Community Conversation - The Master's Tools: Do We Need Membership Bodies?

The Feminist Therapy Network Community Conversations Series is an online, peer-led space for UK-based feminist / feminist curious therapists to share experiences, struggles, dilemmas and think collectively on a themed topic.

The conversations are a welcoming and informal way to connect with like-minded folks and collectively explore feminist topics in relation to our therapeutic practices. Each conversation is 75 minutes long.

This conversation takes up Audre Lorde's famous statement: the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house, in order to explore the question , do we need membership bodies? Possible avenues for exploration together are, what messages about professionalisation do we internalise from our trainings? What issues have we experienced with our membership bodies? Is it possible to practice ethically without a membership body? How might we imagine alternative practices of ethical accountability in therapeutic practice? How do we respond when our personal ethics do not align with institutional codes? And, might it be possible to subvert therapeutic hegemonies through using the master's tools?

We look forward to a rich conversation together!

Previous Community Conversation topics:

Reclaiming feminism(s) for therapy

Navigating Dual Relationships

Taking Care of Trans Folks: responsibilities and allyship

The Trainee Experience: supporting politically engaged trainees

Collective Care Practices

Feminist Economics: capitalism, money and therapy

Suggested Future Topics:

Is there a theme or dilemma you would like to explore and / or host? Please get in touch with your suggestions. Current suggestions awaiting a conversation include:

Being Therapists in the Time of Extinction

Statutory Regulation: is this compatible with a feminist ethics?

Being a Therapist-Activist: defining our activist projects

Feminist Therapy and Private Practice: embodying values

We need volunteer Community Conversation hosts!

To host a conversation, you just need a Zoom account that can host groups. You don’t need any particular experience to host. If you’d like too but would like some support, please get in touch as we can provide that. We truly appreciate your support.