Feminism & Therapy: How Gender Equality Impacts Mental Health

In this episode, we break down one of the most misunderstood yet deeply transformative topics in mental health—Feminist Therapy. We explore the history of feminism, clarify misconceptions, and discuss how feminist therapy empowers clients to navigate societal oppression, reclaim their voice, and heal in a way that honors their lived experiences. Whether you’re a woman navigating gendered pressures or a man looking to break free from toxic masculinity, this approach offers tools for a more liberated and authentic mental health journey.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Feminism vs. Misconceptions – Addressing the negative connotations of feminism and clarifying what it truly stands for.
• Feminism and Mental Health – How systemic issues contribute to mental health struggles and why feminist therapy shifts the focus from “what’s wrong with me?” to “what happened to me?”
• The Evolution of Feminism – Understanding the first, second, and third waves of feminism and their impact on gender equality.
• Core Principles of Feminist Therapy – Including empowerment, collaboration, intersectionality, and addressing power dynamics in therapy.
• Who Can Benefit? – How feminist therapy supports all genders in challenging oppressive societal norms and reclaiming emotional well-being.
• Case Study – A real-world example of how feminist therapy can reshape the mental health narrative for marginalized individuals.

Referenced Resources & Links:

• Emma Watson’s HeForShe Speech (2014, United Nations)
• Books & Theorists Mentioned:
  • In a Different Voice – Carol Gilligan
  • Toward a New Psychology of Women – Jean Baker Miller

