What Makes Feminist Counselling Feminist?

Abstract

Feminist counselling is often characterized as a belief system. Described broadly in this way it has been difficult to clearly articulate its boundaries. The aims of this study were to provide clarification by exploring understandings of feminism among feminist practitioners and implications of these definitions for the rhetoric and practice of feminist counselling. Descriptions of feminism and feminist counselling were collected, via self-administered questionnaire, from 140 Australian feminists who were counsellors. Definitional categories were compared with previous North American research. Although comparisons across time and continent revealed few differences, inconsistencies emerged within the sample. These discrepancies underscored the need for a stronger theoretical base within feminist counselling in Australia.