Feminist Therapy

Feminist therapy is a strength-based framework that is cognizant of power, bias, prejudice and systemic oppression. The problems the client brings to therapy are viewed in relationship to society at large. Rather than the problem being intrinsic to the person. In feminist therapy, we work diligently to foster an egalitarian relationship. This is the idea that you are the best expert of yourself and your problems. The therapist is bringing all their skills and training but doesn’t assert to be the expert of you. In this context, therapist and client collaborate as equals to help the client heal. Feminist therapists may use a variety of tools to help validate and normalize the client’s experiences. This includes analyzing how the social construction of gender has influenced the problems they are bringing to therapy – if at all. We may look at how power, unequal power, or the abuse of power impacts your well-being and capacity to thrive. Feminist therapy is particularly useful when considering experiences of inequality, race-based or gendered traumas, such as domestic and sexual violence.

When co-creating healing, I recognize that I am bringing my own humanity to the table as well, which includes aspects of privilege from my own intersectional identities. I am committed to continuing my own work to examine and minimize any potential for harm, and I use my own journey as opportunities to refine my ability to support my clients in theirs. My goal is to create a safe and supportive space for learning, growth, and transformation.

I aim to provide clients with a safe and non-judgmental space to explore our identities, interpersonal relationships, hardships, and experiences in this life. I am hella good at creating space to deep dive into the ways you have been shaped by systems of oppression and cultural experiences. Together, we can unlearn damaging and false narratives and heal the pain they have caused you.

I work from a feminist and social justice framework to hold clients up as the expert in their own experience and to acknowledge the relevance of social, environmental, and generational context.

Feminist therapy for me functions as the lens in which I understand client's presenting concerns and then use various interventions from other orientations for treatment. Basically this means that one of the goals in every session with me is to empower the client in front of me and help them find their internal power.

My foundational treatment orientations center understanding a person within their unique context. In feminist therapy, we look at how your personal experience is shaped by your political context and systemic inequities you face. Prioritizing an intersectional feminist approach, I want to understand how your specific identity markers (e.g., ethnic, gender, SES, disability, religion, etc) shape your context, how you uniquely experience the world, and how the world uniquely experiences/treats you.

My therapy is feminist in nature because I am always looking through the lens of feminism and anti-oppression when working with clients. For my clients who strongly identify as feminist, having a feminist therapist means you're not starting from scratch in explaining your worldview. For people who are newer to feminism, I can help you see angles to your situation that you might not have noticed.

What forms of gender expression feel safest, most comfortable, or fun for you? Which forms feel unsafe or unavailable to you? Gender-based expectations and norms impact people of all genders, and may be holding you back from being yourself and feeling empowered. We will explore the ways that your gender impacts your life, including your values and any limiting beliefs that you may be internalizing from your upbringing, environment, or culture about yourself or others.

I was there at the beginning of the feminist therapy movement in the 1970's in Berkeley, CA. I remember working with other women to discover what a feminist approach to crisis/rape counseling might involve. My doctoral dissertation was a feminist analysis of women who attempt suicide. This was at a time when there was almost no research on why women made more attempts than men. The personal is political!

I practice from an anti-oppressive and fat positive framework. I recognize how systems at multiple levels intersect and can impact someone's ability to thrive, or even survive.

I promote an egalitarian relationship with my clients, acknowledging they are the experts of their lives. I work with all clients, regardless of gender or sexual identity, on identifying areas of their life they experience oppression, and how it impacts their overall wellbeing. One of my greatest joys as a counselor is witnessing individuals become empowered to make choices and take actions that promote wellbeing, regardless of whether those choices are congruent with societal norms.

Let's be honest, systems of oppression are to blame here. I love supporting my clients in healing from systemic racism, sexism, fat-phobia, ableism, and queerphobia. You may not have control over these systems, but you do have control over how you show up for yourself in this sometimes fucked up world.

A feminist approach to therapy enables an egalitarian relationship between therapist and client, where the client is the expert in the room and we collaborate on treatment. My research in graduate school was on a feminist approach to working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse. As a therapist, I sought out a feminist supervisor and strive to learn as much from her as I can.

Feminist therapy approaches can be applied when working with any marginalized identity. I enjoy focussing on how systems impact your wellbeing and helping to empower you to step into your power. Harmful systems can create external and internal stories that are overwhelming, difficult, and feel impossible for one person to change...AND you can learn to take what control you do have and use it to make change in your life and encourage others to do the same.

Feminist therapy examines how systems of oppression affect our lives. Ableism is often what my clients encounter the most, along with transphobia and homophobia. I talk with my clients about how their schools can be more accommodating to them and how they can have the best chance at success while advocating for themselves.

My roots and core values come from an intersectional feminist therapy perspective. My graduate program at Lesley University further reinforced these values and training.

Everything I see I view through the lens of being a lesbian woman in a changing but still extremely sexist society. It impacts the dynamics of everyone's lives. I see empowering women as my purpose for this practice as well as my soul's mission for being here at this time on the planet. Feminist therapy for me has always been about fighting all the "isms" we face. It won't do to be progressive about women but not recognize race, class, gender identity, disability or immigration status.