Feminist Family Therapy

by Adriana Tanese Nogueira

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. In addition, feminism seeks to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.

Feminism has been the first political moment of historical critiqueto family and society.Manifesto di rivolta femminile, luglio 1970

Feminism is a state of mind.Lee Johnson-Kaufmann

What Is Feminism?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dddgkEg2XSA

If You're Not a Feminist, Then You're a Bigot

Who Is feminist?

Anyone who:• Supports the political, social and

economic equality between the sexes, believing that women has been and still are, in different ways, discriminated and subordinated to men;

• Is convinced that the biological sex should not be a pre-determinant factor that shapes the social identity or the sociopolitical and economic rights of a person;

• Is affiliated to the political, cultural and social movement born in the ‘800, which has claimed and still claims equal rights and dignity for women and men, and that in various ways is interested to comprehend the dynamics of gender oppression.

This is What a Feminist Looks Like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YA13GNT8Mc&feature=related

There’s More Than One Feminism

Liberal: Empowering women and

helping them overcome the limits and constraints of patriarchal socialization

Cultural: Infusing society with

women’s values

Radical: Social activism

Socialist: Race, class, nationality, and

historical biases

Postmodern: Using deconstruction and

discourse analysis to show how reality is constructed

Women-of-Color (Womanists): Racism, classism, sexism,

and heterosexism are all interlocked

Lesbian: Heterosexism at the core of

women’s oppression

Is feminism universal (transnational)?

YESWe need to work on the world so it will not be so

oppressive.James Hillman

Naomi Wolf on Third Wave Feminism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCQI-ougLsg&feature=fvwrel

Germaine Greer thinks women still have cause to be angryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CITBPjJCU9o

Naomi Wolf and Germaine Greer

Feminist Therapy

Value-drivenmore than

technique-driven.

Feminist therapy is a revolutionary therapeutic

modality, which… means not only a technique but also a

theory of individual and social change.

Elizabeth Friar Williams

…a sensibility, a political and aesthetic center that informs a work pervasively. One does not merely make clinical interventions in the family as a feminist; one also greets the family and sets the fee as a feminist. The words spoken during a session that catch one’s attention or that slip by, the things that make one feel warm toward the family, and the things that offend are all determined in part by this sensitivity.

Deborah Anna Leupnitz

Feminism in Therapy Is…

Oppositional character Critique of the psychotherapeutic mainstream

Standards of mental health for women emphasized the qualities that men wanted and needed in women. The result was that women who could not or would not meet those standards suffered from the anger and abuse, emotional and physical, of frustrated men as well as from the rejection from male intimates, co-workers, and bosses.

Elizabeth Friar Williams

Towards the Others

Patriarchy is alive and sick in sociopolitical life and

in the life of families; “Normal family” is too often a life not good for

women; Power in relationships, therapy and society must be

addressed, analyzed and challenged; Reforming families in ways that fully empower and

enfranchise women economically, socially, and politically;

Positive attitude toward women, social analyses, explicit consideration of gender issues for both genders and treating the personal as political.

Common Points in Feminist Family Therapy

The “normal” family, not so normal.

Women in the “adequate” (also called normal) families were [are!] “overwhelmed with responsibility”, “obese”, “psychosomatically ill”, and “sexual dissatisfied”. The men in these same families were “functioning well” and were not sexually dissatisfied. Thus … an adequate family consists of a husband and children who are functioning adequately and a wife who is not.

Deborah Anna Leupnitz

In the sociocultural causes of distress

In valuing women’s experiences In integrated analysis of oppression

And in social change

Feminist Therapy Beliefs

My practice tells me I can no longer

distinguish clearly between neurosis of self and neurosis of world,

psychopathology of self and psychopathology of world. Moreover, it

tells me that to place neurosis and psychopathology solely in personal reality

is a delusional repression of what is actually, realistically, being experienced.

James Hillman

Who Is Sick?

