Esther D. Rothblum – författare

The Oxford Handbook of Sexual and Gender Minority Mental Health provides a comprehensive and authoritative review of research on the mental health of sexual minorities-defined as those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or same-gender attracted; as well as the mental health of gender minorities-defined as individuals who do not fully identify with their sex assigned at birth, including people who are transgender or gender non-binary. The twenty-first century has seen encouraging improvements in sampling, methods, and funding opportunities for research with sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations; nevertheless, a key purpose of this Handbook is to identify lingering gaps in research in order to motivate future scientists to expand knowledge about SGM mental health. The volume begins with a historical overview, followed by sections on mental health categories/diagnoses (such as anxiety, trauma, eating disorders, and suicide) and specific sexual and gender minority populations (including examinations of diverse ethnicities and orientations/identities). The handbook concludes with chapters on stigma, the role of resilience, and future directions for research with SGM groups. The volume is aimed at researchers conducting studies on the mental health of SGM populations, clinicians and researchers interested in psychiatric disorders that affect SGM populations, clinicians using evidence-based practice in the treatment of SGM patients/clients, students in mental health programs (clinical psychology, psychiatry, clinical social work, and psychiatric nursing), and policy makers.

How can being closeted or out affect the personal and professional life of a lesbian in academia? This volume, a collection of over thirty personal narratives, explores what it's like to be a lesbian working in a college or university setting. Along with the stories are in-depth analyses of the narratives by other academics. Issues such as race, class and age and how these factors distinguish each individual's place in the academy are examined. The contributors have written from a wide range of experiences--different degrees of outness, various academic disciplines, many geographic locations, and several types of academic settings.

Even in today's society, gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals experience multiple pressures and constraints related to their lifestyles, in addition to the stresses of everyday life. This dual tension can result in psychopathology among gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. Preventing Heterosexism and Homophobia examines the gay and lesbian experience in light of their tension and points toward a future free of heterosexism. The stress of "coming out," the uncertainty of parenting their children, and the difficulties facing ethnic minority lesbians and bisexuals cannot be adequately addressed without confronting the heterosexual bias in society. The contributors to this informative volume propose methods geared toward eliminating heterosexual bias in various settings--health care, therapy, communities, corporate America, and education. Ultimately, this book examines both the risks and joys of being gay, lesbian, and bisexual, and how to prevent heterosexism and its effects on the lives of all people, including those of heterosexuals. Students and professionals in interpersonal communication and interpersonal relations, clinical psychology, and public health will benefit greatly from the original perspectives this book has to offer.

Even in today's society, gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals experience multiple pressures and constraints related to their lifestyles, in addition to the stresses of everyday life. This dual tension can result in psychopathology among gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. Preventing Heterosexism and Homophobia examines the gay and lesbian experience in light of their tension and points toward a future free of heterosexism. The stress of "coming out," the uncertainty of parenting their children, and the difficulties facing ethnic minority lesbians and bisexuals cannot be adequately addressed without confronting the heterosexual bias in society. The contributors to this informative volume propose methods geared toward eliminating heterosexual bias in various settings--health care, therapy, communities, corporate America, and education. Ultimately, this book examines both the risks and joys of being gay, lesbian, and bisexual, and how to prevent heterosexism and its effects on the lives of all people, including those of heterosexuals. Students and professionals in interpersonal communication and interpersonal relations, clinical psychology, and public health will benefit greatly from the original perspectives this book has to offer.

