The Role and Main Aspects of Feminist Counseling - Coursework Example

Feminist Counselling Introduction Feminist counselling is an evolved concept originated from a political movement where women resist sexism and inequality. The feminism concept originated around the middle of 20th century and it was a movement from white population who were educated, bold and straight. The feminist has struggled all these years to involve more women in this movement. The evolution of feminist counselling can be related to feminism because it had the same kind of challenges and had many women – oriented practices. The feminist counselling was a phenomenon where women started to break their silence against abuse, rape and battering. As per (Chaplin,1999,pg.5 ) “Feminist counselling is profoundly social and polite as well as personal and individual”. Feminist counselling is about bringing in a social change where woman to could act, think and move freely. Feminist counselling has a different approach unlike traditional approach which move away from a notion that females are responsible for sexual assault. As commonly represented among feminist theorists, the first wave is often originated from liberal feminists” (Ross ,2010,pg .4 ) On the other hand , in this counselling there is an acknowledgement of power relation in society, acknowledgment of inappropriately oppressed clients and their strengths, healing women through their journey and encourage more equitable relationship with opposite sect in the society. In feminist counselling, women counsellors from various backgrounds, races, sexual orientation, abilities are involved to handle all kind of woman problems. In feminist counselling ,different kind of theories, techniques and approaches are used to attain best results. Key Figures The feminist counselling has been a movement progressed with the support and ideas of many prominent figures. Some of the main contributors to feminist counselling are Judith Worell, Pam Remen, Sandra Bem , Laura Brown, Jean Baker Miller and many others. However, there was much criticism from other women regarding its concept and intention. In this movement there is no one particular founder but many women figures like Judith Worell, Pam Remen , Sandar Bem. Carol Gilligan, Carolyn Enns,Laura Brown,Lillian Comas-Diaz and Olivia Espin had a major role to play. So, the feminist counselling has been an invention of many women who were fighters and they wanted equality and freedom for women. Major Focus The major focus of feminist counselling is to empower woman and make their life potential and contributing to the society. It focuses on cultural, political, social causes and solution to it in relation to women population. In this counselling technique, the major focus is on embracing the positive of the client in order to empower them. Disadvantaged women need enormous support on emotional and psychological level and the feminist counselling exactly do the same. The women who are suppressed or assaulted are more mentally inflicted than physically which requires feministic approach. According to ( Mahaney,2007) “ Feminist therapy tends to be more focused on strengthening women in areas such as assertiveness, communication, relationships, and self – esteem”. Philosophy and Major Assumptions The feminist counselling is a kind of therapy which is based on certain philosophies and basic assumptions. This concept has been evolved from feminist movement of 1960s and 1970s and this follows egalitarian and collectivity are given importance. This is the reason why there is no one founder to this phenomenon called feminist counselling. They have collective and egalitarian concept which means a society where men and women have equal value and unity. As per ( Dawes,2007,pg.794-796) “Thus, even though the inequality between the punisher and the punished player remains the same, punishment can still serve an egalitarian motive in this design”.They believe that women need to be respected on social, cultural and political grounds. This movement needs a unified and wholesome society where women are given same value like men. So their main philosophies are socialist, cultural, radical and liberal. As per (Evans,2011,pg.10 ) “Being a feminist therapist entails adopting a feminist set of values and assumptions that guide your work” From this philosophical perspective, the feminist counselling assumption can be improving social relationship between men and women and attempt to bring about institutional changes. Also they want gender relation and societal institutional changes. In addition, attempt is made to create social awareness and importance of recognition among female population and her sexuality and desires are given a different dimension. Also they want to upgrade the value of women in society and create more self esteem, confidence and self awareness and equality for women. According to ( Malone,2000,pg.33-42) Feminist theory sees symptoms of distress as the direct result of the socialized female role, role conflict, societal labeling of role deviancy, and as survival tactics Key