Therapies that avoid gender issues contribute to gender oppression both in theory and in practice:

Gender is part of the therapist’s psychological, social, and economical own system;

Issues that the therapist is not aware of are reproduced in therapy, thus supporting the maintenance of the status quo.

I'm the result of upbringing, class, race, gender, social prejudices, and economics.

So I'm a victim again. A result.James Hillman

Wake Up, Therapists!

Anyone who takes advantage of the patriarchal system: men and women

alike.

Who Is Afraid of Feminism?

Feminism Is Feared Because:

It disrupts traditional family homeostasis;

It challenges men’s decision making and leadership;

It unearths the underlying power issues that underpin most romantic relationships;

It forces self-questioning and self-awareness, interrupting the convenient flow of complicity and inertia.

Feminist Theory Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcEwKpnTsoQ&feature=related

Naomi Wolf debunks the myths around pregnancy and motherhood http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9ZX3T-rzLM

In all or most of couple relationships there’s a

latent power issue that if not solve will undermine the relationship.

Society as a whole is evolving. Avoiding to face power issues both in gender and society reflects an understanding of counseling as a bubble separated from the larger environment;

Many women (and also men) show spontaneous conscious evolution of gender issues; therapists who don’t take it in consideration are pushing backward their client’s process.

Feminist Awareness in Psychotherapy

Continued

Feminism implies in a broader conception of what human beings are and a philosophy about their life together.

A female therapist should set an example for her clients. Because she honors and respects herself she’s a feminist. A male therapist should be feminist because he honors and respect his female partner, mother and girlfriends, thus representing a model for his male clients. A gay therapist should be feminist in solidarity of the discrimination they both know.

Honoring the

experience and perceptions of women

The personal is political

Social transformation and advocacy

Key Concepts in Feminist Therapy

Developing egalitarian relationships Learning to value women’s voices and

perspectives Making room for gender-unique identity

development Analyzing sex-role socialization in the life of

families Identity internalized sex-role messages and

beliefs Challenging and replacing sex-role stereotypes

and scripts More self-enhancing belief and stories

Feminist Family Therapy Goals

Feminist Identity Development

by Downing and Rousch (1984)

Step 1. Passive acceptance Feminism? What is it? I suffer no machismo in my

life. It is what it is. I don’t believe in feminism. Feminism is anti-family. I can’t have a romantic

relationship and being feminist.

Feminism is against God. Everyone has their own

righteous place in society.

Feminist Identity Development

by Downing and Rousch (1984)

Step 2. Revelation Oh my goodness! I’m a

victim! They abused and still abuse

me. That’s not fair. I don’t want this for me and

my daughter. I’ve been living for years in

this and I didn’t realize it! He’s not the man I thought

he was. I don’t want to be a victim!

Feminist Identity Development

by Downing and Rousch (1984)

Step 3. Embeddedness To hell with men! I want to know what other

women’s lives look like. Women = my sisters Feminine and feminist culture

is mine. Looking for the Sacred

Feminine. Let’s create a women’s group,

a women’s studies, a women’s world!

Feminist Identity Development

by Downing and Rousch (1984)

Step 4. Synthesis There are some good men. Creating alliances that can

favor women. Oppression is a larger issue. Solidarity with other

minorities. Men friends of women do exist. We’ll change the patriarchal

system gradually. Empowering people on the

move for a more just and tolerant world.

Feminist Identity Development

by Downing and Rousch (1984)

Step 5. Active commitment Self-appreciation Personal freedom Pride in being a woman Appreciation of women in

general Appreciation of some

aspects/part of the dominant culture

Real change = only through social and political activism

Feminist Family Therapists:

Meet families in whatever stage form and at whatever stage they are in;

Facilitate development; Allow and contextualize

the expression of feelings from fear and anger to pride and celebration;

Help members of the dominant culture look at themselves, challenge their perspectives, and find ways to become supportive of their partner and children.

