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The Women's Movement has given an impetus to the task of revising many of Freud's original ideas about the psychological development of women. These revisions come from several important sources; psychoanalytic theorists such as Harold Blum, from the data of child analysis and the direct observation of children, e.g. Roiphe & Galenson, and from within the Women's Movement itself, for example Juliet Mitchell. The feminist authors of this book, Understanding Women, have presented their own feminist psychology of women. In addition, they have described their technique for individual, group and couple therapy based on their theory. This is an ambitious undertaking contained in just under 200 pages.
The authors found that women were dissatisfied with the psychotherapy they received from male therapists who reflected values created by a 'paternalistic society'. They therefore established their own Women's Psychotherapy Centre in London, in 1976, to provide psychotherapy for women, conducted exclusively by women. The clinic was so popular that they were able to open a similar centre in the United States in 1981.
Their book, after a short preface, consists of ten chapters which are expanded versions of In-service Lectures and Discussion Groups presented to women in their centre who were learning how to conduct 'feminist psychotherapy'.
The formal description of this therapy is poor. There is no indication of the qualifications of either author nor of those who work in their clinic. They refer to themselves only as 'therapists'. (This may reflect a feminist position concerning titles.) The In-service lectures are given for 'practising psychotherapists, psychiatric social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors'. There is no data about the selection of patients, although I infer from clinical examples that they worked with middle class neurotic women between the ages of 20–50. There is no information as to the length or frequency of sessions but we are t