Women's Studies Int. Forum. Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 487--496.1993 0277-5395/93 $6.00+ .

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Primedin the USA. Copyright© 1993PergamonPressLtd.

DEPOLITICISING THE PERSONAL

A Feminist Slogan in Feminist Therapy
CELIA KITZINGER
Department of Social Sciences, University of Loughborough, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK

Synopsis- One of the great insights of second wave feminism was the recognition that "the personal
is political." Many feminist psychologists (both practitioners and researchers) claim a strong com-
mitment to this slogan and attempt to implement it through their theory and practice. This article
explores four interpretations of "the personal is political" in feminist psychological writing. It is
argued that far from achieving radical feminist goals, psychological interpretations serve: (1) to
personalise the political, translating social, economic, and ecological concerns into individual psy-
chological matters; (2) to foster revolution "from within" at the expense of political change in the
outside world; (3) that insofar as it aims uncritically to "validate women's experiences," it ignores
the social and political factors which shape experience; and (4) that the concept of "empowerment"
depends upon a radical split between the "personal" and the "political." In sum, it is concluded that
feminist acknowledgement that the personal really/s political means rejecting psychology.

One of the great insights of second wave fem- perceived as merely "personal" issues as polit-
inism was the recognition that "the personal ical concerns.
is political"-a phrase first coined by Carol This article explores the way in which the
Hanisch in 1971. We meant by this that all slogan, "the personal is political," is used
our small, personal, day-to-day activities had within feminist psychological writing, with
political meaning, whether intended or not. particular reference to therapy. The growth
Aspects of our lives that had previously been in feminist therapies (including self-help
seen as purely "personar'-housework, sex, books, co-counselling, twelve-step groups,
relationships with sons and fathers, mothers, and so on, as well as one-to-one therapy) has
sisters and lovers--were shaped by, and in- been rapid, and has attracted criticism from
fluential upon, their broader social context. many feminists concerned about their politi-
"The s l o g a n . . , meant, for example, that cal implications (Cardea, 1985; I-Ioagland,
when a woman is forced to have sex with her 1988; Tallen, 1990; Perkins, 1991). However,
husband it is a political act because it reflects many feminist psychologists (both research-
the power dynamics in the relationships: ers and practitioners) state explicitly their be-
wives are property to which husbands have lief that "the personal is political." According
full access" (Rowland, 1984, p. 5). A feminist to some, this principle has "prevailed as [a]
understanding of "politics" meant challeng- cornerstone of feminist therapy" (Gilbert,
ing the male definition of the political as 1980), and qualitative methodologies have
something external (to do with governments, often been adopted by feminists precisely be-
laws, banner-waving, and protest marches) cause they permit access to "personal" experi-
towards an understanding of politics as cen- ence, the "political" implications of which
tral to our very beings, affecting our can be drawn out through the research. It
thoughts, emotions, and the apparently triv- would be unusual to find a feminist psycholo-
ial everyday choices we make about how we gist who denied believing that "the personal
live. Feminism meant treating what had been is political," despite the existence of feminist
critiques of some of its implications (its false
The author is grateful to Sheila Kitzinger, Rachel universalising of women's experience, for ex-
Perkins, and Sue Wilkinson with whom she discussed the ample, see hooks, 1984, and t h e - i r o n i c -
ideas in this article, and she would also like to thank the tendency of some women to perceive the slo-
anonymous referees for their critical comments on an gan's categories of "personal" and "political"
earlier version of this article.
as polarised and in competition, see David,

