Group Therapy and "Women of a Certain Age"

The sexual revolution and women's liberation have led to increased interest in the way gender impacts on psychodynamics as well as the therapy group. Furthermore, as the baby boomers reach midlife and older, it is important to consider the challenges such women face as well as their particular power and resilience as they are expressed in the therapy group. In addition, women still comprise a majority of psychotherapy patients and are now becoming a majority in clinical training programs. For these reasons, the author addresses the particular issues and concerns of women in midlife in their groups and speaks to the dilemmas faced by both patients and therapists. She utilizes a combined psychodynamic and group dynamic perspective, emphasizing transference and countertransference as they become manifest in the group, reviewing selected literature on women in midlife and identifying the key personal issues they face at that time in terms of both core gender identity and gender role expectations. Citing her own research, the author suggests how women face new challenges based on bodily changes and shifting role relationships, and how they also perceive new strengths and possibilities in their lives. Relational psychology emphasizes interdependence, rather than autonomous self-sufficiency, as a mature ideal, which is consistent with feminist perspectives. Furthermore, and paradoxically, the author agrees with Jung that as women mature, they may incorporate more of the masculine animus into their personalities. Yet for women to disavow their traditional roles and identifications would be a mistake. Transference and countertransference are influenced by the sex of the therapist. For example, male patients may suppress erotic transference to female therapists. Conversely, the female therapist must identify her hidden biases, for example, for or against women-as-housewives and mothers, or else she may misunderstand female patients whose biases differ from her own.