Feminist mental health activism in England, c.1968-95 provides the first in-depth examination of feminist mental health activism in England. Drawing on original oral history interviews and case studies of previously unexplored feminist initiatives, it charts how members of the Women's Liberation Movement initially rejected Freudian psychoanalysis, before employing a range of therapeutic approaches to better understand themselves and politics.
The book charts the emergence of feminist mental health groups in the early 1970s, who fostered self-help approaches to support activists experiencing emotional distress, before exploring the development of feminist therapy in England. This examination incorporates the efforts of Black psychotherapists who fought to ensure the accessibility and inclusivity of feminist therapy organisations. It also examines how feminist politics came to influence mental health policies and practices on a national scale via the charity Mind. Feminist activists adopted an increasingly collaborative approach to mental health by working with members of the service user movement.
In charting this history, Feminist mental health activism in England, c.1968-1995 showcases what it felt like to be a feminist activist, illustrating how these emotions have since come to influence the construction of histories of the women's movement. It simultaneously forges a new direction in the history of mental healthcare in postwar England, establishing how feminists' grassroots support for women redefined 'community care'.