487
488 CELIA KITZINGER

1992). However, widespread concurrence Freudian) may be worse than others, that
with this slogan amongst feminist psycholo- doesn't render other psychologies any more
gists conceals a variety of interpretations. acceptable. As a psychologist with nearly a
This article illustrates four of those differing decade's post-doctoral experience within the
psychological interpretations of ''the per- field, I know a great deal about the range and
sonal is political," and argues that far from variety of different psychologies on offer,
politicising the personal, psychology person- but I see discussion of them in this context as
alises the political, focuses attention on "the diversionary. In the same way that the ethical
revolution within," concentrates on "validat- vegetarian is unlikely to be drawn into de-
ing women's experience" at the expense of po- tailed discussion about the differences be-
litical analysis of that experience, and seeks tween pork and beef, I choose, here, not to
to "empower" women, rather than accord engage with the differences between (for ex-
real political power. ample) psychoanalysis and cognitive therapy.
Two caveats before launching into my Whatever the relative merits of one therapy
main a r g u m e n t - b o t h of them responses to over another, it is crucial to address the cen-
comments made by referees of this article. tral issue of the relationship between (ge-
First, this article does not claim to present a neric) psychology and feminist politic. Such
thorough overview of the whole of feminist an analysis is particularly urgent at a time
psychology-a huge and growing area. when "more and more of us are going into
Moreover, unlike other critiques (e.g., Jack- therapy and it is almost becoming unfashion-
son, 1983; Sethna, 1992; Tailen, 1990a, able not to be in it" (Hamer, 1990, p. 134).
1990b), this article is not an attack on any one Second, "it doesn't seem fair," said one
particular brand of psychology, or a discus- referee, "to scoff at institutions that help
sion from within the discipline (e.g., Burack, women live their lives in less pain. Many
1992). Rather, its aim is to stand outside the women have been helped by therapy." I have
disciplinary framework of psychology and to heard enough women say "it saved my life" to
draw attention to the political problems in- feel almost guilty about challenging psychol-
herent in the very concept of "feminist psy- ogy. Many women say that it was only with
chology" per se. A reviewer of this article the help of therapy that they became able to
asked that distinctions be made between dif- leave an abusive relationship, to rid them-
ferent types of therapy. My disagreement selves of incapacitating fears and anxieties,
with this suggestion can perhaps be made or to stop drug abuse. Anything that saves
most clearly if I draw a parallel. There are nu- women's lives, anything that makes women
merous distinctions that can be made be- happier, must be feminist-mustn't it? Well,
tween the dead animals people call "meat," no. It's possible to patch women up and en-
but ethical vegetarians are not expected to able them to make changes in their lives with-
compare and contrast the different methods out ever addressing the underlying political
of stockkeeping, transporting, and killing issues that cause these personal problems in
various species of animals in defending their the first place. "I used to bitch at my husband
vegetarianism. Instead, the similarities be- to do housework and nothing happened," a
tween different species of dead animal are women from Minnesota told Harriet Lerner
taken for granted, and debate focuses on the (1990, p. 15); "Now I'm in an intensive treat-
extent to which eating them is, or is not, com- ment program for codependency and I'm as-
patible with feminism. Of course, some peo- serting myself very strongly. My husband is
ple may point out that the production of more helpful because he knows I'm codepen-
some kinds of meat, (e.g., veal) involve par- dent and he supports my recovery." For this
ticular cruelty and suffering (which is true), woman, the psychological explanation ("I'm
but as far as vegetarians are concerned, that codependent and need to recover") was more
doesn't make the eating of other kinds of successful than the feminist explanation
dead animal any more acceptable. In the (women's work as unpaid domestic labour
same way, I focus on the extent to which psy- for men, cf. Mainardi, 1970) in creating
chology is, or is not, compatible with femi- change. With the idea of herself as sick, she
nist renditions of "the personal is political," was able to make him do housework. As
and although some kinds of psychology (e.g., Carol Tavris (1992) says, "women get much
 Depoliticising the Personal 489

