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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent introduction to feminism/psychoanalytic thought
Review: As a practicing family therapist, I found this book to be an excellent introduction to feminist-oriented psychotherapy. The author provides concise overviews of the various branches of family therapy, and I found her conclusions and critcisms to be accurate and well-thought out. I was intrigued by the author's thesis that "the modern family of the West is both patriarchal and father-absent" (p.18).I am familiar with psychoanalytic literature, but I am new to feminist literature. I thought the author blended both very well. The author states "And if this book made no other additon except to help some therapists contribute a bit less generously to the reproduction of misogyny, it would have succeeded beyond it's author's dreams." (p.279) This book has changed the way that I approach therapy, so the author can consider herself successful (at least in my case). :-) As excellent as I found this book, there were several reasons why I did not give the book 4 stars. (However, in the overall scheme of the book, these are minor criticisms, and I would encourage anyone interested to read this book): 1. The author generally would build her arguments in a logical, supported way, providing references and citations. In my opinion, the author builds her arguments as strong as any other author that I've read recently. However, periodically through the book, the author would make a very strong statement that would seem to come out of the blue, without any supporting statements and/or citations. 2. While I am not admittedly well versed in the object relations school, I do not think the author made a strong enough case for why object relations best suits feminism. The arguments that she uses could support a similar argument for Jungian analysis, or even Gestalt therapy. So - why object relations specifically? If anyone knows the author, please express my thanks to her for writing this book. If anyone has any other suggestions for books that I could read on feminist therapy, please e-mail them to me.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to feminism/psychoanalytic thought
Review: As a practicing family therapist, I found this book to be an excellent introduction to feminist-oriented psychotherapy. The author provides concise overviews of the various branches of family therapy, and I found her conclusions and critcisms to be accurate and well-thought out. I was intrigued by the author's thesis that "the modern family of the West is both patriarchal and father-absent" (p.18). I am familiar with psychoanalytic literature, but I am new to feminist literature. I thought the author blended both very well. The author states "And if this book made no other additon except to help some therapists contribute a bit less generously to the reproduction of misogyny, it would have succeeded beyond it's author's dreams." (p.279) This book has changed the way that I approach therapy, so the author can consider herself successful (at least in my case). :-) As excellent as I found this book, there were several reasons why I did not give the book 4 stars. (However, in the overall scheme of the book, these are minor criticisms, and I would encourage anyone interested to read this book): 1. The author generally would build her arguments in a logical, supported way, providing references and citations. In my opinion, the author builds her arguments as strong as any other author that I've read recently. However, periodically through the book, the author would make a very strong statement that would seem to come out of the blue, without any supporting statements and/or citations. 2. While I am not admittedly well versed in the object relations school, I do not think the author made a strong enough case for why object relations best suits feminism. The arguments that she uses could support a similar argument for Jungian analysis, or even Gestalt therapy. So - why object relations specifically? If anyone knows the author, please express my thanks to her for writing this book. If anyone has any other suggestions for books that I could read on feminist therapy, please e-mail them to me.
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