Integrating Spirit and Psyche : Using Women's Narratives in Psychotherapy

In this extraordinary collection, the voices of women's experience ring out loud and true!

The power of narrative in therapy for women is undeniable. Used well, other women's narratives can help us to understand and rewrite our own. Here, women bare their souls, reflecting on self-enhancement and growth, on discrediting negative family scripts, on seeing through demeaning cultural messages, on living in the modern world, on their wildness, wisdom, spirituality, and a great deal more! Each chapter includes questions for reflection to help readers incorporate these narratives into their own lives.

From the author: “This book began with the women's groups I facilitate. Some themes arose many times: I feel bad about myself; I can't speak up at times; I don't feel like I have any rights; I feel stupid; I feel like I am bad. But as therapy progressed, new narratives were expressed: I do have a voice; I am knowledgeable; I like being who I am; and I can work through this conflict.

“As a writer and therapist, I have taken a stance about ideas that are presented in sessions with clients and that exist in their culture. This book elaborates on those ideas and offers readers an opportunity to think about them in their own lives. Women can rewrite their lives as they become aware of their stories.”

Some of the narratives that you'll find in Integrating Spirit and Psyche: Using Women's Narratives in Psychotherapy explore:

• women as second-class citizens
• putting the self in context
• women's spirituality in its many forms
• anger as it relates to gender
• societal pressure on women to bear terrible burdens in silence
• ways that various cultures have demeaned women-infanticide, foot binding, genital mutilation, dowry deaths, etc.
• societal messages that encourage feelings of helplessness, shame, anger, and inhibition in women
• ways to resolve conflicts, take credit where it’s due, and express ourselves
• mind-body connections
• women to look to for inspiration--Virginia Woolf, Marie Curie, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Margaret Thatcher, and many more
• aging and wisdom
• women's spiritual practices--meditation, T'ai Chi, Chakra Awareness, practices from the Judeo-Christian traditions, and more!

Mary Pat Henehan, Harold G Koenig