Making Therapy Feminist

The authors wished to gather information about the ways in which experienced feminist therapists are integrating the principles of feminist therapy into their practice. Two areas of interest were examined: the application of specific therapy techniques and the ongoing background dialogue of therapy. A survey asking two open-ended questions regarding these areas was mailed to members of the Feminist Therapy Institute. Responses were organized into categories based on feminist therapy principles for which there was consensus in the literature and as described in the Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics. Results showed strong support for a variety of ways on which feminist therapists enact these principles, with particular attention given by respondents to power in the structure and relationship of therapy. Respondents also described creative ways in which they had modified cognitive-behavioral, hypnosis, and other therapy techniques in order to make them more compatible with feminist principles.