Feminist therapy Flashcards
What is the feminist view of human nature?
The view varies depending on the underpinning philosophy as there are currently 8, however they all involve the client in the context of their cultural and sociopolitical environments and their problems as stemming from that environment. The approaches differ regarding how the problems are framed and what will be targeted as goal.
What are the four constructs of the feminist philosophy?
- gender-fair: diffs based on socialization
- flexible: concepts apply equally regardless of status
- interactional: concepts of human experience
- life-span oriented: development lifelong, change at any time
What are the 8 feminist philosophies?
Four are classic and four are 3rd wave:
- liberal: overcome constraints of socialized patterns
- cultural: society has devalued women and culture should be more feminized, differences
- radical: oppression embedded in patriarchy and activism to change society and institutions
- socialist: multiple oppressions, transform relationships
- postmodern: crtitique of fem theory and reality deconstruction, multiple truths, m-f polarity
- women of colour: broadened & inclusive theory
- lesbian: radical + multiple identities
- global-international: multi-issue global view re women in their own countries
What is the feminist view re personality development?
- societal gender-role messages influence how ppl view themselves and behave, from birth onward
- one view is that gender diffs due to women being caretakers thus identify with mother (affiliative and nurturing) while men id with dad (separate), thus women are interdependent
- women’s sense of self and morality is based on responsibility and taking care of others
- hence women searching for connectedness
- gender schema, children learn what it is to be gender and apply to selves
- engendered lives, gender as organizing principle and the masculine defines the feminine
How do transitional models view personality dev?
Women and men have different personality characteristics based on their biological differences
- androcentric: male-oriented constructs
- gendercentric: two separate gendered paths
- ethnocentric: dev and interaction are applicable across race, culture and nataionality
- heterosexist: hetero as normative
- intrapsychic: behaviour intrapsychic, blame victim
- determinism: personality patterns and behaviour are fixed
Ways feminist principles are incorporated into other approaches?
- Adlerian: egalitarian relationship
- person-centred: empowerment and authenticity/modelling
- CBT: collaborative, coping, agreed goals, teaching
- Gestalt: increasing awareness of personal power, dialogue
- psycho: object-relations theory
- behavioural: assertiveness training, rehearsal, homework, action-oriented
What criteria used to make feminist theory integrative?
- positive attitude toward women
- value what is feminine
- willing to confront patriarchal systems
- empower women
- attend to gender socialization and power issues
- attend to own gender biases
What criteria used to make feminist theory integrative?
- positive attitude toward women
- value what is feminine
- willing to confront patriarchal systems
- empower women
- attend to gender socialization and power issues
- attend to own gender biases
What is role of empowerment in relationship with therapist?
The therapist must be egalitarian and supportive, self-disclosing and transparent so that the client feels they are an equal participant. A big part of that is informed consent.
What are the principles of feminist therapy?
1- the personal is political
2- personal and social id’s are interdependent
3- definitions of mental illness and distress are reformulated
4- feminist therapists use integrated analysis of oppression
5- the cllg relationship is egalitarian
6- womens perspectives are valued
What are the main feminist techniques?
1- empowerment 2- self-disclosure 3- gender-role analysis 4- gender-role intervention 5- power analysis & intervention 6- bibliotherapy 7- assertiveness training 8- reframing and relabeling 9- group work 10- social action
What is engendered lives?
That the masculine defines the feminine and that gender is an organizing principle in people’s lives