more sympathy and support when they de- counselling workshop (Green, 1987). Even
fine their problems in medical or psychologi- environmental disaster can be translated
cal than in political terms." The codependen- from a major ecological concern to a psycho-
cy explanation masks what feminists see as logical problem: In 1989, in the first week
the real cause of our problems-male su- after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Alaska hired
premacy. Instead we are told that the cause a disaster psychologist, Dr. Richard Geist of
lies in our own "codependency." This is not Kansas University, paying him $600 a day
feminism. Although it's clear that "many for his "expertise in attending to the special
women have been helped by therapy," it is needs of communities struck by tragedy"
equally clear that many women have been (The Guardian, 15 April, 1989). Many people
helped, and feel better about themselves, as now think of major social and political issues
a result of (for example) dieting, buying new in psychological terms.
clothes, or joining a religious cult. Histori- In fact, the whole of life can be seen as one
cally, as Bette Tallen (1990a, p. 390) points great psychological exercise. Back in 1977,
out, women have "sought refuge in such insti- Judi Chamberlin (1977, p. 131) pointed out
tutions as the Catholic church or the military. that mental hospitals tend to use the term
But does this mean that these are institutions "therapy" to describe absolutely everything
that should be fully embraced by feminists?" that goes on inside them: "making the beds
The reasons behind the rush into psychology, and sweeping the floor can be called 'indus-
and the benefits in offers (as well as the price trial therapy,' going to a dance or movie 'rec-
it exacts)are discussed in more detail else- reational therapy,' stupefying patients with
where (Kitzinger & Perkins, 1993). In this ar- drugs 'chemotherapy,' and so forth. Custo-
ticle, I focus more narrowly on psychological dial mental hospitals, which offer very little
interpretations of "the personal is political," treatment, frequently make reference to 'mi-
and the implications of these for feminism. lieu therapy,' as if the very hospital air were
somehow curative." A decade or so later,
PERSONALISING THE POLITICAL with psychology's major clientele not in men-
tal hospitals but in the community, every-
In this interpretation of "the personal is polit- thing in our lives is translated into "ther-
ical," instead of politicising the "personal," apy." Reading books becomes "bibliother-
the "political" is personalised. Political con- apy"; writing (Wenz, 1988), journalkeeping
cerns, national and international politics, (Hagan, 1988), and art are all ascribed thera-
and major social, economic, and ecological peutic functions. Even taking photographs is
disasters are reduced to personal, individual now a psychological technique: Feminist
psychological matters. "phototherapist" Jo Spence drew on the psy-
This wholesale translation of the political choanalytic theories of Alice Miller, and ad-
into the personal is characteristic, not just of vocates healing (among other "wounds"),
feminist psychology, but of psychology gen- "the wound of class shame" through photog-
erally. In the USA, a group of 22 profession- raphy. And although reading, writing, and
als spent 3 years and $735,000 (£448,000) in taking photographs are ordinary activities, in
coming to the conclusion that lack of self- their therapeutic manifestation they require
esteem is the root cause of '¢many of the expert guidance: "I don't think people can do
major social ills that plague us today" (The this with friends or by t h e m s e l v e s . . , they'll
Guardian, April 13, 1990). Gloria Steinem never have the safety working alone that
(1992) would agree: low self-esteem, she says, they~l get working with a therapist because
afflicts not only her, but also Hitler, Saddam they will encounter their own blockages and
Hussein, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush, be unable to get past them" (Spence, 1990, p.
along with entire nations (Haiti and Argen- 39). While not wishing to deny that reading,
tina). Sexual violence against women is ad- writing, art, photography, and so on might
dressed by setting up social skills training and make some people feel better about them-
anger management sessions for rapists (now selves, it is disturbing to find such activities
available in 60 jails in England and Wales, assessed in purely psychological terms. As
The Guardian, May 21, 1991), and racism be- feminists, we used to read in order to learn
comes something to get off your chest in a more about feminist history and culture;
490 CELIA KITZINGER

