[This post is a lightly edited excerpt of a paper that I wrote as an MSW student in 2018]
Feminist Therapy is a meta-theory more than a specific modality. In my own work with it, I find that its purpose is to inform my overall practice with clients in a way that emphasizes empowerment and an egalitarian working relationship, among other things. One of its driving principles is to make marginalized viewpoints central, often addressing the concerns of people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with special needs, immigrants and refugees, and others (Goodtherapy.org, 2015).
Feminist Therapy is ideally suited to the task of challenging oppression by engaging in a form of clinical practice that is political, addressing the relationship between private troubles and public issues (Dietz, 2000) and to challenge the trend in social work towards clinical practice over advocacy for social change (Kam, 2014).
There are four tenets that encompass the overall philosophy embodied in Feminist Therapy: (1) egalitarian relationship between therapist and client, (2) privileging of the client’s experience, (3) the personal is political, and (4) empowerment (Evans, Kincade & Seem, 2011, P. 17). I’ll discuss each area below, together with related interventions.
Empirical research supports the tenets of Feminist Therapy, including the negative impact of oppression on mental health outcomes, the concept of “the personal is political,” the beneficial impact of egalitarian relationships in therapy settings, and the benefits of empowerment, and others (Conlin, 2017).
Egalitarian relationship
The Code of Ethics of Feminist Therapy expressly states that practitioners acknowledge the “inherent power differentials between client and therapist” and states that the therapist does not “take control or power that rightfully belongs to her client.” Feminist therapists are advised in the code to “disclose information to the client that facilitates the therapeutic process,” “negotiate and re-negotiate formal and/or informal contacts with clients,” and “educates her clients regarding power relationships.” (Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics, 1999).
Feminist Therapy advocates for a clear recognition and minimization of the power differential inherent in any therapeutic setting, without endangering the therapeutic frame and boundaries (Evans, Kincade & Seem, 2011, P. 19). This is embodied in the practice of creating a cooperative relationship between two “experts.” The therapist is the expert on therapy techniques and interventions, and the client is the expert on his or her own life (Evans, Kincade & Seem, 2011, P. 19).
It is vital in a Feminist Therapy setting to avoid a power imbalance and prevent any misuse of power. Power-sharing behaviors such as “communicating values to client, discussing client-therapist fit and emphasizing choice, providing information about the process of therapy, and engaging in mutual goal-setting” are all ways of managing this balance (Conlin, 2017).
I dealt with this particular aspect of the working relationship, creating an egalitarian relationship, initially by addressing it directly and upfront, during initial counseling sessions. On a more ongoing basis, a technique I use to reinforce this idea is to see how the client feels about our sessions themselves.
Privileging of the client’s experience
Feminist Therapy is driven in large part on the oppression reflected in the DSM. Within its Code of Ethics it recognizes the “limitations of a purely intrapsychic model of human functioning,” and calls on practitioners to “facilitate the understanding of the interactive effects of the client’s internal and external worlds.” (Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics, 1999). It calls for viewing clients in their full context, their full story, rather than “relying on straightforward symptom-checklists” (Conlin, 2017). Clients are treated as “unique individuals rather than assuming that all individuals share the same ‘realities’” (Israeli & Santor, 2000).
In traditional Feminist Therapy, an important element is that “both male and female realities are considered and valued equally,” meaning that the female experience is brought “from the margins of theory and practice to the center” (Evans, Kincade & Seem, 2011, P. 19). The purpose in this is not to devalue the “male experience,” but to prevent the “female experience” from being devalued. One of its central themes is that universalizing discourses about “man” and “humankind” have ignored or failed to validate the experience of women (Dietz, 2000).
The personal is political
The Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics states expressly that “the personal is political,” and that basic tenets of Feminist Therapy include a “belief in the equal worth of all human beings, a recognition that each individual’s personal experiences and situations are reflective of and an influence on society’s institutionalized attitudes and value.” (Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics, 1999). Feminist Therapy recognizes that oppression can cause distress, and critiques the “disordering of distress common in traditional diagnostic practices” (Conlin, 2017). Depression, for example, is viewed as a “normal reaction to a patriarchal world” (Israeli & Santor, 2000).
Feminist Therapy recognizes the importance of the impact of a person’s environment on them. This perspective is not unique to Feminist Therapy, but the centralizing of this principle, together with the emphasis on recognizing and understanding the importance of oppression (Evans, Kincade & Seem, 2011, P. 17) sets Feminist Therapy apart from many other modalities. It is, in fact, the historical opposition of Feminist Therapy to diagnosing, on the basis that “you can’t diagnose oppression,” (Evans, Kincade & Seem, 2011, P. 18) that initially drew me to this approach. Feminist therapists assume that the major causes of distress in their client’s lives are caused by external forces, typically in the form of sexist and other oppressive environments (Evans, Kincade & Seem, 2011, P. 69).
Consciousness raising and empowerment
The Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics calls on practitioners to “assume a proactive stance toward the eradication of oppression in their lives and work toward empowering” their clients (Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics, 1999). Empowerment is viewed in Feminist Therapy as helping the client become better equipped to change the internal and external conditions of their lives through self-learning and social change activities. This includes three dimensions: personal, interpersonal, and social/political (Evans, Kincade & Seem, 2011, P. 170). With respect to the personal in particular, Feminist Therapy embraces the strengths-based approach, considering the client as a whole person rather than defining them by their diagnoses or problems (Dietz, 2000).
“Consciousness raising” began among women’s groups in the 1960’s feminist movement, and as a therapeutic technique it “helps women realize that they are not the sole cause of their distress and that others share their problems.” This mechanism still often occurs in a group setting, and shares many characteristics with traditional group psychotherapy, including “provision of role models, sharing personal experience, imparting information, peer support, identifying commonalities, and instillation of hope” (Israeli & Santor, 2000). Consciousness raising may have the impact of empowering clients to work towards overcoming oppression through the support of the group.
Dimensions of Empowerment
| Personal (Power within) | Interpersonal (Power with others) | Sociopolitical (Power in society) | |
| Permission (May I? Am I worthy?) | Individual rights and freedoms | 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 | Question “the truth” |
(Morrow & Hawxhurst, 1998).
Summary
Feminist Therapy is not a specific intervention but rather an overall therapeutic approach. Although originally conceived of as a therapy for women, it has been applied to other members of traditionally oppressed groups, and even to members of the oppressor group, who are also ultimately victims of the system of oppression. As such, I believe it is an appropriate approach to take when working with individuals exposed to the criminal justice system.
References Cited
Conlin, S.E. (2017). Feminist therapy: A brief integrative review of theory, empirical support, and call for new directions. Women’s Studies International Forum 62.
Dietz, Christine A. (2000). Reshaping clinical practice for the new millennium. Journal of Social Work Education, 36(3).
Evans, K., Kincade, E., and Seem, S. (2011). Introduction to feminist therapy: Strategies for social and individual change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Goodtherapy.org (2015). Feminist Therapy. https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about therapy/types/feminist-therapy.
Israeli, A.L. & Santor, D.A. (2000). Reviewing effective components of feminist therapy.
Counseling Psychology Quarterly 13(3).
Kam, Ping Kwong (2014). Back to the social of social work: Reviving the social work profession’s contribution to the promotion of social justice. International Social Work 57.
Morrow, S.L. & Hawxhurst, D.M. (1998). Feminist therapy. Women & Therapy 21(2).
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