Breaking Up with the Patriarchy (Paperback or Softback)

Therapist Susan L. Herrmann draws on thirty years of clinical practice to guide readers through a personal and cultural reckoning with patriarchal conditioning. Grounded in the work of Four Arrows (Wahinkpe Topa), who contributes the foreword, the book introduces readers to the Kinship Worldview, the relational framework that sustained human communities for most of our existence, and offers it as a practical path toward healing the isolation, anxiety, and disconnection that define modern life.

This is not an academic critique. Herrmann writes conversationally, weaving client stories, personal narrative, and embodied practices into each chapter. Readers learn to identify internalized patriarchal patterns, reclaim somatic and intuitive ways of knowing, build authentic community, and practice what Herrmann calls Radical Surrender: acting from integrity without attachment to outcomes.

The book sits naturally at the intersection of several strong sections: psychology/self-help, spirituality, Indigenous wisdom, women's studies, and social justice. It appeals to readers of Resmaa Menakem's My Grandmother's Hands, Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass, and Four Arrows' Restoring the Kinship Worldview (co-authored with Darcia Narvaez, who endorses this book).

A companion facilitator guide is available for book clubs and group study programs.

Endorsed by Darcia Narvaez (Professor Emerita of Psychology, University of Notre Dame), David Blake Willis (Professor of Anthropology and Education, Fielding Graduate University), and practicing clinicians in somatic psychotherapy, trauma, and decolonizing practice.

Susan L. Herrmann, PhD, LICSW brings over three decades of experience dismantling systems that fragment relationships and limit human potential. As a practicing therapist, she specializes in trauma, grief, and the challenges of living authentically within oppressive systems, helping people reclaim their sovereignty and restore kinship with their intuitive wisdom.For over twelve years, Susan directed a global service-learning program in Vietnam supporting Agent Orange-affected communities, where she witnessed how Western-centric models often miss the mark across cultural contexts. Her approach to teaching and facilitation is holistic and unflinchingly direct-she asks questions others avoid, creating fiercely compassionate spaces where participants examine not just what they're learning, but whose knowledge systems are privileged and whose voices are missing.Known as a "Licensed Clinical Miracle Worker," Susan is commended by students, clients, and colleagues for showing the way to bridging the gap between stated values and actual practice. Of approximately four hundred clients she has worked with using the framework in this book, only two have declined to continue.

Laura B. Fox is the founder of Open Spiral, an independent press publishing books that offer practical wisdom for transformative times. As a ghostwriter and developmental editor, she helps visionary authors in the healing and consciousness space bring their work to life. She has hosted the twice-yearly Soul-Driven Author Summit since 2023. She is the author of The Soul-Driven Author's Nonfiction Book Planning Guide: A Manual and Interactive Workbook for Coaches and Healers. Laura's writing has appeared in Dark Mountain Project and Halfway Down the Stairs. She studied social ecology at Prescott College and lived for several years at Arcosanti, Paolo Soleri's experimental community in the Arizona desert.