Week 1 - Relational Cultural Therapy Flashcards
Who led to the eventual development of RCT?
Jean Baker Miller; wrote a new psychology of women born from clinical work with women, response to the often negative conceptualization of women
Who were in the Stone Center Theory Group?
Jean Baker Miller, Judith Jordan, Irene Stiver, and Janet Surrey
Translated the concepts within Miller’s book toward a new theoretical approach with women: RCT.
RCT is a clear outgrowth of BLANK?
Feminist theory
What is the BEM Sex Role Inventory?
Looks at gender roles and classifies individuals as masculine, feminine, androgynous or undifferentiated.
What is “Difference Feminism” and who coined it?
Carol Gilligan
Highlights the different qualities between women and men but asserts that no value judgment can be placed upon them.
What is RCT?
A post-modern approach to counseling that takes a constructionist, humanistic, collectivist, relational, developmental, and feminist perspective to understanding and working with clients.
What does RCT question?
Doesn’t believe in the notion that there is one reality and questions many of the so-called truths that mental health professionals have suggested are “real” like superego, id, core beliefs, etc.
What strong flavor does RCT have?
Social constructionist, proposes that one’ understanding of the world is distinctly impacted by the narratives int he social milieu to which the person has been exposed such as family, culture, and society.
Why is RCT a humanistic approach?
At its core is the belief that through empathy and understanding one can come to understand the unique phenomenological perspective of the client.
Views lived experiences as unique to the individual and seeks to not judge clients’ realities.
Why is RCT a collectivist approach?
It values the connection that individuals have with others, particularly how women tend to relate with other women.
Thus the broader community of people is critical to the development of the relational self, or how individuals come to understand who they are.
RCT believes that individuals have a natural disposition toward relationships and connection.
True or False: RCT and other feminist approaches posit a view that society’s expectations of gender are a society construct and that human experiences are neither male nor female but androgynous.
True
True or False: RCT believes that development occurs throughout one’s lifespan and interwoven with the growth of relationships within which individuals find themselves in.
True
Why is the approach of RCT antideterministic?
Because growth can occur at any point in one’s life.
What sets RCT apart from other approaches?
Its commitment to distinct feminist values.
Includes the characteristics of being nonsexist, engaging in critical discourse, exploring how sociopolitical issues impact women and other nonprivileged gender identities.
Which 8 principles is RCT grounded in?
-People grow through and toward relationships throughout the lifespan
-Movement toward mutuality, rather than movement toward separation, characterizes mature functioning
-Relational differentiation and elaboration characterize growth
-Mutual empathy and mutual empowerment are at the core of growth-fostering relationships
-Authenticity is necessary for real engagement and full participation in growth-fostering relationships
-In growth-fostering relationships, all people contribute and grow or benefit. Development is not a one-way street.
-Development of increased competence and capacities over the lifespan is a goal
-Mutual empathy is the primary means from which we grow