Concepts and Therapeutical Goals This feminist therapy takes into account the values of feminism in the therapy and approaches. In this counselling, the women neither are nor differentiated as rich or poor or in terms of middle class or upper class. The women problem is thought to be caused due to personal, external or internal reasons but rather seen as a social issue. In feminist counselling , environment stress is not considered as a major source of pathology that means one cannot escape individual responsibility. This therapy does not promote the adjustment of women to social condition as they wants social and political change. Also, other women are not considered to be their enemy and neither are men. Also the feminist counselling has a philosophical concept that women need to be psychologically and economically autonomous. According to ( Baumgold,2000,pg5-18) Contemporary feminist psychoanalytic theorists re-examined the issue of centrality of interpersonal relationships in the formulation of the self”The therapy has a goal of changing the women as well as the society in which she is living. Gender issue are addressed, which is the main cause of psychological stress and unwanted behaviours. The therapy aims to abolish social stigmas and other stereotypical factors which create external and internal pressures which can have an impact on the identity of an individual. The women who are approached with problems are given more information on their sexuality and how she relates to men and society .This changes the perceptive from which woman see her and others related to her.This counselling has its own techniques and procedures and it can be quite unique to this approach. “Over the last decade feminist counselling has become a norm in the western society”(Costigan,2004,pg.2).The core focus of feminist counselling is to empower women. Techniques and Procedures The techniques used in feminist counselling can be described as follows. 1) Group work – This is a major technique where the consciousness of women is raised with support and proper avenue. In this step, the women share their experience and powerlessness and with the help of experts they get empowerment, less of isolation and increased self worth. 2) Reframing - Here, the victim is not blamed but the social factor is tagged as the cause of problem. According to (Gamer,2004,pg.7 ) “Feminist therapy has existed as an approach to psychotherapy since the early 1970s”. 3) Social activism - This is an essential highlight of this counselling where they are given more enriched idea of feminism. Here, the women are advised to take part voluntarily in activities such as rape crisis centre. 4) Relabeling – The women are encourage to change and accept her to be a powerful entity. 5) Assertiveness Training – In this feminist counselling, the women are taught to promote assertive behaviour, transcend stereotypical gender roles, change negative beliefs to increase one’s own power. 6) Bibliotherapy – The clients are given books regarding psychology, autobiographies, and educational videos. 7) Power analysis –The women clients are educated how unequal access to power and resources can influence power realities. 8) Gender Role intervention – Here the society’s expectation of women is advised to women. 9) Self disclosure – With communication and moral support, the women are encouraged to disclose their problems in order to empower them. As per (Russell,2003,pg.2-42 ) “In the broader context of family therapy, feminist ideas played a crucial part in pointing out how the premises of various theories overlooked issues of gender and relations of power”. Applications The feminist counselling is not as thought applied only on women but is used on men also. For women to get empowerment there should be awareness and education among men. The men who are constricted by sex role injunction are benefited from this therapy. In this counselling, both cost and convenience of the client is considered also they are supported emotionally and mentally to make the therapy effective. However, the feminist counselling system thinks that the practice is not possible without being a feminist. The awareness of the existing oppression is a tactic in this counselling system. The cause of psychological distress is well explored before the counselling is applied on the client. Contributions The feminist counselling has contributed much for the upheaval of women as it changed the attitude and awareness of woman. Women more often lead a submissive life which makes them more open for violence and assault. In this counselling it is more of empowering women rather than treating them as in medical terms. Women who are suppressed need a moral support and education which is what feminist counsellors have been doing. It is more about attributing power to women rather than building a revengeful attitude towards society and men. According to (Mays,1986,pg.229-249 ) “Feminist family therapists pointed out that when power differences within a family system were ignored, therapy could inadvertently become complicit with maintaining the gender