Classics in Lesbian Studies takes a major step in giving the lesbian experience its own unique voice within scholarship and the larger world society. Thus, it is devoted exclusively to the lesbian experience and serves as a vehicle for the promotion of scholarship and commentary on lesbianism from an international perspective. Not only does it ensure that “classic” pieces are not forgotten by new generations of students and scholars, it also spurs further lesbian research, writing, theory, and scholarship.In Classics in Lesbian Studies, you are introduced to descriptive, theoretical, empirical, applied, and multicultural perspectives in the field of lesbian studies. Interdisciplinary, the book presents pieces from various academic areas in multiple formats, including personal accounts, poetry, editorials, debates, and commentaries. For your convenience, the chapters are organized primarily across four categories: identity, history and literature, physical and social sciences, and “back to lesbian politics.” You will find the discussions of the following issues and subjects provocative and insightful:ways black women in the diaspora construct and name their sexual and romantic feelings for other women lesbian identity formation in a changing social environment how lesbians maneuver in the dominant culture and their own subculture lesbianism as a political movement the experiences of lesbian adolescents teaching lesbian studies lesbians and societal institutions, including the work place, the media, the political arena, the legal system, and religion using lesbian-feminist scholarship to reexamine women's lives in the pastStudents, scholars, lesbian feminists, and others interested in lesbian studies will find Classics in Lesbian Studies a vital examination of lesbianism since its grass roots. Not only does it consider the progress made since the initial days of fighting for liberation, it also explores a more distant, repressed past and anticipates future possibilities lying before us. This powerful, insightful collection is sure to become a classic as it grapples with virtually all aspects of lesbianism, from its inception as a political movement to its identity as a lifestyle choice to its implications of community.

How can you provide effective, meaningful therapy to couples with whom you have little or nothing in common? Couples Therapy: Feminist Perspectives addresses some of the inadequacies, omissions, and assumptions in traditional couples therapy to help you face the issues of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in helping couples today. In this book, you'll uncover perspectives that are grounded in an appreciation of cultural context, the effects of privilege, and the centrality of a respectful stance on the part of the therapist. Anyone seeking to do informed and responsive work with couples in distress will find it a useful and valuable compilation.Couples Therapy: Feminist Perspectives describes a variety of feminist approaches to couples therapy--giving you a sense of the range of feminist practice in this area and illustrating approaches you can integrate into your work with couples. Specific topics you'll explore include:cultural considerations in couples therapy narrative approaches to couples therapy dilemmas in working with heterosexual couples working with lesbian couples the particular issues of interracial couples the African-American lesbian couple empathy and mutuality in therapy with couplesWhether you're an experienced psychologist, social worker, marriage and family counselor, or therapist or a student of family and couples therapy, Couples Therapy: Feminist Perspectives will help you prepare to respond effectively to a more diverse clientele.

Jewish women of all ages and backgrounds come together in Celebrating the Lives of Jewish Women to explore and rejoice in what they have in common--their heritage. They reveal in striking personal stories how their Jewishness has shaped their identities and informed their experiences in innumerable, meaningful ways. Survivors, witnesses, defenders, innovators, and healers, these women question, celebrate, and transmit Jewish and feminist values in hopes that they might bridge the differences among Jewish women. They invite both Jewish and non-Jewish readers to share in their discussions and stories that convey and celebrate the multiplicity of Jewish backgrounds, attitudes, and issues.In Celebrating the Lives of Jewish Women, you will read about cultural, religious, and gender choices, conversion to Judaism, family patterns, Jewish immigrant experiences, the complexities of Jewish secular identities, antisemitism, sexism, and domestic violence in the Jewish community. As the pages unfold in this wonderful book of personal odysseys, the colorful patterns of Jewish women’s lives are laid before you. You will find much cause for rejoicing, as the authors weave together their compelling and unique stories about:midlife Bat mitzvah preparations the transmission of Jewish values by Sephardi and Ashkenazi grandmothers traditional Sephardi customs the sorrow and healing involved in coping with the Holocaust a lesbian’s fascination with Kafka the external and internal obstacles Jewish women encounter in their efforts to study Jewish topics and participate in Jewish ritual becoming a Reconstructionist rabbi the difficulties and benefits of being the teenaged daughter of a rabbiA harmonious chorus of individual voices, Celebrating the Lives of Jewish Women will delight and inspire Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike. It reminds each of us how diverse and distinctive Jewish women’s lives are, as well as how united they can be under the wonderful fold of Judaism. This book will be of great interest to all women, as well as to rabbis, Jewish community leaders and professionals, mental health workers, and those in Jewish studies, women’s studies, and multicultural studies.

