understanding the _________ ________
Intrapsychic psychopathology
Pathological forces in culture that damage and constrain women.
The major basic tenent of feminist therapy:
THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL.
Enns described four enduring feminist philosophies:
Liberal
Radical
Cultural
Socialist
Each philosophy shares activism as a goal but have differing views on:
Sources of oppression & most effective methods of effecting change in society.
These feminists focus on helping the individual woman overcome the limits and constraints of their socialization patterns.
Liberal Feminists
LF major goals of therapy?
Personal Empowerment
Dignity
Self-fulfillment
Equality
These feminists believe oppression stems from society’s devaluation of women’s strength.
Cultural Feminists
CF major goal of therapy?
Infusion of society w/ values based on cooperation.
These feminists focus on the oppression of women embedded in patriarchy and seek to change society through activism!! ESTABLISHMENT!!!!
Radical Feminists
RF major goals?
Transform gender relationships
Transform society institutions
Increase women’s sexual & procreative self-determination
These feminists focus on multiple oppressions and believe solutions to society’s problems must include consideration of class, race and other forms of discrimination.
Socialist Feminists
SF major goals?
Transform social relationships & institutions
Feminist therapists believe ________ is at the core of therapeutic practice.
Gender
To understand a client’s problems requires adopting a ________-________ perspective.
Socio-cultural
These are 2 crucial goals of therapy:
Empowerment of Individual
Societal Changes
Fundamental goal is to change the status quo and to improve the status and well-being of all women.
THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL.
In FT the counselling relationship is:
Egalitarian (equal)
Therapist is viewed simply as:
Another source of information
in FT women’s experiences are:
Honored. Women encouraged to express emotions & intuition and use personal experience as a touchstone for determining what is “reality”.
T/F Feminist therapy supports the disease model of mental illness.
FALSE - Rejects It!
FT sees symptoms as:
Survival Strategies
Feminist therapists use an ________ _____ of oppression.
Integrated Analysis
The primary goal of FT is:
Transformation for both individual client & society as a whole.
FT’s help clients in five ways:
Become aware of their own gender-role socialization process
Identify their internalized gender-role messages and replace them with their own constructive beliefs
Understand how sexist and oppressive societal beliefs and practices influence them in negative ways
Acquire skills to bring about change in the environment
Develop a wide range of behaviours that are freely chosen
The therapists role is to:
- Trust clients ability to move forward
- Convey their genuineness rather than hiding behind “expert” role
Therapy must NOT (2):
Replicate societal power imbalance
Foster dependency in client
Any theory can be evaluated against the criteria of:
Being gender-free;
Flexible;
Interactionist;
Life-span-oriented.
This technique helps the client understand the impact of gender-role expectations in her life.
Gender-Role Analysis
This technique provides clients with insight into ways that social issues are affecting their problem.
Gender-Role Intervention
This technique emphasizes the client becoming aware of the power difference between women and men.
Power Analysis/Intervention
This technique provides reading material to increase the clients expertise & decrease power difference between client & therapist.
Bibliotherapy
This helps to demystify the therapy process and equalize the relationship with an emphasis on informed consent.
Self-Disclosure
This helps women become aware of their interpersonal rights, transcend stereotypical sex roles, change negative beliefs and implement change in their daily lives. (Damn it Dan! Darlenes outta control)
Assertiveness Training!
This technique focuses on examining societal or political dimensions.
Reforming & Relabeling
This helps women experience connectedness and unity with other women.
Group Work
Another way for the client to feel empowered, perhaps a legume garden.
Social Action
