Create equitable relationships, unlearn internalized bias, and discover who you really are outside of patriarchal expectations.
You consider yourself a feminist, but don’t always feel like you live up to these ideals in your own life. Or you have recently discovered feminism, and are feeling uncertain about what this means for you after spending a lifetime being unaware of gender disparities. You may struggle to find equity in your romantic partnership, be taken seriously at your job, or know what you want outside of societal expectations.
Feminist therapy is for anyone who recognizes that their ability to thrive is hindered by our patriarchal society and desires more freedom from these restrictions for themselves and others. In feminist therapy, we recognize the intersecting harms of patriarchy, racism, and capitalism, and explore ways to untangle how these systems show up in our own personal struggles.
I’m a feminist therapist focused on helping you embody what feminism means to you. We’ll work together to identify how internalized sexism and other harmful beliefs are damaging your wellbeing and affecting your relationships. You’ll have a space to examine who you are outside of societal expectations and norms.
Feminist therapy offers you a safe space to explore what you want most in your relationships, career, and self-expression. You’ll have the opportunity to test out new boundaries and unlearn toxic patterns of caretaking others at your own expense.
You’re ready to break free from patriarchal pressures, and feminist therapy guides you to build a new way of relating to yourself and others.
Feminist therapy is an orientation to therapy designed to help you unlearn internal bias, build assertiveness, and discover your true identity. This approach involves grieving harms and abuses, embracing self-acceptance, letting go of unrealistic beauty standards, and more.
As a feminist therapist, I understand that to truly build a feminist society, we need to make society-wide changes to find true collective justice and healing. But I also know that on the individual level, therapy that offers a feminist perspective ensures that you are given the space to seek equitable relationships, protect yourself from abuse and exploitation, and embrace your marginalized identities.
Feminist therapy is an approach to counseling that recognizes the systemic harms of our society that come from sexism and misogyny, and integrates that understanding into the therapeutic process so that your full humanity is honored. In particular, I practice intersectional feminist therapy, which recognizes the intersecting harms of patriarchy, racism, and capitalism, and how that impacts us and our ability to be well and thrive.
Feminist therapy names that there are certain areas in which it does not make sense to “try harder” - such as when you are facing pressures to be thin, pressures to make up for your partner’s lack of effort around the house, and pressures to remain calm in the face of growing fascism and eroding rights. Instead, we explore ways to embody your authentic self, acknowledge your real feelings relating to oppression, and identify a path forward that offers you a sense of freedom from patriarchal expectations.
Feminist therapy is a good fit for anyone who identifies as feminist, or is curious about feminism, and would benefit from a feminist perspective being incorporated into the therapy. Regardless of the issues you are facing, having a feminist orientation to our work can help guide our focus and allow us to question unhelpful beliefs around conforming to societal expectations.
Some issues that are particularly suited for feminist therapy are:
Feminist therapy addresses power by equalizing the therapeutic relationship as much as possible. As your therapist, I do not position myself as a distant expert, but instead strive to collaborate with you on equal footing to help you understand yourself better and choose a path forward that works for you. We also address power by analyzing power dynamics in your relationships, work, and other areas of your life, so that you can better understand how power affects you and impacts your ability to flourish.
Identity is addressed through a lens of trusting you as the expert on your life. Only you can determine your gender, sexual orientation, and preferred roles in your family, workplace, and life. As a feminist therapist, I support you in identifying who you are and in deciding your priorities.
We address social pressures by recognizing the influence they have on our lives, particularly when they go unexamined. I aim to bring empathy and validation to why you may have felt the need to conform to beauty ideals, gender norms, career aspirations, and more. From this place of validation, we can explore the pros and cons of resisting the social pressures that are causing you harm and finding ways to safely find support in doing this.
Yes, a focus of feminist therapy can be empowering you to overcome low self-esteem and patterns of people-pleasing, which are often influenced by cultural and societal messages around gender roles. Often, people socialized as female are taught to be caretakers of men at their own expense, which can lead to people-pleasing and the denial of their own needs. Feminist therapy puts the focus on these patterns and encourages you to deconstruct these messages and tune into your own needs, emotions, and desires.
Yes, in feminist therapy we explore how societal pressures and power structures influence relationship patterns. If you struggle to be assertive in relationships and find it difficult to set boundaries, we can build compassion for why this makes sense given these societal structures.
I’ll guide you to explore ways you can safely test out boundaries, and explore the pros and cons of setting firmer boundaries in different areas of your life. We don’t do this recklessly, because feminist therapy brings an understanding of the risks of asserting yourself in spaces where women and other marginalized groups have been punished for speaking up. Instead we explore this from the perspective of your own values and determine when and where you’d like to speak up, and whether speaking up is worth it to you.
Feminist therapy is for people of all genders. We all are impacted by our patriarchal society, and we can all benefit from examining our well-being through a feminist lens. We’ll work together to identify aspects of patriarchy that have impacted you, such as experiences of misogyny, toxic masculinity, queerphobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, misogynoir, and more.
Men in particular may seek feminist therapy to understand how to unpack internalized sexism in order to create more equitable relationships, or to unlearn restrictive male conditioning, such as suppressing emotions. People of any marginalized gender benefit from a feminist lens in order to recognize how gender-based oppression has impacted them, and how they can seek more freedom and authenticity.
Feminist therapy broadens the scope of what is considered trauma to include often overlooked forms of harm, including sexual harassment, discrimination, workplace exploitation, emotional abuse, financial abuse, and more. Feminist therapists view trauma symptoms as representative of survival strategies rather than symptoms of a disorder. As a feminist therapist, I view your trauma response as something that makes sense given what you’ve been through, which encourages you to view yourself with compassion rather than shame.
Feminist therapy prioritizes lived experience in understanding you and what’s best for you. Whereas traditional talk therapy may rely on a rigid treatment plan that’s based on addressing a specific mental health diagnosis, my feminist approach leans on exploring your goals and dreams, whether they are related to a mental health diagnosis or not.
A feminist therapy session will look like a regular talk therapy session, except for ways in which we bring in a critical lens on how systemic issues are impacting your life. For example, if you bring up your marriage or partnership, I may guide you to notice whether you are experiencing equity in household management, or I might share some education on the burden of emotional labor that you likely have been carrying.
If you bring up work stress, I may ask you to explore ways in which you have internalized capitalistic and sexist ideas of relentless self-sacrifice and ways in which you can shift your perspective to allow for more breathing room. I will follow your lead on how much feminist issues are a priority to you - we can bring them to the forefront, or let them fall to the background, depending on how much you are interested in unpacking these issues or relating them to your therapy goals.
Yes, feminist therapy is compatible with many therapeutic modalities, because it is a lens or perspective that is brought to the work that we do, rather than a specific modality. In my counseling practice, I blend feminist therapy with other approaches, including acceptance and commitment therapy and compassion-focused therapy. This means that I use feminist therapy to help you choose the valued direction you want to go in (a focus from acceptance and commitment therapy), and how you can be kinder and more accepting of yourself (a focus from compassion-focused therapy).
Feminist therapy is right for you if you hope for more freedom to be yourself, you want to build more sustainable and equitable relationships, and you wish to challenge harmful societal norms. You don’t have to be an expert on feminism, or even know if you are a feminist, to try out feminist therapy - we’ll work together to explore what aspects of feminism will be helpful for you to incorporate into your therapy goals.
If you’re ready to explore your story, heal from past experiences, and move toward a more fulfilling life, let’s connect. Schedule a free consultation to see if we’re a good fit.
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