Psychotherapy with Women: Exploring Diverse Contexts and Identities - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1593851898 ISBN 13: 9781593851897

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 2005

Synopsis

The contemporary successor to Marsha Pravder Mirkin's acclaimed Women in Context, this eminently practical clinical resource and text provides insights and interventions that have emerged out of decades of work on the psychology of women. All-new chapters from leading practitioners guide therapists to understand how gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, immigration status, religion, and other factors shape the experiences and identities of diverse women, and how to intervene effectively in the multiple contexts of clients' lives. Filled with vivid case material, the volume is uniquely structured to address family and relationship issues; work issues and career development; and health, spirituality, and self-care.

About this title

About the Author

Marsha Pravder Mirkin, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and resident scholar at the Brandeis University Women's Studies Research Center. She is on the faculty at Lasell College. Dr. Mirkin's interest in unheard voices and alternatives to the dominant discourse led her to edit Women in Context: Toward a Feminist Reconstruction of Psychotherapy and write The Women Who Danced by the Sea: Finding Ourselves in the Stories of Our Biblical Foremothers. She has served on the faculties of the Cambridge Hospital Couples and Family Training Program, Harvard Medical School, and the Jean Baker Miller Institute of the Stone Center at Wellesley College.

Karen L. Suyemoto, PhD, is Assistant Professor in Psychology and Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, where she teaches classes related to race, culture, and gender. She has published and presented primarily on topics related to racial and cultural identity, particularly in multiracial and Asian American people. Dr. Suyemoto's current research projects explore how interventions of education and community programs may affect racial and ethnic identities and empowerment in Asian American youth and college students.

Barbara F. Okun, PhD, is Professor and Training Director of the combined school and counseling psychology doctoral program at Northeastern University. She served for 10 years on the faculty of the Cambridge Hospital Couples and Family Training Program, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Okun maintains a diverse clinical practice in individual, couple, and family therapy. Her books include Effective Helping: Interviewing and Counseling Techniques, Understanding Diversity: A Learning-as-Practice Primer, and Understanding Diverse Families: What Practitioners Need to Know.

Review

"This book is a 'must read' for therapists, other service providers, and anyone interested in women’s issues. This gem provides a contemporary analysis of women's diversity and takes it to the next level. The book's fresh emphasis on work and self-care will resonate with today's readers. Both erudite and practical, this is a suitable text for courses on gender, diversity, multiculturalism, and health."--Lillian Comas-Diaz, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University

"The richness and intellectual depth of this volume enhance its value as an intriguing, enlightening 'must read' for practitioners, scholars, and students in diverse disciplines. The editors' and contributors' distinctive, caring take on women and the contexts in which they live, coupled with the quality of the writing, make this remarkable book a benchmark in the literature on women, family, work, relationships, and personal health."--Thomas J. Cottle, PhD, School of Education, Boston University

"An important contribution, this book demonstrates how to connect clinical and social justice goals in work with diverse women. Attending to such crucial concerns as privilege, marginalization, and dilemmas around meaning and values, chapters model the process of reflexive and critically conscious practice. Unique strengths of the book include major sections on the promotion of health and well-being. A valuable resource for clinicians and educators."--Beth G. Reed, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Michigan

"This compelling book explores the intersections of race, class, sexual orientation, immigration, and other contexts of women's lives today, drawing on a vast body of knowledge and animating it with absorbing case examples. Focusing on women’s predicaments, resources, and constraints in the areas of work, relationships, and self-care, this is a valuable text for social service and mental health professionals in training and for women's studies courses. Readers will appreciate the editors' and contributors' strong commitment to understanding and addressing the inequities in women’s lives."--Celia Jaes Falicov, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego


"The authors discuss different cultural realities transparently, sensitively, and with great clarity. They are able to move the therapist from the simplistic and rather stereotypical sociocultural formulations of women's clinical presentations....The distinctions among different areas that matter to women (work, interpersonal relationships, health, and self-care) are preserved well in the book, and these distinctions need to be echoed in all therapies with women....The authors leave the reader with a sense of hope that we can overcome the impact of harmful sociopolitical and cultural processes and walk the tightrope of challenging oppression and respecting diversity.", PsycCRITIQUES Published On: 2005-08-14

About this edition

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1593851898
• ISBN 13: 9781593851897
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 357
• Editor: Mirkin Marsha Pravder, Suyemoto Karen L., Okun Barbara F.