Transcript

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Today, we're diving into a topic that's often misunderstood, but deeply transformative and important. Feminism. And more specifically, feminist therapy. Now, before we get started, let's address the elephant in the room. To some people, including some women, feminism has a bad connotation. For decades, it's been reduced to man hating or unnecessarily aggressive. This misrepresentation has caused many to hesitate to call themselves feminists. even if they do believe in the core principles of gender equality. So let's clear this up. Feminism is not about hating men. It's not about refusing to wear makeup or bra. It's about believing that all people, no matter their gender, should have equal rights and opportunities. Emma Watson captured this beautifully her 2014 United Nations HeForShe speech, when she said, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. If you haven't watched that speech, I highly recommend it, and we will put a link to it in the show notes. It's a powerful resource to really understand what feminism is. So, how does feminism relate to mental health? That's what we're here to explore today. We're here to unpack the history and the theory of feminist counseling, and discuss why it's important, and give you a clear picture of what to expect if you decide to give it a try. Let's start by grounding ourselves in the basics. Feminism as a movement has evolved through several waves over time. In the first wave, women like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth fought for basic legal rights like voting and property ownership. In the second wave, it expanded to include a focus for workplace rights, reproductive freedom, and protections against domestic violence. With leaders such as Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedman, and Audre Lorde driving that movement forward. The third and current wave, championed by figures like Kimberly Crenshaw, focuses on intersectionality, acknowledging that women experience oppression differently on different factors like race, class, sexuality, and disability. At its core, feminism is about dismantling systems of oppression. It's not just for women, but for everyone. Patriarchy harms men, too, by reinforcing toxic masculinity, discouraging emotional vulnerability, and stigmatizing help seeking behavior. Feminism is not just a woman's issue, it's a human issue. It's about creating a world where everyone can thrive without constraints of outdated, rigid, and harmful gender norms. Now that we've clarified what feminism is, let's talk about its role in mental health. A great deal of the mental health struggles that women face aren't rooted in pathology. They're natural and valid responses to living in a society that prioritizes men's needs and perspectives over women's. For example, think about the mental load that women carry in relationships and families. Think about the wage gap, or the constant pressure to balance career aspirations with societal expectations of motherhood. These aren't individual failings, they're systemic issues. Feminist therapy acknowledges this. It shifts the focus from what's wrong with me to what happened to me, and how is the world around me contributing to my distress? Feminist therapy is a counseling approach rooted in the belief that the personal issues are often intertwined with societal issues. It's built on the idea that the personal is political. Meaning that individual experiences can't be separated from the larger social and cultural context. Feminist therapy, as a field, owes much to pioneers like Carol Gilligan, who challenged the traditional psychological theories with her book, In a Different Voice. And Jean Baker Miller, whose book Toward a New Psychology of Women, introduced the concept of relational cultural theory. These contributions emphasize the importance of relationships and societal context in shaping mental health. importance of cultural competence in counseling. If you'd like to learn more about these women and the work done we'll add links for you in the show notes to reference. It's important to note that while feminist therapy was originally developed by women for women, it has since expanded to include therapists and clients of all genders. This inclusivity reflects the evolving understanding that the patriarchy and gender based oppression truly harms everyone. Here are some of the key priorities of feminist therapy. In other words, these are the things that your feminist oriented therapist will be thinking about during a therapy session. Number one, empowerment. Feminist therapists aim to help clients reclaim their voice and their agency above everything else. This means that they're going to help you identify and challenge internalized messages from society that diminish your self worth. As therapists, we're not here to tell you what is right and what's wrong in your life. The work that we do is simply reflecting back to you what you've told us in a different way and asking questions that help you to maybe see things from a different perspective. In this way, we really work to partner with you and step alongside you in your journey to help you evaluate how empowered you are. Or how disempowered you are and help you figure out what steps that you want to take next. Number two, collaboration. The therapist client relationship in feminist counseling is viewed as an egalitarian partnership. So this really means that instead of looking at your therapist as being the expert who is there to fix you or tell you exactly what advice you should accept in order to make your life better, we just partner with you. And we work together to help you identify what goals and what solutions work for you as a unique human being in this world. Next, we spend time paying attention to power dynamics. Feminist therapy acknowledges power imbalances, not just in society, but also in the therapy room itself. Therapists are trained to be mindful about how their own privilege and biases might impact the counseling relationship. And this is even more true in feminist therapy. In other words, we spend careful attention to really ensure that the therapeutic space remains one that feels like that partnership, where we work together to help you evaluate power dynamics across all areas of your life. We really want to see you feeling empowered and have the ability to make choices. the ability to say no and the ability to take whatever action you feel like is best to create the life that you desire. And lastly, we're also going to pay particular attention to intersectionality. This framework considers how various aspects of your identity, so things like race, class, sexuality, and ability, intersect and greatly influence your mental health. We will help you explore and honor how your intersectional identity has influenced your mental health and really help you to identify ways to practice activism in a way that feels safe and authentic for you. So what does a feminist counseling session actually look like? First, expect your therapist to validate your lived experiences and encourage you to use your voice to tell stories about what has happened to you and how it felt. If you mention that you're feeling burnt out from juggling work and family, your therapist won't just focus on helping you manage that stress, they'll also help you explore how societal expectations around gender roles might actually be contributing to that burnout, and any feelings that also come up alongside it, like shame, guilt, or even negative self talk. We often hear things like, you know, I should be able to do all of these things. I shouldn't be struggling with this so much. Really, any time that we hear a client say, I should or I shouldn't feel this, we really just stop to question that. Because we don't really want you to should yourself. You'll likely also set goals collaboratively with your therapist in a feminist therapy session. For example, you might work on setting boundaries, you might decide to build your self advocacy skills, or redefine your identity outside of those traditional gender roles that we named earlier. The therapy process in a feminist setting is centered around being empowering, non judgmental, and deeply personalized. So, one FEMIS therapy session is going to look completely different from another. It is uniquely designed to fit you and honor the presenting issues and the struggles that you are coming to us with. There's not a prescriptive method that we follow. We simply partner with you and focus on what is causing you the most distress today, and really dive into it with those themes of empowerment and power dynamics in mind. And here's another important point. Feminist therapy isn't just for women. Men, too, can benefit greatly from this approach. The patriarchy harms men by teaching them to suppress their emotions, avoid vulnerability, and equate strength with stoicism. These messages contribute to an alarmingly high suicide rate for men, as well as a host of issues like untreated depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. You may have heard about the loneliness epidemic hitting men especially hard. And let me say this very clearly. Women are not at fault for men's loneliness. The patriarchy is. Engaging in feminist therapy can help men unpack harmful messages that isolate them and force them to suffer in silence. Feminist therapy can help men learn to process their emotions in an authentic way and build healthier relationships with themselves and others of all genders. Because the patriarchy and misogyny is so deeply rooted, doing this work requires a great level of bravery from men. It takes real courage to challenge societal norms and redefine what it means to be strong and to redefine what it really means to be a man. Feminist therapy offers a powerful lens for understanding and addressing mental health struggles of all kinds. It helps us see that our pain isn't always a sign of something wrong with us. It's often a natural response to an unfair and unjust world. Consider this example. A single mother, age 32, who identifies as a Latina, comes into therapy for the first time after experiencing a string of panic attacks. She works full time as a teacher, and she has a master's degree and leadership training in her field. But she also works a part time job on weekends and over summers to make ends meet. She recently got turned down for a job promotion at school, despite working in the district for seven years and having nothing but glowing reviews. The promotion went to a white male colleague who has been with the school district for three years and has a bachelor's degree in education. She also recently received a notice that she and her kids need to move out of the house they've been renting for the past four years, and although she's been trying, she's been unable to find affordable housing or assistance with the move. Since this is the first time she's coming to counseling, She's never processed childhood trauma that has also occurred for her. These include things like her parents deportation and sexual assault that occurred in her early teen years. Now, thinking about this woman, we may see that she meets diagnostic criteria for things like panic disorder and potentially PTSD. But if you really look at this scenario and ask yourself, is there something wrong with her? Or is she doing the very best that she can in a very bad situation where the odds are stacked against her? If she goes through the world believing that she should be able to get that promotion, she should be able to afford housing, and she should be able to handle the stress of parenting and long work hours just fine, then it becomes her fault when she's not coping well. Those panic attacks become her fault. That thinking starts a very deep and dangerous cycle of shame and self deprecation that feeds anxiety, depression, and low self esteem and self efficacy. A feminist counseling approach for this situation could help her understand that she holds constant anxiety about the safety of her kids because she, herself, was not safe as a child. Feminist counseling could help her realize that, actually, the reason she can't afford new housing or get that promotion is because of the gender wage gap and intersectional oppression in the workforce. If she looks at herself and her situation and says, I recognize what I'm up against isn't fair, and I'm doing my very best, and I will continue to do my best by trying X, Y, and Z strategies moving forward. Instead of, gosh, I'm just not good enough, and there's something wrong with me because these things are not working out and I'm struggling. Being able to tell yourself that I recognize the world isn't built for me, and I'm still fighting, I'm still doing my part, I'm working hard, and I'm going to continue to, that perspective. completely changes the effects of the situation in terms of mental health compared to the second example of I'm just not good enough. So whether you're a woman navigating the pressures of modern life or a man who is looking to break free from toxic masculinity and improve your relationships, feminist transformative tool in that journey. If this episode resonated with you, we really encourage you to explore feminist therapy for yourself. At her time therapy. Our therapists operate from a feminist counseling approach and are here to support you in every step of the way. Please visit our website, her time therapy.com to learn more and to book a free consultation.