Despite the gains of the women’s movement, women are still judged by what they look like--and men, by what they do. Fat--A Fate Worse Than Death? offers hardy resistance to the narrow, random, and irrational appearance standards set for American women through an approach that is personal, eclectic, courageous, and funny. If you are interested in giving up your diet, throwing out your scales, and concentrating on who you are on a deeper level, this book will show you how to accept, appreciate, and even love your body!Using statistics, research, anecdotes, and personal experiences, Fat--A Fate Worse Than Death? explores how appearance standards have built a prison for women. With the book’s helpful advice, reading suggestions, and list of more than 100 ways to fight looksism, sexism, ageism, and racism, you will learn to express your rights and needs, regardless of your shape or size, and tear down those prison walls. Designed to transcend the boundaries between the personal and the political, Fat--A Fate Worse Than Death? discusses:examples of how weight and size constitute the last socially accepted prejudice the national “War on Fat” counteracting societal influences that support weight preoccupation connection between appearance standards for older women and large women nurturing your body resisting male-defined standards of beauty for women the myth of diets and dieting how the body resists weight loss how women are disempowered by concentration on weight and appearance how concentrating on appearance leaves real-life issues unaddressed how feeling bad about yourself can turn you into a willing consumerFeminists, faculty and students of women’s studies programs, aging women, women of radical politics, and other concerned women and men will find that Fat--A Fate Worse Than Death? states explicitly how women are kept powerless by subscribing to cultural and social edicts on physical appearance. Don’t live silently in a society that degrades and discounts women because of their physical stature and don‘t let obsession with thinness keep you passive, docile, and unable to give your energy to things that really need your passion and intelligence. Read this book and learn to not only value yourself for who you are, but also to counteract American culture’s equality-denying prejudices and practices.

While most women’s studies texts function “topically” as “readings” for courses and general use, Women’s Work: A Survey of Scholarship By and About Women takes a broad spectrum of women’s disciplines--psychological, artistic, religious, and philosophical--and gives you a diverse, interdisciplinary view of this important and ever-expanding field of study in one accessible volume. You’ll see that women are leading the world into the twenty-first century in such areas as education, business, health, and science. You’ll also find your appreciation for the current developments in women’s studies increase as you see how far-reaching and multifaceted this crucial discipline really is.Women’s Work avoids the compilations of topical readings that tend to bog down typical women’s studies courses and explores the different disciplines that continue to make this field central to the development of the academic world community. You’ll find your perspective on women’s studies expand and take on new meaning as you delve into these and other areas:feminist approaches to research the lack of women in science and feminist critiques of science women and health psychology and discussions on sex differences, sex similarities, and gender roles communication differences between men and women women in literature, art history, and metaphysics Judeo-Christian religions and goddess religionsThis comprehensive compendium has something for everyone interested in the massive contribution that women have made--and will continue to make--in all areas of human development. All readers, especially women’s studies scholars, professors, students, and informed members of the general public looking for an excellent, up-to-date resource concerning the general direction of feminist disciplines today, will definitely want a copy of Women’s Work.

Love Matters: A Book of Lesbian Romance and Relationships is a collection of advice columns and personal reflections that will help lesbian couples validate and appreciate their unique relationships. With excerpts taken from the author’s “Love Matters” column in the lesbian newspaper New Phazes, this book explores real-life questions and issues that lesbians have about dating, sex, love, and relationship longevity. From Love Matters, you’ll receive honest, informative advice that can help you and your partner share a more open and fulfilling relationship.Offering support, care, and understanding for lesbian couples, Love Matters seeks to recognize the “new female role” for lesbian women. Using her 15-year long relationship as a basis for many of the responses, the author provides you with suggestions and insight into topics relating to lesbian relationships, such as:keeping sex alive in a long-term relationship handling finances fairly and successfully supporting your partner through the physical, emotional, and spiritual changes caused by menopause identifying the difficulties of dating and what lesbians look for on a date questioning the purpose of and emotions caused by a long-distance relationship realizing how homophobia affects love and relationshipsWhile focusing on the joys and experiences of couples, this book also addresses depression and loneliness felt by single lesbians, break-ups, and the death of a partner. You’ll find that Love Matters offers comfort, hope, and humor that will help you understand the difficulties and rewards of your lesbian relationship.

