Reality and Feminist Therapy Order

Reality and Feminist Therapy

Order ID: Reality therapy/Feminist

Strengths and weaknesses of feminist and reality therapy

Both reality and feminist therapies focus on change -- either change in general, or fostering personal change to bring about a more positive social reality for women. "Reality Therapy's fundamental idea is that no matter what has happened in the past, our future is ours and success is based on the behaviors we choose" (Reality therapy, 2008, International Journal of Reality Therapy). Reality therapy is part of the legacy of choice therapy, a therapy that empowers the client by stressing that "almost all behavior is chosen, and that we are driven by our genes to satisfy five basic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun. In practice, the most important need is love and belonging, as closeness and connectedness with the people we care about is a requisite for satisfying all of the needs" (Reality therapy, 2008, International Journal of Reality Therapy). However, critics would contend that not all circumstances are alterable on the part of the client, and this can simply make individuals feel 'bad' if they are trapped in social and economic circumstances that they cannot change, and have limited life choices.

One example of such 'bad' circumstances might be social constructions like gender roles, from which feminist therapy strives to free individuals. Like reality-based therapy feminist therapy stresses the fundamental equality between client and therapist -- and the goal of feminist therapy is to change society, through positive personal and political actions. The therapist helps the client embark upon a more self-directed and self-empowered life. When feminist therapy was most popular, during the Second Wave Women's Movement of the 1970s, quite often the therapist and client were both women undergoing similar political and social awakenings. Critics might contend, however, that such a politicization of the therapeutic process is counterproductive to realizing the true purpose of therapy, which is fundamentally personal. Also, there is a kind of reverse sexism to the implication that only a woman can help other women achieve a sense of fulfillment. Yet feminists would point out the political and social 'taint' of many forms of so-called traditional, politically neutral therapies. Freudian psychoanalysis was famous for spawning the concept of penis envy, which suggested that women were frustrated by their inability to become male. "Briefly, feminists believe the personal is political. Basic tenets of feminism include a belief in the equal worth of all human beings, recognition that each individual's personal experiences and situations are reflective of and an influence on society's institutionalized attitudes and values, and a commitment to political and social change that equalizes power among people. Feminists are committed to recognizing and reducing the pervasive influences and insidious effects of oppressive societal attitudes and society" (Chappell 2000). In its current incarnation, feminist therapy's stress upon liberating individuals from oppressive social attitudes does not just pertain only to gender, but all negative social attitudes. Thus, at its most universal, feminist therapy's central tenant that the personal and political are intermeshed, and that one's political reality creates one's cognitive reality, can be applied to many contexts beyond gender.