The Family Interpreted: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and Family Therapy

If anyone needs a lesson in the clinical advantages of keeping a constantly questioning, critical stance toward "traditional" approaches, this excellent book provides it. Whether you agree or not with the author's particular viewpoint, simply having to present one's own counterarguments is revealing. In a clear, reasoned, calm voice, the author shows the devasting clinical consequences of gender premises that have made their way into psychological theory and what it means to leave them unexamined. A must for the marriage and family therapist as well as the psychoanalytic clinician. A joy for study groups!

As a practicing family therapist, I found this book to be an excellent introduction to feminist-oriented psychotherapy. The author provides concise overviews of the various branches of family therapy, and I found her conclusions and critcisms to be accurate and well-thought out. I was intrigued by the author's thesis that "the modern family of the West is both patriarchal and father-absent" (p.18).I am familiar with psychoanalytic literature, but I am new to feminist literature. I thought the author blended both very well.The author states "And if this book made no other additon except to help some therapists contribute a bit less generously to the reproduction of misogyny, it would have succeeded beyond it's author's dreams." (p.279)This book has changed the way that I approach therapy, so the author can consider herself successful (at least in my case). :-)As excellent as I found this book, there were several reasons why I did not give the book 4 stars. (However, in the overall scheme of the book, these are minor criticisms, and I would encourage anyone interested to read this book):1. The author generally would build her arguments in a logical, supported way, providing references and citations. In my opinion, the author builds her arguments as strong as any other author that I've read recently. However, periodically through the book, the author would make a very strong statement that would seem to come out of the blue, without any supporting statements and/or citations.2. While I am not admittedly well versed in the object relations school, I do not think the author made a strong enough case for why object relations best suits feminism. The arguments that she uses could support a similar argument for Jungian analysis, or even Gestalt therapy. So - why object relations specifically?If anyone knows the author, please express my thanks to her for writing this book.If anyone has any other suggestions for books that I could read on feminist therapy, please e-mail them to me.

The author reviews several well known family therapy models and shows their "male-biased" problems. Most family therapy theories were developped by men despite the fact that about 90% of family counselors are women. The author is able to provide a feminist critique to the dominant family therapy theories without being condescending. The book is clearly written, easy to read, and important for anyone doing family counseling.