Abstract
As a preventive mental health worker in a community mental health center, I considered it part of my role to explore the possible therapeutic value of women's liberation groups in the community. I was particularly concerned with countering the sense of isolation and powerlessness prevalent among female adults in our suburban catchment area. Subsequent investigation and participant observation of women's groups bore out my expectation that many of the goals, premises, and methods of preventive mental health were compatible with those of women's liberation groups. These groups provided a very effective framework for personal as well as interpersonal and sociocultural change in the direction of psychological growth.
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References
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This paper was made possible by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service (5T21MH13294) to the Wright Institute, Berkeley, California. The author wishes to acknowledge with appreciation Marnie Hall, M.S.W., consultant for this report, and the encouragement and contribution of Karen Signell, Ph.D., Director of the NIMH Manpower for Primary Prevention Grant.
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Davis, M.S. Women's liberation groups as a primary preventive mental health strategy. Community Ment Health J 13, 219–228 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02161196
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02161196