Breasts: The Women’s Perspective on an American Obsession describes and explores our national breast fetish, which is defined as a culturally constructed obsession that is deeply interwoven with beauty standards, breastfeeding practices, and sexuality. By tracing the complex history of this erotic fascination and discovering how it affects men’s and women’s sexuality and their relationships, this book will help women accept their breasts as they are and provide male readers with insight into how women think and feel about their bodies. This awareness will enable them to better understand and empathize with women’s experiences as objects of a cultural fetish.Focusing on adult joys and anxieties about breasts, sex, and breastfeeding, this text uses research and expert opinions from several different fields, including psychology, anthropology, sociology, mythology, and sexology. You will find several other issues in Breasts: The Women’s Perspective on an American Obsession that involve men’s and women’s struggles with this obsession, such as:breast implants human psychology and breasts beauty standards and breast sexuality how breasts are portrayed in mythology and art how ancient religions saw the breast as a sign of motherhood and giver of life ”breast men” debates on how and why the breast evolved adolescent girls and breasts breast activists, such as La Leche League, who are proponents of breastfeeding in publicThrough personal interviews with men and women, Breasts: The Women’s Perspective on an American Obsession also addresses women’s pride and shame about their breasts and their confusion about the attention their breasts receive. Ultimately, this exploration of breast obsession sheds light on our society’s general fear of and ambivalence toward women’s bodies. Breasts: The Women’s Perspective on an American Obsession shows you that breasts have a venerable history and urges you to see beyond the contemporary standards of visual perfection to give you an overall sense of the female body’s power and worth.

Lesbian Step Families: An Ethnography of Love explores five lesbian step families’definitions of the step parent role and how they accomplish parenting tasks, cope with homophobia, and define and interpret their experiences. An intensive feminist qualitative study, the book offers guidelines for counselors and lesbian step families for creating healthy, functioning family structures and environments. It is the first book to concentrate exclusively on lesbian step families rather than on lesbian mothering in general.In Lesbian Step Families: An Ethnography of Love, you’ll explore in detail the different kinds of step relationships that are developed and what factors may lead to the different types of step mothering in lesbian step families. The book helps you understand these relationships and parent roles through in-depth discussions of:how a step mother and legal mother who live together negotiate and organize parenting and homemaking tasks how members of lesbian step families define and create the step mother role strategies family members use to define and cope with oppression how sexism is transmitted within the family and how mothering may limit and/or contribute to female liberation the opinions and viewpoints of the children of these families The findings in Lesbian Step Families: An Ethnography of Love challenge traditional views of mothering and fathering as gender and biologically based activities; they indicate that lesbian step families model gender flexibility and that the mothers and step mothers share parenting--both traditional mothering and fathering--tasks. This allows the biological mother some freedom from motherhood as well as support in it. With insight such as this, you will be prepared to help a client, a loved one, or yourself develop and maintain healthy family relationships.

If you’re a long-time veteran of feminist therapy or someone just starting out, you’ll find a helpful, reliable list of "dos" and "don'ts" in Learning from Our Mistakes: Difficulties and Failures in Feminist Therapy. Frank and honest in tone, makeup, and style, this one-of-a-kind publication looks at the failures and roadblocks that have hampered feminist therapists in the past so you can learn from their misfortunes and avoid them in your own professional endeavors.In Learning from Our Mistakes, you’ll come face-to-face with classic difficult cases, and you’ll see from a feminist perspective how therapists used various treatments to deal with these seemingly insurmountable challenges. You’ll find that these and other topics will help you in navigating the difficult situations that arise in your personal practice: the pros and cons of terminating with a client who has an eroticized transference differences between therapists and clients in terms of race, ethnicity, and age problems encountered by rural therapists in small communities using a translator in therapy when the therapist and client don’t speak the same language feelings of anger in therapy many other “log jams” in the therapeutic processIt's no mistake that Learning from Our Mistakes is full of what works and what doesn't. In it, three veteran discussants give you the tools necessary to overcome the uncertainties and inadequacies that plague therapists. You’ll come away understanding the many ways failure is embedded in both the theory and practice of psychotherapy. Ultimately, you’ll find that mistakes are really only failure narratives waiting to be used, shaped, and turned toward the positive experiences of both client and therapist.

