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Mental and Social Health Commons

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Loma Linda University

Theses/Dissertations

Feminist Informed Theory; Gendered Power Inequalities; Socialization; Heterosexual Relationships; Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy; Relational Engagement

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Full-Text Articles in Mental and Social Health

Relational Engagement And Empowerment: Establishing A Foundation To Address Gender And Power, Sarah K. Samman Sep 2016

Relational Engagement And Empowerment: Establishing A Foundation To Address Gender And Power, Sarah K. Samman

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Feminist informed therapists view relational distress as a complex reflection of the influences of larger disempowering discourses resulting in gendered power inequalities in heterosexual couple relationships. These disempowering discourses often manifest in males’ socialization to maintain autonomy compared to females’ socialization to orient toward the needs of others (Silverstein, Bass, Tuttle, Knudson-Martin, & Huenergardt, 2006). The general purpose of this study was to bridge the gap between feminist informed theory and practice using the Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT; Knudson-Martin & Huenergardt, 2010) Model to relieve relational distress in heterosexual intimate partners often caused by these competing discourses toward a relational …