Sfbt And Gender Roles: Feminist Therapy

Key Concepts:

SFBT SFBT has a unique focus by favouring the present and the future via eschewing the past (Corey G. , 2012). In order to enhance lives SFBT, views behaviour change as the largest contributor in helping clients help themselves. Grounded on the optimistic assumption that all people are inherently healthy, competent and capable of constructing solutions, SFBT emphasizes competencies rather than deficits, therefore its a non-anthologising approach (Corey G. , 2016). Parallels can be drawn to positive psychology, which focuses on what a person is doing right rather the ‘problem’ that brought the client to therapy. SFBT highlights what is working and then helps clients apply this knowledge eliminating problems efficiently and effectively,

, 2012). There is a notion that a person’s identity is intensely influenced by societal gender roles from the moment of birth onwards (Corey G. , 2012), which leads to constructs of gender schemas wherein gender roles perpetuated by a sexist society are internalised, this promotes gender role expectations that generate various false senses of self. Six core principles that overlap and interrelate form the foundation of feminist theory according to Corey (2012). The first is that “the personal is political” (Corey G. , 2012, p. 337), based on the assumption that personal problems are derived from social or political contexts. Secondly feminist therapy aims for social change not merely individual change. Thirdly, “Women’s and girl’s voices and ways of knowing are valued and their experiences are honoured” (Corey G. , 2012, p. 337), patriarchal truths are to be replaced with diverse knowledge avenues. The fourth principal honours that the client is the expert in their own lives, however an egalitarian therapeutic relationship is established (Hecklinger, 2003). The fifth and sixth principals outline that psychological distress definitions should be reformulated and all types of oppression be recognised, respectively (Corey G. ,

Exceptions are “past experiences in a clients’ life when it would be reasonable to have expected a problem to occur yet did not” (Corey G. , 2016, p. 370). Deduced from that is exception questions which direct clients to times where their ‘problem’ did not exist or was not as concentrated as before (Beg & de Shazer, 1993). The Miracle question encourages clients to enact a hypothetical ‘what would be different’ notwithstanding their perceived problem, in doing so changing the ‘viewing’ and ‘doing’ of the problem which changes the problem (Beg & de Shazer, 1993). Scaling questions are used when a change in an individual’s experiences such as feelings, communication or mood are not conventionally observed (Beg & de Shazer, 1993). By rating on scale, such unobservable experiences, clients renew their notions of helplessness and defeat (Bavelas , del Vinto, & McGee, 2005). FFST is a form of homework given to the client by the therapist after the first therapeutic session, that usually grants clients hope that change will occur (de Shazer, Korman, Dolan, Trepper, & McCollom, 2007). Towards the end of the session the therapist takes a break composing a summary message for clients that usually contains a ‘compliment’ -