INTRODUCTION
About twelve years ago， 1 went into private practice as a
psychotherapist. As more and more women came to see
me， it became clear to me that I did not know what to
do with them. (This phenomenon is not unusual for
persons in private practice， but admitting it is!) As l
reviewed my training， 1 began to realize that what 1 had
been taught was useful in working with raen but at best
useless and at ~~;orst harmful in working with women.
I decided to set aside a period of my.life to learn
about women. (Since I am one myself， this commitment
had decided personal advantages!) I determined to clear
my mind of past attitudes and assumptions as much as
possible and take time to watch and listen. For~:unately，
I was in a position to gather a great deal of relevant
information. I was seeing several inSividual clients. I was
conducting a number of groups， and I was consulting
with many organizations in a variety of ways--
facilitating encounter groups; doing organizational
consulting， group process training， and educational
consulting; and e~ting as a fllanagement and program
consultant.
I had countless opportunities to enter a group
situation and sel the tone. As often as 1 was able， l met
with groups composed exclusively of women. These
included encounter wot kshops， group process
workshops， church groups， PTA s， professional women s
groups， and women s workshops. I spoke with
adolescents， senior citizens， and women of all ages in
between， Althougb the majority belonged to the white
middle class， others were Black， Chicana， or Native
American. Almost all of the women I saw were working
women both in and outside the home.
I focused on making each encounter safe，
nonjudgmentul， and candid so that the women could
express their own perceptions and reveal themselves
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