A RELATIONAL APPROACH TO PSYCHOTHERAPY

New models of women's development posit that women grow through and to ward relationship rather than toward self-sufficiency and separation. This contributes to an ongoing vulnerability to the suffering of disco nnection and loss. Relational therapy, based on this understanding, po ints to the need for mutual empathy and the establishment of transform ative connection in the therapeutic relationship to assist clients in their movement out of the suffering caused by disconnection and isolat ion. This article explores the ways mutuality and relational awareness develop as central dynamics in the therapeutic work.