If you’re a long-time veteran of feminist therapy or someone just starting out, you’ll find a helpful, reliable list of "dos" and "don'ts" in Learning from Our Mistakes: Difficulties and Failures in Feminist Therapy. Frank and honest in tone, makeup, and style, this one-of-a-kind publication looks at the failures and roadblocks that have hampered feminist therapists in the past so you can learn from their misfortunes and avoid them in your own professional endeavors.In Learning from Our Mistakes, you’ll come face-to-face with classic difficult cases, and you’ll see from a feminist perspective how therapists used various treatments to deal with these seemingly insurmountable challenges. You’ll find that these and other topics will help you in navigating the difficult situations that arise in your personal practice: the pros and cons of terminating with a client who has an eroticized transference differences between therapists and clients in terms of race, ethnicity, and age problems encountered by rural therapists in small communities using a translator in therapy when the therapist and client don’t speak the same language feelings of anger in therapy many other “log jams” in the therapeutic processIt's no mistake that Learning from Our Mistakes is full of what works and what doesn't. In it, three veteran discussants give you the tools necessary to overcome the uncertainties and inadequacies that plague therapists. You’ll come away understanding the many ways failure is embedded in both the theory and practice of psychotherapy. Ultimately, you’ll find that mistakes are really only failure narratives waiting to be used, shaped, and turned toward the positive experiences of both client and therapist.

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.

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 an enlightening new volume that presents an integration of anti-fat-oppressive attitudes into the work of feminist therapy. Overcoming Fear of Fat is unique among professional work in the area of women and fat in that it does not approach size as the problem; rather it approaches prejudice against fat as the problem.Although for nearly a decade, fat activists have been raising the issues that are confronted in this book, therapists, including feminist therapists, have been colluding with their clients in pathologizing fat, celebrating weight loss, and failing to adequately challenge cultural stereotypes of attractiveness for women, instead of empowering clients and encouraging them to take on expert authority about their own experiences. The contributors, including therapists and fat activists, aim to disconnect the issues of food intake and eating disorders from those of weight. They share personal and professional experiences of challenging fat oppression, offer strategies for therapists to rid themselves and their clients of fat oppressive attitudes, and most importantly, they confront long-held cultural myths that fat is unhealthy, and that fat women are physically unfit and are in hiding from their sexuality or personal power.A practical and informative resource for therapists, especially those who work with fat women or who themselves struggle with issues of feeling critical of their own body size, Overcoming Fear of Fat will also be a valuable guide for fat women who wish to feel supported in their struggle for self-worth and respect.

For decades, the term ""Boston marriage"" was used to describe single women who lived together and shared their lives. The presumption was that these partnerships were non-sexual. In recent years, however, the opposite presumption has prevailed, causing some women involved in Boston marriages to hide the asexual nature of their relationship from the lesbian community. Convinced that Boston marriages are both legitimate and important, Esther D. Rothblum and Kathleen A. Brehony argue that in a society that defines intimacy by the occurrence of sexual activity, we have no word for - and therefore no understanding of - the intensely romantic but asexual relationships that some lesbians form. By bringing these relationships ""out of the closet"" and discussing them openly, the editors and other contributors to this volume challenge our views about lesbianism, and address larger questions concerning the construction of sexuality and sexual identity. How, for example, do we define lesbianism? What constitutes a romantic involvement? If a couple does not engage in sex, are they still considered lovers? The study includes ten personal accounts by women involved in Boston marriages as well as theoretical essays by Lillian Faderman, Marnie Hall, JoAnn Loulan, Suzanna Rose, Debra Zand, Marie Cini, and Laura Brown.

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.

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.

