Feminist and Post Modern Theories Fall 09

•  Important concepts and terms from these two chapters – while there are distinctions between feminist and postmodern therapies, one element common to both is the questioning stance therapists from these models take – they do not believe that it is possible for a therapist to be an “expert” in another person's life, and they question the construction of knowledge and social reality. These models are considered the 4 th force in psychology and have many links to other fields such as philosophy and literary criticism.

•  Deconstruction is a dominant theme of these approaches and questions the “givens” we take for granted as true and critically examines whether these “truths” are useful or appropriate from the client's subjective experience and perspective. One takes apart those assumptions in society that are typically taken for granted. Example: Adolescence is a time of independence from parents; or if you don't go to college you won't earn a successful living, and if you don't earn a living, you are not a successful person.

•  Dominant story or paradigm – Widely accepted view of “reality” within a culture. Dominant stories tend to shape reality and construct what people do, feel or see. When a person does not fit the dominant paradigm, they are considered “unhealthy”. (Think of movie Pleasantville where two kids go back in time to black/white world and they bring color.)

•  Postmodernism or postmodernist – movement and individuals who believe we must examine established truths of society and acknowledge that there is more than one “truth” – that the world is complex, relative and intersubjective of the human experience.

•  Social construction – A perspective that acknowledges client's reality without disputing the accuracy or validity of that reality. Reality is socially constructed and is based on the agreement of language within a context. A problem is a problem if there is a social construct for that problem.

•  Power –over: domination or control of one person or group over another person or group (Goodrich, 1991). Physical power, cultural power, economic power more province of men; emotional power, relational power more province of women. Power-over can be seen in political/economic systems (welfare programs); organizations (work place rewards) and families/relationships (patterns of violence/communication)

•  Power-to: control over one's own feelings, thoughts and behaviors.

•  Empowerment: to invest oneself formally or even legally with power or authority; to authorize one as having certain power or powers. To impart or bestow power upon another person toward some end or for some specific purpose. To enable, to make powerful.

•  Mutual empowerment: respond to and take care of the relationship. Symbiotic relationship. If I am empowered, then so are you and vice versa.

•  Empathy: crucial aspect of relational model. Empathy is the capacity to “experience, comprehend and respond to the inner state of another person” (Surry, 1985). Mutual empathy rests on the empathic understanding of all persons involved in the relationship, and this sharing creates heightened development of self and others. Rather than experience loss of self through caring, relational theory suggests that empathic understanding and self-in-relation requires a higher integration of ego and demonstrates a high level of development. The goal of psychological development is the increasing capacity to participate in mutually empathic and mutually empowering relationships rather than increasing separation from others (Miller and Stiver, 1993).

•  Androcentric – uses male-oriented constructs to draw conclusions about human nature

•  Ethnocentrism – the idea that one's own cultural group is superior to others and that other groups should be judged based on one's own standards.

•  Gendercentrism – belief that men and women have two separate paths to development

•  Heterosexism – views a heterosexual orientation as normative and desirable and devalues same-sex relationships

•  dialogic - having to do with dialogue.  A dialogic theory of therapy would be one which emphasized the importance of there being room for different opinions to be expressed

•  hegemony - a culture or institution is a hegemony if it is so dominant that other cultures and institutions do not have a voice or say. Cultural perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant group.

•  Key people and concepts of feminist model

•  Overview – from Bernice Lott (1991): “The basic assumptions and values that feminist psychologist can be said to share (among ourselves and with other feminist scholars) include recognition of the patriarchal, sexist nature of most aspects of contemporary life and social institutions; recognition of the negative consequences of gender inequities in power; focus on the entire range of women's experiences; and efforts for change in alliance with others to eliminate barriers to resources based on gender, ethnicity, class, and other social categories. In applying the feminist agenda to our work, our objectives are to promote the interests of women, human welfare in general, and the health and integrity of psychology as a scientific enterprise.”

•  There is no single person associated with feminist theory. Some key women are associated with the Stone Center – a program offered at Wellesley College , the full name being the Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies. Jean Baker Miller was first director of Stone Center . Other women include Judith Jordan, Alexadra Kaplan, Irene Stiver and Janet Surrey. Other writers associated with feminist model are Carol Gilligan (In a Different Voice), Mary Field Belenky, Blythe Clinchy, Nancy Goldberger, and Jill Tarule all of whom wrote Women's Ways of Knowing. Your book also mentioned Oliva Espin and Laura Brown.

•  Problems are viewed in a sociopolitical and cultural context. Traditional theories are male-oriented, based on white, heterosexual men and behavior is attributed to intrapsychic causes that are fixed at early stages of development and applied across all cultures, races, genders and sexual orientations. (androcentric, gendercentric, ethnocentric, heterosexism, intrapsychic and deterministic) The personal is political . Must transform society and help subordinate groups gain equal rights.

