A Feminist Perspective on How Therapists Can Harm Marriages and What We Can Do About It

Abstract

On July 3rd 1999, William Doherty gave a keynote speech at the Smart Marriages Conference in Washington, DC. The title of his speech was “How Therapists Harm Marriages and What We Can Do About It.” Doherty discussed two dangers that face people seeking marital therapy. The first is individually trained therapists and the other is therapists with an individualistic orientation which may undermine marital commitment. In my comments regarding Doherty's speech, I commend his whistle blowing on the field and add to his comments from a feminist point of view.