Here is an enlightening new volume that presents an integration of anti-fat-oppressive attitudes into the work of feminist therapy. Overcoming Fear of Fat is unique among professional work in the area of women and fat in that it does not approach size as the problem; rather it approaches prejudice against fat as the problem.Although for nearly a decade, fat activists have been raising the issues that are confronted in this book, therapists, including feminist therapists, have been colluding with their clients in pathologizing fat, celebrating weight loss, and failing to adequately challenge cultural stereotypes of attractiveness for women, instead of empowering clients and encouraging them to take on expert authority about their own experiences. The contributors, including therapists and fat activists, aim to disconnect the issues of food intake and eating disorders from those of weight. They share personal and professional experiences of challenging fat oppression, offer strategies for therapists to rid themselves and their clients of fat oppressive attitudes, and most importantly, they confront long-held cultural myths that fat is unhealthy, and that fat women are physically unfit and are in hiding from their sexuality or personal power.A practical and informative resource for therapists, especially those who work with fat women or who themselves struggle with issues of feeling critical of their own body size, Overcoming Fear of Fat will also be a valuable guide for fat women who wish to feel supported in their struggle for self-worth and respect.

This landmark volume looks closely at the mental health of women in Africa, a topic that has been virtually unexplored until now. Replete with some of the most provocative feminist issues of the day, Women's Mental Health in Africa examines the economic, physical, and social factors that have a major impact on the psychological well-being of women in African countries. Feminist researchers unravel the enormously complicated social system and the traditional cultural values and taboos that are directly related to women's self concepts.Because the etiology of women's suicide is central to sexual and reproductive issues, these topics are an important focus of this volume. Authoritative contributors discuss the common practices of clitoridectomy and infibulation and the resulting infections, infertility, problems in childbirth, and lack of sexual response. AIDS, a disease whose widespread transmission in Africa is directly linked to unprotected heterosexual intercourse, is another issue vital to women's physical and mental health. Several enlightening chapters focus on other factors responsible for the perpetuation of the disease, including polygamy; the denial by many African nations of the threat of the disease to its citizens; and the incidence of female genital mutilation, which geographically corresponds to the spread of AIDS in Africa. Marriage, the double standard, infidelity, and family planning are also examined as factors in women's mental health.Several researchers address the reasons for healthy psychological functioning among women in countries where counseling and therapy are not commonly sought. Participation in social support networks, which are abundant in some African societies, lessens the deleterious effects of stress and isolation and provides emotional support that contributes to positive self images, self worth, and reinforcement of desirable coping mechanisms. Education as a means of role fulfillment is also covered in this fascinating and empowering book.

Through the voices of twenty-one women, Karen Way presents the most objective, complete, and compassionate picture of what anorexia nervosa is about and, more importantly, of the complex individual variables and obstacles in the journey to recovery. From the premise that anorexia nervosa is an addiction--an obsession controlling all aspects of an individual’s life--and that complete recovery is possible by finding meaning in life, this enlightening book contrasts sharply to other books written on the subject by clinicians and theorists which merely speculate on the nature and etiology of anorexia nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa and Recovery lets the reader hear the personal struggles of women who have fought this powerful disease. They describe how anorexia controlled their lives and how, once they overcame their obsessions with food, weight, and thinness, they were able to lead fulfilling lives. This illuminating book encourages and inspires women who are in the throes of anorexia nervosa. They will recognize the emptiness in the voices and the descriptions of daily life. Therapists and clinicians who treat anorexic women will find intriguing chapters on events which trigger anorexia and what anorexics will do to maintain their strategies for coping. Concerned friends and family and others interested in understanding this controlling disease will be enlightened from this important and helpful book.

Women’s Conflicts About Eating and Sexuality explores the strong relationships food and sex have represented to women over the years. No other book has spelled out so clearly the parallels between sex and eating nor integrated the relationship of these to women’s basic need to be loved.Today’s dilemma for women--be fat or go hungry--and the endless variations and unsatisfying solutions to this problem have contributed to the incidence of anorexia, bulimia, and obesity. The pursuit of slimness, the obsession with having the perfect body, excessive aerobicizing, and diet books ad nauseam are all part of this phenomenon. Authors in Women’s Conflicts About Eating and Sexuality skillfully discuss the parallel between women’s obsession with sex and romance in the fifties and their obsession with food today. An important book for all women, it sheds light on the complex issues facing women and devotes special attention to the career woman and the additional pressures to be slim and stay slim.The woman who reads this potentially life-changing book can examine, question, and change her behavior, using the specific step-by-step program aid included in the book. This book is for every woman who has ever worried about being too fat or too sexual. Women’s Conflicts About Eating and Sexuality will appeal to women of all ages--young women and their mothers will be fascinated by the parallels between sexual obsessions of thirty years ago and the eating obsessions of today.This healing book will particularly attract single career women for whom sex and relationships are fraught with complications. Counselors and therapists will find this book an excellent resource in their work with helping women. It is also a good auxiliary text for courses in Women’s Studies focusing on psychology and history of women and the sociology of women and eating disorders.