•  Personal and social identities are interdependent. Must understand client within the context of sociocultural environments. A feminist approach believes the client knows what is best for her own life and can take action to change. Client takes an active, participatory role in therapy.

•  Emphasis is on educating clients about the process of therapy – the relationship is egalitarian – does not re-create inequitable power relationships.

•  Challenges traditional ways of assessing mental health – believes that what has been labeled as mental illness can be explained by examining oppressive sociocultural patterns and unjust systems. Pain and resistance are viewed as a will to survive against oppression. Reframe the symptom as survival strategy against society's oppression.

•  Works to change oppressive systems, not just an individual's life. Feminist therapists work for social justice and are committed to fight against oppression based on gender, class, race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, age, or disability. Both men and women have been affected by cultural standards that create differentiated privilege. Men see emotional vulnerability as weakness and women learn to subordinate their own wishes to care for others.

•  The counseling relationship is egalitarian – attention to power is central theme in feminist therapy. Therapists find ways to demystify process and create collaborative relationship.

•  Women's perspectives are valued – recognize that women's personal experiences are of value, although our society often devalues women's ways of knowing and women's lives.

•  Clients are encouraged to take social action – to look at broader experiences of women then just their own experience and help create sense of unity and commonality with other women.

•  Personality Development

•  Traditional Perspective – core notion of traditional developmental theories, including more modern theories, is that of separation/individuation. Mature adults establish distinct sense of self by disconnecting from others. Freud - for women, identity is derived from her roles as wife and mother, and for a woman to reach mature development she must accept her feminine, i.e., her passive nature. “Anatomy is destiny”. Women's adult development is staged around the core notion of woman as reproducer. Traditional views believe that women should be thoughtful, kind and caring and men should be assertive/aggressive, competitive, and strong.

•  Relational Models – feminist perspective grew from awareness that most studies of development focused on men's lives. Rather than suggesting that mature adults establish identity through separation, relational models suggest that women develop in connection with others (Gilligan, 1977). Being able to make and maintain affiliation and relationships is essence of women's development. Women's development is not solely derived from their sex roles as wife and mother. The essence of relational model is that “women's sense of self becomes very much organized around being able to make and maintain affiliation and relationships (Miller, 1976). Surry (1985) emphasizes “that self-in-relation makes an important shift emphasis from separation to relationship as the basis for self-experience and development. Relationship is the basic goal of development … other aspects of self (e.g. creativity, autonomy, and assertion) develop within this primary context.” Women's identity and self-concept develop within relationship, connection with others.

•  Bergman (1995) – looks at relational model from male perspective. Cultural context of men's life is disconnection, beginning with disconnection from mother. To achieve maleness, boy must disconnect from mother, demonstrate difference. Difference implies comparison, comparison implies better than or worse than and can lead to the idea of one person having power over another. With comparison comes competition, aggression. Relational paradox is the bind between feeling pressure to disconnect, for self-achievement, and desire to connect. Whereas women are taught to disconnect from themselves and their authenticity to try and maintain relationships, men are taught to disconnect from others to preserve themselves. Men develop “self-in-spite-of-relationship”. Men develop “relational dread” – a process that occurs withdrawing, striking out, avoiding, creating an impasse to growth in relationship.

•  Therapeutic goals and techniques

•  To become aware of one's gender-role socialization process. What sociocultural and familial expectations existed for you as a woman/man?

•  To identify internalized gender-role messages and replace them with functional beliefs. What messages do you hear about what you should and should not do? What are your beliefs about expressing emotions, being assertive, acting independently?

•  To acquire skills to bring about change in the environment. What can you do differently to create authentic mutually empowering relationships?

•  To develop a wide range of behaviors that are freely chosen. How can you move beyond the social expectations and do those things are growth-promoting for your life?

•  To become personally empowered. Learning to identify personal strengths and assets, developing interdependence in relationships that are mutually satisfying.

•  Techniques would include examining gender-role expectations and messages that have become internalized or against which it is difficult to free oneself; bibliotherapy and education, group work, reframing and relabeling, life skills training such as assertiveness, mentoring relationships.

Postmodern therapies

Two primary postmodern approaches are:

•  Narrative therapy that believes that all human thought and behavior exists in cultural contexts that give them particular meaning and significance. Because dominant culture sets the “story” people whose lives deviate from what is the accepted norm find themselves with interpretations of their lives that are painful. Narrative therapy strives to have people re-author their lives and create alternative life stories.

•  Solution-focused brief therapy – focuses on solving problems – do not need to know the origin of the problem, but rather focus on the goals for present and future. Change from pathology orientation (problem-life) to solution-orientation. Look for exceptions to problems – what is working, when was this not a problem, what small change can be made that will open door for solutions.

Homework for 11/23– Review Understanding the Rules of Your Family from workbook

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