write and paint to communicate with others. cult for you," or "That must have felt so
These were social activities directed out- invalidating" or "What do you think you
wards; now they are treated as explorations need to feel better about that?" I know
of the self. The success of what we do is eval- very well the corresponding tape that is
uated in terms of how it makes us feel. Social supposed to click into my own brain: "I
conditions are assessed in terms of how the think ! just needed to let you know what
inner life of individuals responds to them. was going on for me," or "It helps to hear
Political and ethical commitments are judged you say that, it feels very validating," or "I
by the degree to which they enhance or de- guess I just need to go off alone and nur-
tract from our individual sense of well being. ture myself a little."
Feminist therapists now "prescribe" politi-
cal activities for their c l i e n t s - n o t for their Psychological ways of thinking have spilled
inherent political value, but as cure-alls. The out of the therapist's office, the AA groups,
"Guidelines for Feminist Therapy" offered and self-help books, the experiential work-
by therapist Marylou Butler in the Handbook shops and rebirthing sessions to invade all as-
of Feminist Therapy includes the suggestion pects of our lives. The political has been thor-
that feminist therapists should "make refer- oughly personalised.
rals to women's centers, CR groups, and fem-
inist organizations, when that would be ther- REVOLUTION FROM WITHIN
apeutic for clients" (Butler, 1985, p. 37).
Consciousness R a i s i n g - the practice of mak- Another common feminist psychologising of
ing the personal political-was never in- "the personal is political" goes something like
tended to be "therapy" (Sarachild, 1978). this:
Women who participate in feminist activism
with the goal of feeling better about them- The supposedly "personal" activity of
selves are likely to be disappointed. In send- therapy is deeply political because learning
ing women to feminist groups, the primary to feel better about ourselves, raising our
aims of which are activist rather than thera- self-esteem, accepting our sexualities and
peutic, therapists are doing a disservice to coming to terms with who we really a r e -
both their clients and to feminism. all these are political acts in a heteropatri-
Our relationships, too, are considered not archal world. With woman-hating all
in terms of their political implications, but around us, it is revolutionary to love our-
rather, in terms of their therapeutic func- selves, to heal the wounds of patriarchy,
tions. Therapy used to name what happened and to overcome self-oppression. If every-
between a therapist and a client. Now, as one loved and accepted themselves, so that
Bonnie Mann (1987, p. 47) points out, it ac- women (and men) no longer projected on
curately describes what happens between to each other their own repressed self-
many women in daily interactions: "any ac- hatreds, we would have real social change.
tivity organized by women is boxed into a
therapeutic framework. Its value is deter- This is a very common argument, most re-
mined on the basis of whether or not it is cently rehearsed in Gloria Steinem's "Revolu-
'healing'": tion from Within." As Carol Sternhell (1992,
p. 5) points out in a critical review, "The
I have often seen an honest conversation point of all this trendy, tied-dyed shrinkery
turn into a therapeutic interaction before isn't simply feeling better about y o u r s e l f - o r
my eyes. For instance: I mention some- rather, it is, because feeling better about all
thing that has bothered, hurt, or been dif- our selves is now the key to worldwide revo-
ficult for me in some way. Something lution."
shifts. I see the woman I am with take on In this model, the "self" is naturally good,
The Role of the Supportive Friend. It is as but has to be uncovered from beneath the
if a tape clicks into her brain, her voice layers of internalised oppression and healed
changes, I can see her begin to see me dif- from the wounds inflicted on it by a hetero-
ferently, as a victim. She begins to recite patriarchal society. Despite her manifest dif-
the lines, "That must have been very diffi- ferences from Gloria Steinem in other areas,
 Depoliticisingthe Personal 491

