A Feminist Approach to Family Therapy

Abstract

Although family therapy recognizes the importance of the social context as a determiner of behavior, family therapists have not examined the consequences of traditional socialization practices that primarily disadvantage women. The unquestioned reinforcement of stereotyped sex roles takes place in much of family therapy. A feminist therapy orientation that considers the consequences of stereotyped sex roles and the statuses prescribed by society for females and males should be part of family therapy practice. This paper describes the ways in which family therapists who are aware of their own biases and those of the family can change sexist patterns through applying feminist principles to such areas as the contract, shifting tasks in the family, communication, generational boundaries, relabeling deviance, modeling, and therapeutic alliances.

Third‐Order Thinking in Family Therapy: Addressing Social Justice Across Family Therapy Practice

“…There have been many other shifts including second-order systems thinking (Anderson & Goolishan, 1992;Hoffman, 1981Hoffman, , 1985Keeney, 1983), the feminist critique (Hair et al, 1996;Hare-Mustin, 1978), and a focus on diversity and social justice (McGoldrick & Hardy, 2008) to name a few. Systems theory and social constructivism were major paradigm shifts in which new ideas flourished.…”

“…Feminist family scholars challenged first-order thinking by pointing out how inequities in societal systems impact family roles and power dynamics (Hair, Fine, & Ryan, 1996;Hare-Mustin, 1978). Although many family therapists and scholars still consider themselves systems thinkers, a first-order, general systems approach was limited and relatively short-lived; primarily because the metaphor of families as being similar to mechanical or biological self-correcting systems was reductionistic.…”

Afro-Caribbean Mothers in the U.S.: An Exploratory Study From a Transnational Feminist Perspective

“…However, we continue to grow in our scholarship as we strive to understand the consequences of traditional socialization practices that primarily disadvantage women. Hare-Mustin (1978) urged family therapists to be aware of how their gender role scripts and biases, and those of each family member, might perpetuate sexist family dynamics and family patterns. Of the feminist principles mentioned in her foundational work, those most relevant to these data are the areas of examining our own biases and relabeling deviance.…”

Gender‐Aware Supervision in Marriage and Family Counseling and Therapy: How Far Have We Actually Come?

“…Questions such as the following have been posed: Are differences in gender that important, or is it more essential to appreciate each individual's unique qualities? Should gender be the central organizing principle of supervision, or should it be in a spectrum of variables defining the context of supervision (Goldner, 1985;Hare-Mustin, 1978? Some argue the need for conceptualizations that account for diversity in all of its forms, such as gender.…”

“…1988;Bograd, 1984;Goldner. 1985;Hare-Mustin, 1978Taggart. 1985) and regarding the limitations of systemic approaches (cf.…”