Feminism & Psychotherapy
Reflections on Contemporary Theories and Practices
- I Bruna Seu - Birkbeck College, UK
- M Colleen Heenan - Private Practice
Challenging the notion that one model of therapy or one model of feminism can be privileged above others, this volume reflects on the complexities and multiple dimensions of theory and practice in contemporary feminist psychotherapies.
Practitioners and researchers representing a broad cross-section of viewpoints critically consider their feminist therapeutic frameworks to address from within the practice the ways in which feminist therapy has set gender above and beyond other social inequalities. Drawing on case material from clinical practice, as well as research on feminism and psychotherapy, the authors demonstrate how the tensions inherent in different therapeutic models and feminist beliefs both question and reinforce popular notions of `gender' and `woman'.
`How compatible are feminist politics and therapeutic values? This book attempts, in a fascinating collection of twelve essays, to answer this question... it demonstrates that, just as there are many feminisms, so too are there many feminist therapies' - Counselling, The Journal of the British Association for Counselling
`This text... multivocalizes the feministic from diverse perspectives of colour, creed, class and theoretical base... fourteen "feminist therapists" bring the fruits of their academic and clinical work to these stimulating, self-questioning and challenging chapters... There is a wealth of material in this rich and enjoyable, highly readable collection which merits consideration and debate' - The European Journal of Psychotherapy, Counselling & Health
`The central question that Seu and Heenan have posed to contributors to this book is to explore critically how their feminist beliefs, understandings and commitments inform their work as psychotherapeutic practitioners and researchers. What we are offered is a multiplicity of feminist and psychotherapeutic narratives... The book raises a very serious issue about the nature of the feminist project within psychotherapy... The editors and contributors have created a brave book which articulates the dilemmas of feminist thought and practice within the contexts of therapeutic engagement. I have been grateful for the opportunity to engage with it, I shall return to many of the chapters for further reflection' - British Journal of Guidance and Counselling
`An exciting contribution to current feminist therapy practice and thought.... This book is appropriate for upper-level women's studies courses, women's therapy courses and for practitioners who want to think about what it means to be a feminist therapist.' - Feminism and Psychology