lesbian feminist therapist Laura Brown such cards, a "context" will have been created
(1992) shares Steinem's notion of the "true in which hunger will somehow end (cited in
self." She writes, for example, of a client's Zilbergeld, 1983, pp. 5-6). Of course, Laura
"struggle to recover her self from the snares Brown, along with many other feminist ther-
of patriarchy" (pp. 241-242), by "peel[ing] apists, would probably also want to challenge
away the layers of patriarchal training" (p. the obscenity of this project. Yet the logic of
242) and "heal[ing] the wounds o f . . . child- her own arguments permits precisely this
hood" (p. 245); in therapy with Laura Brown, kind of interpretation.
a woman is helped to "know herself" (p. 246), Such approaches are a very long way from
to move beyond her "accommodated self" (p. my own understanding of"the personal is po-
243) and discover her "true self" (p. 243) (or litical." I don't think social change happens
"shamed inner self," p. 245), and live "at har- from the inside out. I don't think people have
mony with herself" (p. 243). In most feminist inner children somewhere inside waiting to be
psychology, this inner self is characterised as nurtured, re-patented, and their natural
a beautiful, spontaneous little girl. Getting in goodness released into the world. On the con-
touch with and nurturing her is a first step in trary, as I have argued elsewhere (Kitzinger,
creating social change: It is "revolution from 1987; Kitzinger & Perkins, 1993), our inner
within." selves are constructed by the social and politi-
This set of ideas has its roots in the cal contexts in which we live, and if we want
"growth movement" of the 1960s, which em- to alter people's behaviour it is far more ef-
phasised personal liberation and "human po- fective to change the environment than to
tential." Back then, the central image was of psychologise individuals. Yet, as Sarah Scott
a vaguely defined "sick society." and Tracey Payne (1984, p. 24) point out,
"when it comes to doing therapy it is essential
"The System" was poisoned by its materi- to each and every technique that women see
alism, consumerism and lack of concern their 'real' selves and their 'social' selves as
for the individual. These things were inter- distinct." This means that the process of
nalised by people; but underneath the lay- making ethical and political decisions about
ers of "shit" in each person lay an essential our lives is reduced to the supposed "discov-
"natural self" which could be reached ery" of our true selves, the honouring of our
through various therapeutic techniques. "hearts desires." Political understandings of
What this suggests is that revolutionary our thoughts and feelings is occluded, and
change is not something that has to be our ethical choices are cast within a therapeu-
built, created or invented with other peo- tic rather than a political framework. A set
ple, but that it is somehow natural, dor- of repressive social conditions has made life
mant in each of us individually and only hard for women and lesbians. Yet the "revo-
has to be released. (Scott & Payne, 1984, lution from within" solution is to improve the
p. 22) individuals, rather than change the condi-
tions.
The absurdity of taking this "revolution from Psychology suggests that only after heal-
within" argument to its logical conclusion is ing yourself can you begin to heal the world.
illustrated by one project, the offspring of a I disagree. People do not have to be perfectly
popular therapeutic/program, which pro- functioning, self-actualised human beings in
posed to end starvation. Not, as might seem order to create social change. Think of the
sensible, by organising soup kitchens, dis- feminists you know who have been influen-
tributing food parcels to the hungry, cam- tial in the world, and who have worked hard
paigning for impoverished countries to be re- and effectively for social justice: Have they
leased from their national debts, or all loved and accepted themselves? The vast
sponsoring farming cooperatives. Instead, it majority of those admired for their political
offers the simple expedient of getting individ- work go on struggling for change not because
uals to sign cards saying that they are "willing they have achieved self-fulfillment (nor in or-
to be responsible for making the end of star- der to attain it), but because of their ethical
vation an idea whose time has come." When and political commitments, and often in spite
an undisclosed number of people have signed o f their own fears, self-doubts, personal
492 CELIA KITZINGER

