Psychotherapy For Women

Presents a collection of 21 papers on the ways in which sexism influences theories and techniques in psychotherapy and methods for helping women develop as complete and equal people. Specific topics include values and value change in psychotherapy, principles of feminist psychotherapy, assertion training, career counseling, psychotherapy for lesbians, feminism as therapy, the challenge of radical feminism to professional therapy, and social activism as therapy.

Throughout, the importance of practicing from a self-reflexive stance is emphasized, and invaluable suggestions are offered for building strong therapeutic relationships across difference." "This book will be read with interest by psychotherapists from a range of backgrounds, including clinical and counseling psychologists, social workers, family therapists, and psychiatrists. Women's studies scholars and students also will find it informative and thought provoking, and it will serve as an outstanding text in clinically oriented graduate-level courses."--BOOK JACKET.

This ground-breaking book presents multifaceted perspectives to examine assumptions about gender, intersecting identities, and power that impact women’s experience as group psychotherapy leaders, mentors, and educators. Leaders in the field discuss the theories, training, personal experience, mentorship, and clinical work that empower women group psychotherapists beyond the limits of traditional technique and practice. Chapters boldly investigate theoretical, cultural, and personal paradigms, and explore themes of intersectionality, gender-role identity, and hidden bias. The authors challenge embedded societal norms to encourage deeper gender and cultural intelligence in group psychotherapy leadership. This text provides guidance and clinical wisdom that will inspire, scaffold, and embolden contemporary group psychotherapy leadership.

"Dr. Jill Schwarz' Counseling Women Across the Lifespan is tailor made for gender-specific counseling courses. This text is highly accessible and comprehensive, and includes specific learning objectives, state-of-the-art research, and questions for student reflection and discussion. Importantly, each chapter is a Call to Action for all counselors to be advocates for change in a world that desperately needs empowering approaches for counseling girls and woman." - Mark Woodford "Within the pages of Counseling Women Across the Lifespan lay the seeds of professional and personal transformation. The text provides a comprehensive review of the issues that today's women face, while providing practical ideas for intervention and advocacy. With thought-provoking reflection questions at the end of each chapter, testimonials from graduate students who have been transformed as a result of this work, and actionable steps that you can take on behalf of women's rights, you cannot be but changed after engaging with this compelling text." - Corinne Zupko This book, the first comprehensive text to focus specifically on counseling women and girls, provides a sweeping overview of female life span development and issues and offers a unique integration of prevention, advocacy, and interventions. With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in diverse fields, it provides information, resources, and practical suggestions that counselors can use to help empower individual women and girls to live as their authentic selves, and to engage as effective collaborators in addressing societal inequities. With a strong focus on empowerment and adherence to a social justice framework, the book highlights the value of mental health practitioners employing strengths-based approaches and advocating for systemic change. Based on a foundation of understanding females' diverse holistic development, the text explores the major theoretical approaches relevant to counseling and psychotherapy with women and girls. It then discusses the key issues faced by females at different developmental stages and describes appropriate counseling strategies for each, focusing on prevention as well as intervention. Specific concerns and strategies for women in different contexts, such as education, physical health and body image concerns, and violence, are emphasized. Unique to the text is coverage of how men specifically can serve as allies and advocates in creating healthier and safer societies for women and girls. Replete with supporting features such as learning objectives, self-reflection prompts, personal narratives, discussion questions, abundant resources, and strategies for how professionals can serve as advocates and change agents, this book is an ideal core text for courses on counseling women or gender issues in counseling, social work, psychology, marriage and family therapy, and women's studies programs, as well as a useful resource for mental health practitioners. Key Features: Uniquely covers life span development and counseling issues, needs, and application for females across the life span Emphasizes advocacy, prevention, and practical intervention strategies Examines the contextual elements that affect the female experience, including the oppressive structures in which they live Addresses global perspectives, diverse women, a social justice framework, and empowerment Includes learning objectives, first-person accounts, “Calls to Action,” and self-reflection and discussion questions A sample course calendar and syllabus are available to instructors to aid in course development

Feminist Perspectives in Therapy: Empowering Diverse Womenaddresses core issues in feminist psychological practice along withstrategies and techniques for understanding the development andexperiences of women throughout their lives. Two leading feministpsychologists provide a model that integrates feminist andmulticultural theory and practice, incorporating both internal andexternal sources of women's psychological distress andwell-being. This Second Edition is filled with valuable information on thelatest developments in research and major issues faced bytherapists treating women, along with clinical case studies thatprovide practical examples of how to put theory intopractice. Topics covered include: * Promoting physical and psychological health * Confronting interpersonal abuse and violence * Balancing career and family * Integrating multicultural and diversity issues * Negotiating relationships Complete with self-assessment activities, experimental exercises,and resources for further reading, Feminist Perspectives inTherapy: Empowering Diverse Women, Second Edition is a practicalbook for students and a valuable resource for mental healthprofessionals.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1 The Therapeutic Process. 2 The Mentally Healthy Woman. 3 Problems Women Bring to Therapy. 4 Role Transitions in Women's Lives. 5 How to Help the Client in Transition. 6 Women in the World of Work. 7 Career Counseling. 8 Women and Their Bodies. 9 Abuse of Women's Bodies. 10 Minority Women and Women in Poverty. 11 Older Women, Lesbians, and Female Offenders. 12 The Goals of Therapy with Women.

Challenging some of our most deeply held assumptions about mental health care, Women in Context explores the ways psychotherapy services for women are influenced by the larger therapy system and the sociopolitical context in which we live. The volume provides a comprehensive and insightful examination of factors that affect women's mental health, demonstrates the inadequacy of traditional psychotherapeutic assumptions, and offers new approaches for addressing women's experiences. Drawn from the work of noted therapists from both individual and family disciplines, the book begins with an overview of the themes that define its scope, namely, women within the larger context of the service delivery system, and the weaving together of gender, race, class, and sexual life style. The second section examines psychotherapy given a sociopolitical understanding of women's life cycle issues. Chapters discuss the influence of societal norms and stereotypes on the ways girls experience adolescence, as well as on marginalized and silenced women including lesbians, single heterosexuals, bisexual women, stepmothers, and older women. Enlightening chapters on women's medical concerns show that many women enter therapy in response to the dual-edged emotional consequences of dealing with illness and with the health care system itself. The book discusses psychotherapeutic approaches to women's health concerns, the pathologizing of normal female life cycle events, and the personal and familial impact of some feared illnesses. Chapters also examine whether new reproductive technologies are truly in the service of women, ways to break the silence surrounding the spread of AIDS among women, and reasons for the lack of research on menopause. The final section of the book illuminates the impact of governmental policies and of deeply imbued belief systems on women's mental health concerns. Violence, poverty, homelessness, teenage pregnancy, and women in the workplace are among the issues explored from a societal perspective. Here, chapters illustrate the application of ideas presented in the text by offering therapeutic insights and describing established programs that are dealing with some of these problems. Difficulties women encounter in the workplace and in traditionally male-dominated institutions are also covered. Concluding with a probing look at one therapist's work with a female client, the book lays the groundwork for the creation of a new model of psychotherapy--a model that will be more compatible with the actual experiences of women's lives. Written in a straightforward, personal style and eschewing technical jargon, this major new work is enlightening reading for all mental health professionals who work with women. Adroitly addressing a range of timely and critical topics, the book will be valued by those who specialize in women's studies and students from a broad range of academic disciplines.