Transcript Social Work and Feminist Family Therapy

Feminist Family
Therapy
ACSW 2008 Annual Conference
Dr. Deborah Foster, RSW
Dr. Karen Nielsen, RSW
Slides will be posted on ACSW Web site
next week
Outline
Development of feminist family therapy
What
is feminism
What is family therapy
Feminist family therapy
Philosophy
Themes
Interventions
Premises congruent with values of social work.
Video
What is Feminism?
 Radical
- capitalism is barrier to ending
female oppression. No alternative other
than the total uprooting and
reconstruction of society to achieve goals
 Socialist - women being held down as a
result of their unequal standing in
workplace and the domestic sphere. Both
must change for equality.
What is Feminism?
Liberal
 Equality will happen through political & legal
reform
Eco-feminism
 Belief in the interconnectedness of all forms of life
and each act effects the whole.
 All forms of oppression affect us all
 Two kinds of power: power over & power within.
Power from within is empowerment& is unlimited
& renewable.
 Diversity is needed in the system to maintain
stability. (true for political and economic systems
also.)
The Influence of Feminism: Three Waves
First Wave - Right to vote
Second Wave – Right to reproductive control,
equal pay for equal work, no fault divorce,
gender neutral language & sanctions against
marital rape
Third wave –celebrate diversity; combat
inequalities women face as a result of age,
gender, race, sexual orientation, economic status
or level of education; access to NRT for single
women and lesbians
Gender Role Socialization
Exercise
What messages did you get about being
an man/woman when you were growing
up
 How has your socialization influenced
your practice
 Assign a recorder/discuss
 Be prepared to report back
 10 Mins
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Family Therapy Types
Structural
Strategic
Bowenian
Narrative
Feminist
Structural Family Therapy
Salvador Minuchin
 Directive & action orientated
 Goal: modify the present, not explore past
 Goal: not symptom relief but for family to
reorganize itself around a symptom
 No pathologizing/ labeling of individuals
 Therapist not to impose their beliefs on family
 No consideration of power differential between men,
women & children
Strategic Family Therapy
Jay Haley
 Does not address gender/power differences
 Therapist responsible for influencing family
 Associated with use of paradoxical techniques
 Give tasks and homework
 Not concerned with the past
 View of dysfunction: symptoms regulate
homeostasis in families; symptom is a type of
behavior. Symptoms carry a function for the
family
Strategic Family Therapy
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The identified patient ( symptom carrier)
cannot be viewed separate & apart from
the family. Unless the system changes, it is
difficult for the individual to change.
Insight is not needed for change to take
place.
Bowenian
Murray Bowen
 Goal for the individual to differentiate & take "I"
position in family of origin
 Individual must stay connected to family &
therapy generally involves 3 generations of family
 Triangulation is a key concept. Triangles are likely
to develop during times of distance.
 In relationships, the partner who experiences the
most distress will often connect with someone else
as a way to gain an ally.
Bowenian
Conceptualizes togetherness and
individuality as competing forces
 Therapy focus on "overcoming
togetherness needs and increasing
individuality"
 No recognition that women are relational
 Therapist neutral
 Does not address gender/power
differences

Narrative Family Therapy
Michael White and David Epstein
 Developed as a reaction to labelling &
pathologizing of traditional family therapy
 Stresses a collaborative relationship with
family
 Key concept is externalization, creates a team
made up of therapist & persons united against
an outside problem
Narrative Therapy
Emphasis is on victory over problems &
not on problem-saturated story.
 Emphasis is on uniqueness of persons, not
their “deviance”
 Fits very well with a feminist approach

My Big Fat Greek Wedding
As you watch the video clip, consider the
socialization messages?
 Who carries the power in this family?