angsts, and self-hatreds. Those who work for mental political act is the same as the fun-
"revolution without" are often no more "in damental therapeutic act: it is the process
touch with their real selves" than those fix- of joining another person's experience in
ated on inner change: This observation a way which enables that person to make
should not be used (as it sometimes is) to dis- explicit her internal knowledge of what is
credit their activism, but rather to demon- real...
strate that political action is an option for all
of us, whatever our state of psychological This "validation" process is supposed to have
well-being. Walt until your inner world is sor- enormous implications: "When we honor our
ted out before shifting your attention to the clients, they transform themselves" (Hill,
outer, and you are, indeed "waiting for the 1990, p. 56).
revolution" (c,f., Brown, 1992). And in fact, There is obviously a lot of sense in listen-
as Carol Sternhell (1992) points out, Gloria ing to each other and in being willing to un-
Steinem, despite her current preoccupation derstand the meaning of other women's expe-
with "revolution from within," is herself a rience. We used to do this in consciousness
good example of someone who was effective raising groups; now we do it in therapy. Be-
as a social campaigner although she suffered, cause it has been transformed into a thera-
she now tells us, from chronic lack of self- peutic activity, it now carries all the risks of
esteem. abuse of power endemic to the therapeutic
enterprise (cf. Kitzinger & Perkins, 1993,
When I first h e a r d . . , that Gloria chap. 3; Silveira, 1985). In particular, thera-
Steinem didn't have self-esteem, my reac- pists are selective about which experiences
tion was: "Who cares? Look what she's they will or won't validate in therapy. Those
done with her life! It's the life that matters of a client's feelings and beliefs which are
in the end." (Sternhell, 1992, p. 6) most similar to those of the therapist are "val-
idated"; the others are more or less subtly
VALIDATING WOMEN'S EXPERIENCE "invalidated." In cognitive therapy this "in-
validation" is explicit (it is called "modi-
A third psychological version of "the per- fying dysfunctional cognitions," cf. Perkins,
sonal is political" as applied to therapy goes 1991); in other therapeutic methods it may be
something like this: less explicit. Few feminist therapists, for ex-
ample, will uncritically validate a survivor of
Politics develops out of personal experi- child sexual abuse who talks of being to
ence. Feminism is derived from women's blame for her childhood rape because of her
own life stories, and must reflect and vali- seductive behaviour; instead, she is likely to
date those. Women's realities have always be offered an analysis of the way in which
been ignored, denied or invalidated under victim-blaming operates under heteropatriar-
heteropatriarchy; therapy serves to wit- chy. Similarly, few feminist therapists will
ness, affirm, and validate women's ex- validate the experience of a woman who says
perience. As such, it makes the personal, she is sick and perverted for being lesbian: In-
political. stead, as Laura Brown (1992) herself argues,
her "dysfunctional thoughts" (p. 243) will be
The politics of therapy, according to this ap- challenged and therapy geared towards mod-
proach, involves no more than "validating," ifying them to the belief that "'patriarchy
"respecting," "honouring," "celebrating," teaches that lesbianism is evil as means of so-
"affirming," "attending to," or "witnessing" cially controlling all women and reserving
(these buzz words are generally used inter- emotional resources for men and dominant
changeably) another woman's "experience" institutions' (an analysis that I have offered,
or "reality." According to feminist therapist in various forms, to women wondering out
Marcia Hill (1990, p. 55): loud in my office about why they hate them-
selves so for being lesbian)" (Brown, 1992, p.
we know what is true not by the "givens" 249). While claiming to "validate" all wom-
of society, but by listening to our inner ex- en's realities, in fact only a subset, consisting
perience and that of others. The funda- of those realities with which the therapist is
 Depoliticisingthe Personal 493

in agreement, are accepted as "true" reflec- stage of A[ssertiveness] T[raining] you

tions of the way things are. The others are have reached.
"invalidated," whether as "faulty cognitions"
(Padesky, 1989), or as "patriarchal distor- As feminists, we have theorised the ethical
tions" (Brown, 1992, p. 242). In other words, and political dimensions of lesbian mother-
all this talk about "validating" and "honour- hood and the responsibilities and rights of all
ing" clients' reality is thin disguise for the lesbians in relation to girl and boy children:
therapeutic shaping of women's experience in This theory is ignored in psychological ap-
terms of the therapist's own theories. proaches which simply address our personal
Therapists, then, are selective about which preferences and teach us to make decisions
experiences in their clients they validate. A on the basis of what "feels right." If ''the per-
reader of the therapeutic literature will find sonal is political" then we cannot simply "val-
herself sometimes in agreement with a partic- idate" (or, covertly, invalidate) it; it must be
ular therapist's selection, sometimes in dis- explicitly addressed in ethical and political
agreement. Irrespective of whether we hap- terms.
pen to like or dislike the selections made, I
think we should be seriously concerned about EMPOWERMENT
the covert shaping of women's realities under
the guise of value-free, uncritical "valida- A fourth psychological interpretation of "the
tion" of everyone's experience. personal is political" relies on the notion of
In any case, "experience" is always per- "empowerment". It goes something like this:
ceived through a (implicit or explicit) theoret-
ical framework within which it gains mean- Therapy empowers us to act politically.
ing. Feelings and emotions are not simply Raising one's personal awareness through
immediate, unsocialised, self-authenticating therapy enables individuals to release their
responses. They are socially constructed, and psychic energies towards creative social
presuppose certain social norms. "Experi- change. Through therapy, lesbians can
ence" is never "raw"; it is embedded in a so- gain both the feminist consciousness and
cial web of interpretation and reinterpreta- the self-confidence to engage in political
tion. In encouraging and perpetuating the action. Many radical feminist political ac-
notion of pure, unsullied, presocialised "ex- tivists are empowered to continue through
perience" and natural emotion welling up their ongoing self-nurturing in therapy.
•from inside, therapists have disguised or ob-
scured the social roots of our "inner selves." Those in therapy often use this justification:
Placing "experience" beyond debate in this According to Angela Johnson (1992, p. 8),
way is deeply anti-feminist precisely because therapy (along with rock-climbing) "gives me
it denies the political sources of experience the energy to continue my activism with re-
and renders them purely personal. When psy- newed excitement." And therapists concur.
chology simply "validates" particular emo- According to clinical psychologist Jan Burns
tions, it removes them from an ethical and (1992, p. 230), writing on the psychology of
political framework. This lack of ethical con- lesbian health care, "it seems intuitively rea-
sideration is highlighted by Julie Bindel sonable that an individual may prefer to en-
(1988, p. 51) in her critique of Assertiveness gage in self-exploration prior to choosing to
Training. She poses a dilemma: engage in more political action, and may in
fact need to, before being able to take other
An exhausted lesbian mother asks you to action." Laura Brown (1992) says that many
look after her children. Do you say: of her clients "have precious little to give to
a) Yes of course the larger struggle from which many are dis-
b) Maybe tomorrow, I'll look in my fi- engaged when I first see them" (p. 245). Her
lofax, or client, "Ruth," was helped to understand that
c) No, I don't want to do that. I don't "ultimate healing lies in her participation in
feel good about doing that. I want to read cultural, not only personal change" (p. 246)
my book. You are guilt-tripping me. and was shown by Laura Brown "how to
The answer of course depends on what move her healing process into a broader
494 CELIA KITZINGER

