cover image Woman Changing Woman: Feminine Psychology Re-Conceived Through Myth and Experience

Woman Changing Woman: Feminine Psychology Re-Conceived Through Myth and Experience

Virginia Beane Rutter. HarperOne, $20 (243pp) ISBN 978-0-06-250748-8

In a society that has demeaned feminine culture and eradicated its ancient symbols, the relationship between a woman and a female therapist can restore her sense of femininity. At least that is the thesis of this evocative and absorbing work by Rutter, an analyst with the C. G. Jung Institute in San Francisco. Rutter describes the effect that therapy with female therapists had on her life and discusses her relationship with three of her own patients. She attempts to show how their dreams relate to the symbols and themes of mother-daughter relationships seen in a number of ancient cultures--Turkish, Navajo and Greek among them. Some may wonder if Rutter isn't a little too anxious to see archetypes in her patients' dreams, but nevertheless this analysis illuminates an unappreciated aspect of the therapeutic relationship which, as the author suggests, when entered into by two women, can embody a feminine mystery of great intimacy and depth. Photos. (Aug.)