Feminist Therapists Role and Function

Congruence between their personal and professional lives

Promoting egalitarian relationships

Listen and acknowledge women’s voice

Reframing Affirming and valuing

feminine characteristics

De-pathologize behaviors and interactions

- What were you told in the hospital?- I am borderline.- You were molested and raped in your childhood – let’s see, starting when you were 6. Your mother was in jail on drug charges when you were sent to live with you aunt and uncle. And older male cousin also molested you; your uncle abused you; and you have been in two marriages where men have verbally and physically abused you, but you are borderline!?! James R. Bitter

Tecnique

1. Egalitarian relationships Collaboration Partnership Consent form Therapy purposes

Tecnique continued

2. Consciousness-

raising Leaderless group

in order to: Gain a validated

voice Share personal

stories Raise awareness

Link personal experience to one’s position as a woman in a male-dominated culture;

Identify oneself as a woman who shares a common fate with all women

Taking action to change oneself and the social structure that oppresses women.

Tecnique continued

3. Gender role and power analyses

Families are institutions that have most thoroughly

absorbed the stereotyped roles and power imbalances

imposed by dominant global cultures.

Tecnique continued

4. Appropriate self-disclosure

Grounded in authenticity and a sense of mutuality.

Connecting individual’s and family’s struggles to the collective experiences of women and families;

Normalizing thoughts, feelings, and actions;

Helping clients to realized that they are not alone in their struggles.

Tecnique continued

5. Bibliotherapy Non-fiction “Her stories” Feminist psychology

and counseling Self-help books Educational videos

and films Movies Novels

Tecnique continued

6. Assertiveness training

=Standing up for

oneself

Self-esteem Confidence Feeling capable in

the world Speaking up

Tecnique continued

7. Reframing

Elevate positive intention;

Shift the focus from individual to systemic perspective;

From scapegoating women to consider how dominant cultural has affected individuals.

Tecnique continued

8. Relabeling Deconstruct the power

and negative effects of societal norms and expectations;

Analysis of causes of life difficulties;

Normalize human development;

Support people were they are at and open up new possibilities for change.

Personal(Power within)

Interpersonal(Power with

others)

Sociopolitical(Power in society)

Permission(May I? Am I

worthy?)

Individual rights and freedom

Approval or permission

from another

Legal rights

Enablement(Can I? Am I

able?)

Personal resources

Support and advocacy from

others

Access to resources

Information(What do I

need to know?)

“Know thyself” Sharing stories,

breaking silences

Questioning“the truth”

Conditions and Dimensions of Empowerment in Feminist

Therapy

Growth and Expansion

Although therapists are often nicknamed “shrinks,” I prefer to think of the work we do as having an expansive effect on clients. … we enable clients to

open inner doors, widen horizons, unfurl leaves, and

develop inner potentials.Lesly Irene Shore, PhD

For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she is strong,

there is a man who is tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable,For every woman who is tired of acting dumb,

there is a man who is burdened with the constant expectations of “knowing it all”,For every woman who is tired of being called an “emotional female,”

there is a man who is denied the right to be weak and gentle.For every woman who is tired of being a sex object,

there is a man who must worry about his potency.For every woman who is denied meaningful employment, with equal pay,

there is a man who must bear full financial responsibility for another human being.For every woman who was not taught the intricacies of an automobile,

there is a man who was not taught the satisfactions of cooking.For every woman who takes a step toward her own liberation.

there is a man who finds the way of freedom has been made a little easier.

Maria Fadli

Concluding and Opening a New Venue

Feminism opened a window on the reality of society, relationships and individual psychology. It’s about:1. Full human rights for

women;2. Balancing gender power in

the relationship;3. Recovering the value of

feelings, emotions and the “irrational” within the relationship;

4. Espousing one’s inner other side/opposite.

The feminist perspective goes far beyond the initial feminist movement. It addresses different layers of the question, one deeper than the other.

It’s like peeling an onion. Some cry, others finally get a new flavor to

their life.