Feminist Theory

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Brief Description of Video with Feminist Theory Feminist Theory emphasizes the importance of examining the role of gender in relation to the development of the person, specifically, how society influences gender roles and the development of the person. Herlihy and Park (2016) highlight five goals for the counseling process when utilizing the Feminist Theory: “equality, independence/interdependence, empowerment, self-nurturance, and valuing diversity” (p. 375). With these goals in mind, the counselor elicits positive change in client through promoting an egalitarian relationship, building a therapeutic alliance with the client, and utilizing interventions to include, but not limited to empowerment, bibliotherapy, and self-disclosure (Psychotherapy.net, …show more content…

This goal of self-nurturance encompasses improving one’s self-awareness and awareness of “personal needs, personal goals, desires, and self-identity”, thus improving self-esteem (Herlihy & Park, 2016, p. 376). My connection to this goal stems from my current journey toward improving my own self-awareness and self-esteem as I progress to becoming a helping professional. While self-awareness is integral to becoming an effective and competent counseling professional, I believe that it is also integral to guiding individuals toward making positive changes in their …show more content…

Walker utilized multiple interventions that indicated her adherence to Feminist Theory to include self-disclosure and empowerment. In the session with Gina, Dr. Walker provided instances of self-disclosure to enhance the therapeutic alliance and to provide the client with an “opportunity to relate” to the counselor “as a person” (Psychotherapy.net, 1997, 15:03). To illustrate, Dr. Walker provided the client with an opportunity to ask questions about her at the start of the session and provided the client with some background information on her specialization in response to the client’s question (Psychotherapy.net, 1997, 22:58). Additionally, Dr. Walker provided the client with self-disclosure that she was not personally abused, yet, she had worked with client that had experienced abuse for a significant period of time (Psychotherapy.net, 1997, 1:10:31). The effectiveness of utilizing self-disclosure is seen through the client’s active engagement in the session, particularly discussing intimate details of her life with Dr. Walker, as well as openly verbalizing that she was able to engage in the helping relationship with the counselor with ease (Psychotherapy.net, 1997,

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