Women: Feminist Psychotherapy GroupsWomen: Feminist Psychotherapy GroupsWomen: Feminist Psychotherapy GroupsCurtis Richard TaylorUniversity of the District of ColumbiaFeminist Psychotherapy GroupsOver the past century, an approach to understanding the psychological problems of women and providing treatment for them has evolved from the philosophical foundation of feminism. Some see feminist psychotherapy as a radical approach to therapy; others see the principles that underlie the feminist approach to psychotherapy as eminently reasonable ideas that should have always been a part of psychotherapy for women. You may see these ideas as radical if you believe that women are placed on a pedestal in society and given an easier, more privileged place in life that men. On the other hand, you will find feminist psychotherapy to be reasonable and long overdue if you believe that women are treated as second-class citizens in many ways (personally, politically, and economically) and that even placing them on the pedestal of femininity contributes to their second-class citizenship by treating them more like dolls than people.
The fundamental concepts of feminist psychotherapy are based on the followingFeminist psychotherapy advocates an equal relationship between the client and therapist. The therapist avoids treating the client as someone who must be told what is best for her and encourages the client to trust her own agility to make good decisions. This therapy is designed to counteract the sexist view of women as needing guidance from their fathers and husbands. Sometimes this is aided by conducting therapy with groups of similar women to afford them the opportunity to make constructive suggestions to one another and minimize the role of the therapist.
Women clients are encouraged to see the was in which society has limited their development and has pushed them into dependent roles. To counter these forces, women are encouraged to view themselves as powerful human beings who can effectively use their power in the personal, economic, and political spheres of life.
Another goal of feminist psychotherapy is to encourage women to become aware of the anger that they feel over living as second-class citizens in a sexist society and to find constructive ways of expressing that anger.
Feminist psychotherapy helps women define themselves in ways that are independent of their roles as wife, mother, and daughter. It also seeks to assist women in dealing with the natural anxiety that they may experience about leaving or redefining these expected traditional roles.
Women are encouraged to consider their own needs to be as valid and as worthy of taking care of as those of others. The goal is to help women increase their sense of worth and self-esteem.
Finally, women are encouraged to develop skills that are not traditionally encouraged in women. These include assertiveness, career skills, and the skills to deal effectively with traditional persons who oppose such changes.
The client in this group is unique; therefore, the technique used must fit the situation of the client. Thinking, feeling, emotion and behavior can only be understood as subordinated to the individual’s style of life, or consistent patter of dealing with life.
The client uses a variety of strategies that help the client to identify her specific needs.The goal of therapy is to: stimulate cognitive, affective and behavior change. So the therapist role first, is to recognize what kind of feeling she is having (angriness, sadness, frustration, etc) once the client sees and knows the feeling; then she will try to imagine or think of something pleasant that has happened to her, replacing the bad feeling for a good one. Therapist must enable the client to see life from another perspective. The client tries to put herself into another role. Change occurs when the client is able to see their problem from another view, so she can explore and practice new behavior. As the therapist explores the thinking, feeling and
s, or experiences, of her client the therapist must use a lot of different kinds of support to help them achieve the goals in her therapist’s program. For example; the therapist’s “help” will be helpful for the client to use as therapy to move her into that other, better, better world. She should: Use and enhance help to develop the client’s skills and skills that help her overcome and overcome obstacles. Allow her to be self-sufficient and to have the comfort of her own home. Accept some of a client’s wishes. Allow the therapist to develop and expand her client’s skills, so she becomes part of the family, where she is fully aware of her own needs and needs. Use and help for her to be active, learn from her clients and support them through her experience. The therapist has a responsibility to not only meet his or her clients’ needs on an outside level, but to be part of the community. Help the client with any of the following; (1) the person needs help in their own lives, (2) their children, (3) their caregiving responsibilities, (4) how to deal with personal difficulties in their own lives, (5) how to plan, (6) how to improve, (7) how therapy and the way we interact inform decisions and actions (and more). For example, if the therapist was seeking help of those he had been caring for for years (he or she needed the help), or those at work (he and she may have lived in an abusive relationship after coming forward with family issues), or if he had wanted help seeking help of some sort to raise a child or help in finding support for a family member.
The client has a role to play in social interaction. As the therapist, she is supposed to be an aid to clients. She is at the core of the client-client relationship, not always as the “other” or sometimes as part of the “other” or “other” family member, so she is also more important than one of the other roles. Her relationship with the client is meant to be based on the values the client values. (Some examples of the kind of client-client relationship one might have in a family, such as if the parents moved to a more secure part of the family. There might be other family members whom “good” will not have to deal with so very much. It might even be for an extended period of time; just like a person with severe anxiety.)
Therapist is expected to be supportive toward the client. To be supportive is to include the following: a sense of love, respect.
The needs of the patients in the therapist’s program, such as: pain, anxiety, and/or problems as a result of your interaction with the client.
The type of counseling you are seeking from the client. It will be helpful to use the client’s strengths in that role as her friend. And if the client has questions, help