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.

In our youth-oriented, patriarchal society, aging and older women often find themselves either ignored, pitied, or feared. Women and Aging is a valuable guide to help women break through the negative stereotypes of old age and find personal fulfillment through the stages of maturity. Full of warmth and support, Women and Aging strongly enables women to take and remain in control of their lives instead of passively letting others make life-changing--and possibly harmful--decisions for them. This essential guide for aging will help women increase the vitality of their old age, as it urges them to continue to plan for the future, keep and develop strong relationships, increase their overall wellness, and not be afraid to take risks. Truly a celebration of aging, the author’s illuminating descriptions of her own aging and how she has overcome society’s restrictions are sure to be a source of inspiration for all women--no matter what their ages.Women and Aging begins by addressing cultural attitudes toward women, including appearance, language, behavior, and “women’s work.” The middle section encourages women to face their fears and limitations and express their emotions, while the concluding chapters are a virtual “guide to life,” showing how to live life to the fullest and find inner fulfillment while aging. Along with her own continuing narrative, the author includes a multitude of personal glimpses into the aging processes of other women. This uplifting, helpful book will be of great value not only for aging women, but for women of all ages who are interested in taking active control of their own lives.

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.

Currently, there are over 15 million legally designated refugees all over the world and it is documented that 75 percent of those refugees are women, yet most of the existent literature does not focus on this group as women. Most of the literature focuses on political, economic, and social issues with very little reference to the mental health implications of the refugees’experiences as women. Refugee Women and Their Mental Health begins to fill this paucity of information on female refugees’experiences. A book of immediate interest, Refugee Women and Their Mental Health focuses on understanding the plight of women refugees around the world, with an emphasis on mental health. The book adds successful and innovative treatment and recovery models for these women survivors.Some of the chapters are written by women who are therapists/psychologists now and who have been refugees themselves. This adds additional insight into the plight and resulting mental health problems of refugee women. The chapters cover a vast range of topics:torture and sexual abuse as refugees/victims of state violence elderly women refugees immigration law and women refugees first-person narratives the transformation of identity successful creative treatment programsIt becomes clear that women refugees from all over the world under different political events and circumstances share common values and have similar mental health needs. Refugee Women and Their Mental Health explores processes of recovery from the traumas experienced by these women and offers a variety of models for the application of feminist theory to the plight of women refugees. Experienced therapists of women and those in training to be therapists will want to read this book. The topics of refugee women rarely comes up in training programs, so the information in this book is vital for therapists, policy makers, and other service providers and professors of psychology of women, immigration and social work issues, and women and mental health issues.

Discover the diverse ways aging women attempt to deal with the universal challenges of loss, sickness, and death along with the problems of being old women in a society that values women mainly as sexual partners or producers of children. Old women are often seen as poor, powerless, and pitiful in our sexist and youth-oriented society. The truth is that women age much more successfully than do men and they are increasingly in the majority as our population ages. These truths and others are presented in Faces of Women and Aging--a collection written by women, a number of whom are themselves older women who bring their unique life experiences and personalities to the topic.This uplifting book emphasizes that middle and old age are merely stages of growth and development, not just seasons of loss and decline as the end approaches. A wealth of topics are covered in Faces of Women and Aging that broaden the reader’s awareness of the problems of women and aging including:how to maintain self-esteem in the face of sexism, ageism, and severe illness the problems of being single or divorced in the later years the problems of maintaining a good body image for older women in a society which values the young and the beautiful the additional difficulties of minority women, specifically lesbians and native American women increased dependency brought on by illness and loss of partners Faces of Women and Aging combines personal narratives that serve as reminders of the human beings behind statistics and case studies with theoretical observations which help therapists assist older women cope with the daily hardships as well as the more catastrophic problems of aging.