Ellen Cole

Here is the intriguing story of one woman’s mid-life flight from her stultified, middle-class, psychologically crippling, and unfulfilled existence into a world of high adventure, danger, hardship, and endurance, which ultimately leads her to autonomy and recognition. In her new book, A Woman’s Odyssey Into Africa, Hanny Lightfoot-Klein chronicles three year-long solo backpacking treks through remote areas of sub-Saharan Africa. In the process, she discovers the mainsprings of strength within herself as she follows her own drummer, finding the courage to face the darkest and most secret convolutions of her own mind. She weaves the story of her journey through the men, women, and children she meets, and the dangers and adventures she faces as a lone woman traveler--part and parcel of the path she has chosen to take.She infuses readers at any stage of life, especially women, with the courage to do what their individual drummer dictates, as she did, to find fulfillment in life. Lightfoot-Klein assures readers in her book: “Even a life of quiet desperation is not beyond redemption. Change starts with a reassessment of the distortions in self image one has been programmed to accept. It starts with an inner rebellion, a realization that something has been amiss and a desire to set it right, if only to leave a better heritage for one’s children. And then, most important of all, it begins with a single, wild, breathless moment, where one picks up an unaccustomed load and steps off into the unknown . . . ” Her message is truly for everyone.

Here is a unique collection of personal memoirs from feminist therapists which provides a revealing look at their professional training experiences. This superb volume offers a rare glimpse at the struggles of these women, both as therapists and feminists, as they continue to develop professionally while maintaining their own identities. These candid accounts clearly recount the realities of professional training for the feminist therapist as a combination of painful memories, active struggle, impromptu friendship, and humor. The stories comprising this extraordinary volume cover several decades, ranging from the experiences of therapists trained in the 1930s to those of women currently undergoing therapy training.Share the trials and triumphs of these seventeen women who faced professional, personal, and ethical challenges during their professional therapy training. Read about the variety of experiences in the heterogeneous group of feminist therapists who describe the circumstances of their training including the account of mother and daughter therapists who compare their training of the 1930s and the 1970s; that of one woman who entered graduate school in the 1950s and was prohibited from specializing solely in research; one woman whose teaching was sabotaged by the “old boy” network; one woman’s experience of coming out as a lesbian in medical school during a psychiatric residency program; one therapist’s double minority status as female and Japanese-American; a Black student’s confrontation with the alienation and invisibility of her presence in an all-white classroom; and a first-year graduate student who describes her transition from a women’s studies undergraduate focus to a traditional male-dominated research institution.Students and instructors in clinical psychology, counseling, and social work will find the accounts in Professional Training for Feminist Therapists: Personal Memoirs a valuable resource for exploring the experiences of women in professional training for feminist therapy. Established therapists will value this work for the clarity and insight that comes from reflection, as will women who undergo professional training in future generations.

Here is the first volume ever to focus on the issues of Jewish women in the context of counseling and psychotherapy. Through poignant reflection and observation, the authors convey the richness and variety of Jewish women’s experiences and the Jewishness and femaleness of the concerns, issues, values, and attitudes that Jewish women--both clients and therapists--bring into the therapy room.Jewish Women in Therapy is a landmark book in many ways. It calls attention to the historical and political realities of the Jewish heritage and acknowledges the oppression of both Jews and women that therapists have typically ignored. And although Jewish women have participated in the therapeutic process, as clients, scholars, and therapists, seldom have they chosen to write about it.Never before have the writings of so many distinguished leaders in the field, including Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, Evelyn Torton Beck, and Susannah Heschel, been compiled. They examine the damaging stereotypes of Jewish women--the Jewish American Princess and the Jewish Mother--that flourish today. Chapters also address the conflicts that many women feel about being Jewish and being female, celebrate the contributions of Jewish women to feminism and to therapy, examine the deliberate omission of women from the political process and the religious ritual, and convey the complexities of the oppression that are still blatantly directed at both Jews and females.

Here is the first volume ever to focus on the issues of Jewish women in the context of counseling and psychotherapy. Through poignant reflection and observation, the authors convey the richness and variety of Jewish women’s experiences and the Jewishness and femaleness of the concerns, issues, values, and attitudes that Jewish women--both clients and therapists--bring into the therapy room.Jewish Women in Therapy is a landmark book in many ways. It calls attention to the historical and political realities of the Jewish heritage and acknowledges the oppression of both Jews and women that therapists have typically ignored. And although Jewish women have participated in the therapeutic process, as clients, scholars, and therapists, seldom have they chosen to write about it.Never before have the writings of so many distinguished leaders in the field, including Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, Evelyn Torton Beck, and Susannah Heschel, been compiled. They examine the damaging stereotypes of Jewish women--the Jewish American Princess and the Jewish Mother--that flourish today. Chapters also address the conflicts that many women feel about being Jewish and being female, celebrate the contributions of Jewish women to feminism and to therapy, examine the deliberate omission of women from the political process and the religious ritual, and convey the complexities of the oppression that are still blatantly directed at both Jews and females.

