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Abstract

Contemporary feminists have been concerned to address the impact of psychoanalysis on the social construction of femininity. By contrast, the work of humanistic psychologists has received relatively little in the way of feminist scrutiny. This is apparent within person-centred counselling which can be regarded as a rapidly developing social movement in contemporary Britain. The person-centred approach has been adopted not only by `mainstream' agencies but by many feminist agencies and women `s self-help groups. Drawing on the insights of feminist philosophy this article attempts to subject the key concepts of Rogerian counselling to gender analysis. The so-called `core conditions' are addressed from a feminist perspective and the principles of `responsibility' and `authenticity' examined from a woman-centred viewpoint. The problems of adopting Rogerian principles in the context of Rape Crisis counselling are addressed. A consideration is made of the extent to which humanism and the counselling practices informed by this tradition have failed to address the specific problems encountered by women in their search for personhood and agency.

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`Wild Women Don't Have the Blues': A Feminist Critique of `Person-Centred' Counselling and Therapy

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