status quo”. Limitations and Criticisms Nevertheless, feminist counselling like any other practice does have its part of criticism and limitations. The feminist counselling had been criticized for being political. Because it is more of feminist in approach and has militant views in persuading their clients. It basically, tells the client how they should look at things and this is a kind of instructing them to change their perception on things. And no therapist has the right to persuade their client or tell someone the “right” way to look at things. The only job of a therapist is to guide and support to challenge the client to examine herself and take right decision. These are also criticism that in feminist counselling the approach is neutral. There is more of blaming the society and situations which makes it more of subjective. The Feminist counselling is more of concentrating on the society in which a person is living than their individual problems. As per (Mclellan, 1992,pg.12) “The feminist movement must have an active concern for both the personal and the political”. The limitation of this counselling is that it is inclusive as it was founded by heterosexual, white women from upper class. So there is controversy that it does not include other races and cultures. One another limitation is that the client problem is approached with a culturally and socially rooted attitude rather than based on individual level. As per ( Worell,2002,pg.5) “The feminist construction of gender redefines the nature of women’s and men’s relationship in terms of expression and maintenance of power”. So, a personal problem in re- directed to an environmental issue. An individual and his problem with relation to his family and health need to be more of a issue rather than the society. The feminist counselling is a kind of therapy where changing the attitude of a client towards a society is given importance. It is more of political transformation a person undergoes which can bring other problems in life as social conflicts, break down in family and losing respect and value for traditions. Also, clients who are traditional may experience dissatisfaction where they have to equalize with gender roles. Conclusion Feminist counselling is a therapeutic concept originated in the early 20th century influenced by feminist idealistic. The feminist counselling does not have one founder but is a collective establishment by a group of white women. The feminist counselling is a therapy in which oppressed women are empowered by education and moral support. Feminist counselling does follow certain theory and philosophies as it is based on collective and egalitarian approach. The idea is to give sexuality and women equality education so as to bring about a social change when it comes to women issue. The feminist counselling used various techniques and tactics to guide women and they can be group work, re-labelling, assertive training, social – activism and power analysis. These techniques can give opportunity for women to share their experience and get guidance and support from feminist counsellors. The feminist counselling has contributed well to the society as it has given equal rights to women on many grounds. The main goal if this counselling method is to empower women in order to make them more acceptable in the society. However, it also does have some criticism and limitation as it is more political and subjective in nature. Still feminist counselling is one of the sorted out therapy in Western countries which has gained popularity. References Baumgold, J. (2000). INTRODUCTION TO FEMINIST THERAPY. CCW, 3(1), 5-18. Chaplin, J. (1999). Feminist Counselling in Action (2ndnd ed., p. 5). London: SAGE Publications. Costigan, L. (2004). Social Awareness in Counselling: A Critique of Mainstream Counselling (p. 2). Lincoln: iUniverse Inc. Dawes, C. D. (2007). Egalitarian motives in humans. Nature, 446, 794-796. Evans, K. M. (2011). Introduction to Feminist Therapy: Strategies for Social and Individual Change (p. 10). California: Sage Publications Inc. Gamer, D. (2004). Feminist Theories and Feminist Psychotherapies: Origins, Themes, and . (p. 7). New York: Haworth Press. McLellan, B. (1995). Beyond Psychoppression: A Feminist Alternative Therapy (p. 12). Melbourne: Spinifex Press. Mahaney, E. (2007). Theory and Techniques of Feminist Therapy. In http://www.goodtherapy.org. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/theory-and-techniques-of-feminist-therapy/ Mays, V. M. (1986). Feminist Therapy with Ethnic Minority. FEMINIST THERAPY WITH ETHNIC MINORITY POPULATIONS, 14(6), 229-249. Malone, J. L. (2000). Working with Aboriginal Women:. Canadian Journal of Counselling / Revue canadienne de counseling, 34(1), 33-42. Ross, L. R. (2010). Feminist Counselling: Theory, Issues and Practice (p. 4). Ontario: Womens Press. Russell, S. (2003). Feminism, therapy and narrative ideas:. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2, 1-41. Worell, J. (2002). Feminist Perspectives in Therapy: Empowering Diverse Women (2ndnd ed., p. 5). New York: John Wiley & Sons. Read More