Women's Lives

What are the patterns dominating womens lives today? What are the issues which confront women in their relationships, their work, and their families? From adolescence and adult partnerships, through motherhood, to growing old Womens Lives, originally published in 1990, explores themes which are central to womens experience, focusing on areas such as growing up, women on their own, sexuality, bringing up children, and family relationships. Sue Llewelyn and Kate Osborne argue that a multi-faceted approach is needed to understand a womans life, taking in not only her personal psychology but also the social context in which she lives. The authors are both clinical psychologists with an interest in psychotherapy, and they draw on their own direct experience of working with women in distress, as well as on feminist writing, novels, and autobiographies to illustrate their arguments. Each chapter presents a detailed case history, highlighting an important aspect of womens lives, and demonstrates the increased understanding to be gained from a combined approach using social psychology, feminist ideas, and psychodynamic insights. Designed for a wide readership, including psychologists, doctors, social workers, counsellors, and nurses, Womens Lives will also be of great value to people on womens studies courses and to those seeking a greater understanding of themselves or others.