sphere" (p. 245): As a result of therapy, her of therapy itself. It is seen simply as a hobby
"energies" were "freed" (p. 245) and she be- (like rock climbing) or personal activity with
came a speaker, poet, and teacher about no particular ethical or political implications
women and war, and engaged in public anti- in and of itself. Shorn of intrinsic political
war activism. Similarly, clinical psychologist meaning, it is assessed only in terms of its
Sue Holland (1991), in an article entitled presumed consequences for "politics"-de-
"from private symptoms to public action," fined in terms of the old male left banner-
promotes a model of therapy in which the cli- waving variety. If "the personal is political,"
ent moves from "passive, 'ill' patient/victim" then the very process of doing therapy is po-
(p. 59) at the start of treatment to a "recogni- litical, and this process (not simply its alleged
tion o f . . . oppression as located in the ob- outcomes) must be critically evaluated in po-
jective environment" (p. 59) which leads to a litical terms.
"collective desire for change" (p. 59) in which In conclusion, and despite the frequency
"psychic energies c a n . . , be addressed out- with which feminist therapists routinely state
ward onto structural enemies" (p. 59). that "the personal is political," it seems ut-
According to this interpretation, the "per- terly wrong to claim that this maxim is a "cor-
sonal" consists of "psychic energies" (never nerstone of feminist therapy" (Gilbert, 1980).
clearly defined) which operate according to a Certainly the notions of "revolution from
hydraulic model: There is a fixed amount of within," the importance of "validating"
"energy" which can be blocked, freed, or re- women's reality, and "empowering" women
directed along other channels. The "political" for political activism, are central to the think-
is simply one of these "channels." Therapy ing of many feminist psychologists. These
can (and some would say should) direct femi- overlapping and interrelated ideas are
nist energy along "political" channels. Often, braided throughout a great deal of lesbian/
of course, it does not, and women remain feminist psychological theory and practice.
perpetually focussed w i t h i n - a problem But such notions are a long way from the rad-
noted with regret by the more radical lesbian/ ical feminist insight that "the personal is po-
feminist therapists. But their therapy (they litical," and are often interpreted in direct
say) does result in their clients' becoming po- contradiction to it. They are commonly used
litically active. to keep women focused on an internal "per-
Far from embodying the notion of "the sonal" world at the expense of public engage-
personal is political," these ideas rely on a ments. They often foster naive concepts of
radical separation of the two. The "personal" the mechanisms whereby social change is
business of doing therapy is distinguished achieved; involve uncritical acceptance of
from the "political" work of going on "true feelings" and/or manipulative "reinter-
marches, and having severed the "personal" pretations" of women's lives in terms pre-
and "political" in this way, the two are then ferred by the psychologist; lead women to re-
inspected for degree of correlation. For ex- vert to "external" definitions of politics in
ample, an anonymous feminist psychologist contradistinction to the "personal" business
who acted as reader for a book (Kitzinger & of therapy; and leave us shorn of ethical and
Perkins, 1993) submitted for consideration political language. Acknowledging that the
by New York University Press responded to personal really /s political means rejecting
our lesbian/feminist critique of therapy by psychology.
arguing that "many of my friends who are I recognise that some women whose poli-
political activists are also in therapy. Rather tics I admire and respect have not rejected
than subverting their politics, they credit psychology: Many are "in therapy" or are
therapy with enabling them to be more ac- providers of therapy. This observation is
tive." One might as well respond to an ethical sometimes used to counter our arguments.
vegetarian critique of meat-eating by arguing After reading a chapter (Kitzinger & Perkins,
that "many of my friends who are involved in 1993) which cites Nancy Johnson's class ac-
animal rights issues are meat-eaters; they say tion suit against the U.S. government for
meat-eating gives them more energy to go on condemning the people of Utah to cancer (be-
animal rights demonstrations." The "empow- cause of nuclear nesting), one reader com-
erment" argument totally ignores the politics mented that Nancy Johnson now works as a
 Depoliticising the Personal 495