Here is a useful and illustrative guide for those interested in the impact of feminist scholarship on traditional academic disciplines. This important book explores the changes that have taken place in the academic world as a result of feminist approaches to scholarship, including issues of staffing, organization, administration, recruitment, student support, faculty advancement, and learning. Appropriate for readers not familiar with feminist scholarship as well as for those who are deeply interested in the message of feminist scholarship, Foundations for a Feminist Restructuring of the Academic Disciplines comes out of the experiences of women who are intimately involved with feminist pedagogy and curriculum transformation. The contributors describe a variety of educational environments that feminists have established in the academy, reflecting various disciplines.This profoundly important book raises new questions about the bias in traditional education and challenges basic assumptions about women--in education and society. In chapter after chapter, readers discover changes in perspective and knowledge brought on by feminist approaches to scholarship:the common images of women in literature written by men and contrast them with women writers’revisions of these traditional images the elimination and/or misrepresentation of women in the history books a feminist perspective on and critique of the image of women as traditionally analyzed by economists the major feminist challenges to political science the traditional and contemporary approaches to women in psychological theory and research how the teaching and practice of medicine, as it is related to women and women’s health issues, has served to communicate an unfair and erroneous image of woman

Here is a useful and illustrative guide for those interested in the impact of feminist scholarship on traditional academic disciplines. This important book explores the changes that have taken place in the academic world as a result of feminist approaches to scholarship, including issues of staffing, organization, administration, recruitment, student support, faculty advancement, and learning. Appropriate for readers not familiar with feminist scholarship as well as for those who are deeply interested in the message of feminist scholarship, Foundations for a Feminist Restructuring of the Academic Disciplines comes out of the experiences of women who are intimately involved with feminist pedagogy and curriculum transformation. The contributors describe a variety of educational environments that feminists have established in the academy, reflecting various disciplines.This profoundly important book raises new questions about the bias in traditional education and challenges basic assumptions about women--in education and society. In chapter after chapter, readers discover changes in perspective and knowledge brought on by feminist approaches to scholarship:the common images of women in literature written by men and contrast them with women writers’revisions of these traditional images the elimination and/or misrepresentation of women in the history books a feminist perspective on and critique of the image of women as traditionally analyzed by economists the major feminist challenges to political science the traditional and contemporary approaches to women in psychological theory and research how the teaching and practice of medicine, as it is related to women and women’s health issues, has served to communicate an unfair and erroneous image of woman

Outstanding feminist scholars present seldom discussed women’s views of sexuality. In the past, there has been little feminist discussion among sexuality professionals and between feminist therapists and sex therapists. The valuable ideas expressed by the contributors to this book are aimed at increasing the possibilities for all therapists and counselors to discuss with their clients the nature of sexuality, and in particular, what women feel about sex. Professionals provide remarkable perspectives on issues that concern all women--orgasm, the double standard, new reproductive options, intimacy, bisexuality, and more.

Outstanding feminist scholars present seldom discussed women’s views of sexuality. In the past, there has been little feminist discussion among sexuality professionals and between feminist therapists and sex therapists. The valuable ideas expressed by the contributors to this book are aimed at increasing the possibilities for all therapists and counselors to discuss with their clients the nature of sexuality, and in particular, what women feel about sex. Professionals provide remarkable perspectives on issues that concern all women--orgasm, the double standard, new reproductive options, intimacy, bisexuality, and more.

This new book looks at an important issue--the emotional impact of success upon women--at a time when opportunities are more available to them than ever before. Using research, clinical experience, and personal anecdotes, the contributors examine the timely issues of women and worry, women's sense of their own entitlement, fear of success and fear of failure, and women's impostor feelings. The dilemma that feminist therapists frequently experience of encouraging women clients, often superbly qualified in their fields, to take a risk that might involve rejection or failure, is highlighted here. Therapists will recognize the often expressed fears of academic and intellectual failure, as well as the fears of various interpersonal failures that result from a combination of women's opportunities in society as well as socialization.