Feminist Family Therapy
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Developed in Second Wave
Rachel Hare-Mustin (1978): A Feminist Approach to
Family Therapy
Application of feminist theory & values to family
therapy, including personal & political
Understanding gender & power is the core of
therapeutic practice
Understanding client’s problems requires a sociocultural perspective
Societal changes & empowerment of the individual
Feminist Family Therapy
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Explores way gender roles & socialization
affect each individual & their relationships
with one another in family system, society &
within the client therapist relationship
Recognizes the unequal status of women &
the reasons for that inequality
Feminist family theory is a philosophy, not
just a set of techniques
Therapists help clients examine & challenge
gender rules & roles
Themes in Feminist Therapy
Understanding power & control issues
 Examining external forces that influence behavior
 Identifying messages receive in growing up
 Learning to accept appropriate responsibility
 Exploring personal values/beliefs
 Recognition that both women & men live in a
gendered context & that male gender roles can also
be problematic
 Parenting is not the sole responsibility of women
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Feminist Family Therapy
Egalitarian role of feminist therapist
 Therapeutic alliance: Recognize power imbalance
between client & therapist
 Judicious use of self-disclosure to reduce power
differential between client & counselor
 No labelling & pathologizing
 No giving interpretations
 Client is “expert” on self
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Feminist Family Therapy
Historically women & men have been
socialized in different way. Men socialized to
be task focused; women are socialized to be
emotional caretakers.
 Masculinity is defined through separation;
femininity is defined through attachment.
 Important to incorporate a gender lens when
counselling couples & families. Empowerment
is a key concept.

Brokeback Mountain
How do same sex relationships challenge
our assumptions about male female
socialization
 Consider the importance of a gender lens
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Empowerment
Empowerment: the process of increasing
the capacity of individuals or groups to
make choices & to transform those
choices into desired actions & outcomes.
Feminist Family Therapy
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Includes male clients and male therapists
Seeks non-gendered & culturally fair ways to
approach & interpret traditional
psychotherapeutic theories and techniques
It looks at gender role strain for both men &
women
Family seen as powerful resource for positive
change
The task of therapy is to mobilize that resource
Intervention Techniques in Feminist
Family Therapy
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Gender-role analysis
 Help family understand the impact of gender-role
expectations in their relationships
 Provides clients with insight into the ways social
issues affect their problems
Power analysis
 Emphasis on identifying the power differences in
relationships, in society, and impact on family
 Clients helped to recognize different kinds of power
they possess and how they and others exercise
power
Intervention Techniques in
Feminist Family Therapy
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Power issues detrimental to the family system
are confronted
Feminist family therapists help clients examine
and challenge rules and roles and reorganize
them so that destructive patterns can change
Feminist family therapists encourage the
development of inner resources and goal
setting
Reframing
Turns problem behaviors into resources & conflict
situations into platforms for agreement
 Fundamental shift in our cultural paradigm
 Encouraged & rewarded to be problem-solvers
from early age
 Seeing self through the filters of being a problem
solver sets our perceptual filters to "scan for
problems"
 Life is seen primarily as a source of problems
being served up so that we can maintain our status
as master problem solver
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Reframing
Problem solving is dominant theme in schools,
psychotherapy, management & counseling
 This orientation can hide from us the small
successes that if noticed and nurtured, can lead
to creative spirit of continuous improvement &
success
 An individual attitude of reframing problems
into potential and opportunity is more than just
“sleight of mind”. It is literally a way to
change the perceptions of ourselves and others
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Gaylord’s Wall
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Acknowledging small successes: is it
sleight of mind?
Social Work & Feminist Family Therapy
Core Social Work Values and Principles
Value 1: Respect for Inherent Dignity and Worth of
Persons
Value 2: Pursuit of Social Justice
Value 3: Service to Humanity
Value 4: Integrity of Professional Practice
Value 5: Confidentiality in Professional Practice
Value 6: Competence in Professional Practice
Core FTT Values and Principles
Value 1: Respect clients' freedom to choose;
emphasize development of collaborative
relationships; therapy must be geared to helping
the client see that she must be her own rescuer that the power she longs for is not in someone else
but in herself. Client as expert (Respect for
Inherent Dignity and Worth of Persons)
Value 2: The personal is political; consider problems
within societal context; actively seeking to change
gender injustices experienced by women and men.
(Pursuit of Social Justice)
Social Work & Feminist Family
Therapy
Value 3: Feminist therapist seeks multiple
avenues for impacting change, including
public ed. & advocacy within professional
organizations, lobbying legislative actions
(Service to Humanity)
Value 4: Feminist therapist is accountable
self, colleagues & clients. (Integrity of
Professional Practice)
Social Work & Feminist Family
Therapy
Value 5: Open agenda, informed consent;
egalitarian relationship (Confidentiality
in Professional Practice)
Value 6: A feminist therapist will contract
to work with clients & issues within the
realm of her/his competencies
(Competence in Professional Practice)