Women today are being instructed on how they can raise their self-esteem, love their inner child, survive their toxic families, overcome codependency, and experience a revolution from within. By holding up the ideal of a pure and happy inner core, psychotherapists refuse to acknowledge that a certain degree of unhappiness or dissatisfaction is a routine part of life and not necessarily a cause for therapy. Lesbians specifically are now guided to define themselves according to their frailties, inadequacies, and insecurities. An incisive critique of contemporary feminist psychology and therapy, Changing our Minds argues not just that the current practice of psychology is flawed, but that the whole idea of psychology runs counter to many tenets of lesbian feminist politics. Recognizing that many lesbians do feel unhappy and experience a range of problems that detract from their well-being, Changing Our Minds makes positive, prescriptive suggestions for non-psychological ways of understanding and dealing with emotional distress. Written in a lively and engaging style, Changing our Minds is required reading for anyone who has ever been in therapy or is close to someone who has, and for lesbians, feminists, psychologists, psychotherapists, students of psychology and women's studies, and anyone with an interest in the development of lesbian feminist theory, ethics, and practice.
Celia Kitzinger is Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of York, UK. Her previous books include The Social Construction of Lesbianism, winner of a Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology, and Heterosexuality (with Sue Wilkinson). Rachel Perkins works as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist for the National Health Service in London and is a consultant for the UK National Center for Mental Health Service Development.
"Changing Our Minds is a brave, invigorating, and important book... essential reading for anyone in, or anyone who studies, the helping professions; it is even more essential for any woman in distress who wants 'help'." -Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D,author of Women and Madness, About Men, and Mothers on Trial: The Battle for Children and Custody "A wide-ranging, hard-hitting analysis of psychology and its dangers. Changing Our Minds should be compulsory reading for all psychologists and deserves a place on every feminist's bookshelf." -Sue Wilkinson,editor of Feminism & Psychology: An International Journal "Thoughtful, probing, and caring... Destined for distinction as one of the best books of the year." -Janice G. Raymond,author of Women as Wombs: Reproductive Technologies and the Battle Over Women's Freedom and A Passion for Friends