psychic healer in a manner which I was likely Journal o f Australian Lesbian Feminist Studies,
to find politically problematic. "I think the 2(1), 24-41.
Gilbert, L. A. (1980). Feminist therapy. In Annette M.
situation is more complicated than you've Brodsky & Rachel Hare-Mustin (Eds.), Women and
presented it: Feminism and psychology don't psychotherapy: A n assessment o f research and prac-
seem to be mutually exclusive," she said. Ob- tice. New York: Guilford Press.
viously, feminist activists are sometimes Green, Margaret. (1987). Women in the oppressor role:
practitioners or consumers of psychology: White racism. In Sheila Ernst & Marie Maguire
(Eds.), Living with the sphinx: Papers f r o m the
Many feminists clearly find it possible to in- Women's Therapy Centre (pp. 178-212). London:
clude both in their lives. But then, health The Women's Press.
campaigners sometimes smoke cigarettes; Hagan, Kathy. (1988). Internal affairs: A journalkeep-
ecologists sometimes drop litter; and paci- ing workbook f o r self intimacy. San Francisco:
Harper Row.
fists sometimes slap their children. The ob- Hanish, Carol. (1971). The personal is political. In J.
served coexistence of two views or behav- Aget (Ed.), The radical therapist. New York: Bal-
iours in the same person does not render lantine.
them logically, ethically, or politically com- Hamer, Diane. (1990). Significant others: Lesbianism
patible. and psychoanalytic theory. Feminist Review, 34,
134-151.
Argument about the ethical and political Hill, Marcia. (1990). On creating a theory of feminist
compatibility of people's different ideas and therapy. In Laura Brown & Maria Root (Eds.), Di-
behaviour is an important part of what femi- versity and complexity in feminist therapy: Part 1,
nist political discussion is all about. My argu- Special issue o f Women and Therapy, 9(1/2), 53-65.
Hoagland, Sarah. (1988). Lesbian ethics: Toward new
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necessarily, that women involved in psychol- action. Feminism and Psychology, 1(1), 58-62.
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center. Boston, MA: South End Press.
serious about their feminism and deeply en= Jackson, Stevi. (1983). The desire for Freud: Psycho-
gaged in political activities. But insofar as analysis and feminism. Trouble and Strife, 1, 32-41.
they organise their lives with reference to psy- Johnson, Angela. (1992). For feminists, talk is cheap:
chological ideas, and insofar as they limit But in therapy it'll cost you $38 an hour (and that's
their thoughts and actions to what they learn on a sliding scale)." o f f our backs, January, 8-9.
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from psychology, they are denying the fun- anism. London: Sage.
damental feminist principle that "the per- Kitzinger, Celia, & Perkins, Rachel. (1993). Changing
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don: Onlywomen Press; New York: New York Uni-
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