feminist therapy...who knew?

Background: It became obvious to me that my previous therapist was projecting social/female expectations on me in a way that I felt (wrongly) challenged my emotional health.

Example: In describing some other pertinent matter, I referenced my belief that I am inherently a lone wanderer of sorts and have no desire to marry whatsoever.

But WHOA WHOA WHOA. Apparently this is a BFD and we had to halt previous discussion and hash out what the fuck is wrong with me that I just don't see eternal happiness with Prince Charming beckoning me towards soul mate-hood (of course the actual exchange was not so explicit...but the overall message was the same).

It was at this point I realized that my doctor had his head too far up his ass to engage me in any profound or thought-provoking manner...or to even come close to challenging my thoughts about myself and the world.

Fast forward a few months later: I had this grand epiphany (a few days ago) and was able to identify an over-arching theme among many issues consuming my mental energy and affecting my daily life. Suddenly, what I really need to explore became clear to me (contrary to my usual style, I will actually keep this revelation to myself--when I finally work out the kinks, it will be a very dynamic post).

Sparing the details, the theme I uncovered is undoubtedly gender-related; however, given my previous experience, I am not so convinced that an institution historically predicated on diagnoses of mental distress and psychoses catered to heteronormative behavior can shed light on anything I find interesting about myself.

Anyhow, one thing lead to another...and I found feminist therapy. Now, a few posts ago, I declared that I am not a feminist, but advocate values considered feminist--and I still stand by that. Even so, dealing with any gender-related issues demands an operating knowledge of fe/male constructions and social manure.

It was found by women who had become aware of the pressures of patriarchy, sexism and male chauvinism that therapy and counselling were not exempt from these pressures. They discovered that they were put down in a number of subtle ways, and that all sorts of expectations about the female role and how it should be played were built in to the therapy process. So they started to set up their own therapy centres and their own network of therapists. In this way a feminist therapy started to come into being (A Guide to Humanistic Psychology).

In feminist therapy, the idea is NOT about blaming males for the problems of women. There is nothing helpful in doing this. The goal is to help both men and women learn about and explore the impact that systemic sexism...(Feminist Therapy)

Okay...now that I am reading about this as I link, I have developed one area of concern: I am thoroughly well-read and knowledgeable on various theories of feminism and gender roles. What I DO NOT need is some one to explain to me that the a-b-c's of women and social constructions...I am way beyond that. In fact, I think the deep analysis that I am currently going through in all of my spare time and time I should be doing other things is scholarly material.

Well, this will be exciting! I will keep The Colonic posted (no pun intended) on what the hell happens to me throughout this experience. No doubt it will be entertaining, even if it isn't helpful.

I will conclude this post with my feelings on therapy in general. My mother once told me that "Therapists are like shoes--you have to try on a lot to get a good pair."

I completely agree. But more importantly, psychiatrists and psychologists, despite their credentials, are people with problems and opinions and can very well be dumb and way off-point. They can also be helpful and life-saving...but it's important to remember that there is no god, and if there were, s/he is not speaking through your therapist.