Female Authority: Empowering Women Through Psychotherapy

by Florence L. Wiedemann, Polly Young-Eisendrath, Florence Wiedemann

Book Overview

For women in Western society, there is no straightforward path of development to autonomous adulthood. The double-bind of female authority--that a women cannot be both a healthy adult and an ideal... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 089862679X
• ISBN13: 9780898626797
• Release Date: February 1987
• Publisher: Guilford Publications
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Tremendous and Powerful

This book, Female Authority, was invaluable for me as a psychotherapist. Polly Young-Eisendrath and Florence Wiedemann have given we in the field a wealth of knowledge about working with our women clients. Their extensive research and understanding of the female psyche is profound, their writing direct while sensitive and encouraging, and overall full of information about how to help women who need our help. And, who among us does not need help along the way, client or therapist? I could not put this book down. I recommend it to all of my colleagues. Mary Jane Hurley Brant, M.S.,CGP, Author [...]

Female Authority: Empowering Women Through Psychotherapy

Polly Young-Eisendrath and Florence Wiedemann examine the process of how women in the American culture develop autonomy. The authors, as Jungian analysts, explore the female path of individuation using characters derived from Greek Mythology and contemporary case studies. The path involves a successive integration of the unconscious animus complexes throughout the woman's life-span. In Jungian psychology the animus appears to be the source inside the female unconscious which provides male representations within women's dreams. The authors outline a five stage model for animus development by providing a path through psychotherapy. The model for ego development for women includes moving away from a symbiotic relationship with one's mother characterized by Demeter and Persephone and overcoming dependencies and stereotypes exemplified by Pandora and Zeus. Finally, the process evolves through a series of tasks involved within her relationship with her mate as seen in the Amor-Psyche myth. The work is brilliantly creative as it addresses the quest of many American women regarding finding one's Self on a depth psychological level The book offers a path by interweaving a series of mythological models with case study examples. This book is destined to be a classic in the psychology of women.