Psychotherapeutic work with lesbians is confounded by both sexist and heterosexist factors. This paper traces three aspects of women's socialization—self‐concept, feminine sex‐role behavior, and sexuality— which have particular implications for lesbians and discusses the implications of these three in therapy. The impact of women's conditioning to base self‐esteem on acceptance by others is noted, particularly as such conditioning combines with the cumulative stresses of lesbian life. Finally, examples of ways in which heterosexual bias may become apparent in therapy are given, and alternative therapeutic approaches are discussed.
In the last decade some exciting research has taken place within the lesbian community that has more to do with what is relevant to lesbian life-styles and less to do with proving to society that "'homosexuality" is a viable life-style. Current lesbian research tends to be descriptive and phenomenological as opposed to being formal empirical research. There is also a movement toward less reliance on existing theoretical models, which tend to be sexist and homophobic, to guide these observations. We need to discover our own voice.
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