Transference in a Pregnancy and Postpartum Group and Reflections on Female Development
Keywords:
DevelopmentAbstract
The psychological experience of pregnancy has been of increasing interest to therapists and is thought to include a developmental crisis in which the woman reworks her sense of herself and her significant relationships. Beginning as a community outreach program during Operation Desert Storm, a support group for pregnant and postpartum women met over a period of 28 weeks. During that period, the group members, in working through their transferences to the male and female therapists, progressed from devaluing themselves and feeling inferior to men to valuing and enjoying their femininity and reproductive abilities. In light of this occurrence, I challenge the classical theoretical understanding of female development and discuss alternatives.
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