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Understanding Feminist Psychology



Happy Women's History Month! Last year, we looked at unique barriers that women face regarding mental health. This year, we're going to focus on Feminist Psychology: a kind of psychological outlook that looks at how society and gender roles have influenced us, and "an approach to psychological issues that emphasizes the role of the female perspective in thought, action, and emotion in the life of the individual and in society" (American Psychological Association, 2018).


A Little History

So first, a little bit of where feminist psychology came from, and what it means. Feminism is defined as the belief that women are inherently as equal as men in the social, political, economic, etc. worlds. It doesn't state that women are above men- in fact, this view is inaccurate because feminism looks at the importance of people being accepted as themselves with equal rights and responsibilities. Feminism as its whole doesn't place any one individual (in regard to gender, sex, religion, etc.) above another.

Feminist psychology became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. It's pretty new, relative to a lot of psychology. However, feminism within the realm of psychology is much older than this, dated back to starting with Karen Horney (1885-1952). Horney didn't believe that the way a lot of men were practicing and looking at psychology was accurate for women, and because men were dominating the field of psychology, women were thus misunderstood and/or unheard. Although Horney didn't necessarily "create" feminist psychology as it is today, she is certainly a leader in its creation, and drew attention to the inequality that women faced when it came to understanding their inner worlds.


In the 1960s and 1970s, women began to elaborate on what Horney was saying: that women were overlooked and often misrepresented in the world of psychology (Early et al., 2011). In 1968, Naomi Wesstein wrote a paper called Psychology Constructs the Female where she argued that psychology wasn't accurately producing valid research or information about women and their experiences in the world (Sheese, 2021). Wesstein and others like her pushed psychology forward by highlighting that women were their own persons, and demanded more from the American Psychological Association. Feminist psychology, thus, became institutionalized in the '60s and '70s, emphasizing the need for not only more women to be contributors to psychology, but also to highlight that women may have different experiences than men, requiring a different mentality for psychology that had only been introduced by men (despite the fact that MANY women had contributed to psychology by then!!). Finally, women were being seen as separate beings, not just offshoots of men in the realm of psychology.


Feminist Therapy

Feminist psychology today has produced feminist therapy. Feminist therapy began with a special interest in women and how women face the world. It seeks to eliminate misogyny, and see how the impact of discrimination and oppression of women contribute to symptoms of mental illness. Today, of course, feminist therapy can be treatment for not just women, but people of all genders and sexes.

Feminist therapy is complex, and doesn't aim to state that women are better than men. Feminist therapy looks at the individual. It looks at gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and validates struggles. And like I mentioned, it's not just for women:it's for people who have struggled with a multitude of issues, oppression, what is and isn't pathological, and more. Feminist therapy looks at society, how we play a role in it, and how we combat oppression, looking at sexuality, gender, identities, and trauma. Feminist therapy is something I believe is for everyone, because it takes a whole person approach to an individual and doesn't just label someone as mentally ill. It looks at the "why" behind symptoms.

So, you may wonder what feminist therapy looks like in a session. In what ways is it different from "regular" talk therapy? One unique aspect of feminist therapy is it has four approaches: consciousness-raising, gender and social role analysis, re-socialization, and activism. Consciousness-raising looks at helping people take action in their personal lives regarding their experiences. Gender and social role analysis looks at how gender roles and more have influenced the individual, including gaining skills on how to change for the better. Re-socialization looks at the reevaluation of one's belief systems, especially as it pertains to gender roles and norms. And finally, activism looks at how the person can take on action to better the lives of people. Now, some of these concepts occur in "regular" therapy, though they are unique in that they stem from feminist theories and serve to benefit people as a whole.


Final Thoughts

Even if you aren't "into" feminist psychology, there are some hugely influential parts of it that can help us as we move our society forward. It looks at the individual as who they are, for one. It doesn't immediately seek to pathologize a person, but rather, seeks to understand why someone may be acting or reacting in a certain way. It looks at how gender "norms" and constructs have influenced us as a societal whole, and how this can be harmful to both men and women. Feminist therapy and psychology aims to understand women as who they are, and thus understand people as who they are. It advocates for change. It highlights the need for true, in depth understanding. It can help people with empathy, as well as with assertion. It can be useful in the treatment of a variety of mental illnesses, because of its focus on people as more than just their symptoms.

Everyone, no matter their background, can find something in feminist therapy that is for them, whether it be learning how to advocate for themselves, or to understand societal roles that get placed on men and women. It serves to treat people as the individuals that they are, help, and guide us forward into a better future.

And, because it's women's history month, I want to finish with advocating how necessary feminist therapy is for the feminist movement. Not only does it highlight the equality and equitability of women, but it takes into account the unique struggles of women in our world today. Feminist therapy can be a safe place where women learn more about themselves, how their pasts have influenced them, how society has contributed to potential symptoms, and how we can move ourselves as women forward into a better world for everyone.




References:


American Psychological Association . (2018, April). Apa Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/feminist-psychology


Eagly, A., et al. (2012, April). Feminism and psychology: Analysis of a half-century of research on women and gender. The American psychologist. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22369245/#:~:text=Starting%20in%20the%201960s%2C%20feminists,being%20addressed%20by%20psychological%20science.


Kaschak, E. (2020, February 20). What feminist therapy is not. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/she-comes-long-way-baby/202002/what-feminist-therapy-is-not


Mahaney, E. (2007, September 13). Theory and techniques of feminist therapy. GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/theory-and-techniques-of-feminist-therapy/.



The Editors of Encyclopedia Brittanica. (n.d.). Karen Horney. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karen-Horney









JB

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