“I can't completely run free”: understanding the lived experience of the menstrual cycle for female clients working with male psychotherapists: An interpretative phenomenological analysis with a critical feminist phenomenological lens
Little is known about how psychotherapy can be used to support women across their menstrual cycle as it remains a glaring omission from theory, research, and practice. The literature review examines why this is the case by illuminating how male-authored knowledge has marginalised and psychopathologised menstruation for centuries in western society. In an endeavour to place female voices at the heart of the narrative, this study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, Larkin and Flowers, 2009) to explore how women experience their menstrual cycle during the process of psychotherapy with a male therapist. While personal, menstruality also sits within a sociopolitical context, so the study offers an additional layer analysis through a critical feminist phenomenological lens in an extra findings chapter. This study design involved semi-structured interviews with five female participants at four points across their menstrual cycles to gain a holistic understanding, in contrast to previous research which has focused on pre-menstrual and menstrual phases only. Each participant’s data was analysed individually before being compared as a whole and developed into a set of experiential themes. The data revealed gender power dynamics unfolding at implicit and explicit levels of exchange in the therapeutic relationship. The results included four group experiential themes each with subthemes: (1) “No shit Sherlock” (2) Inner menstrual lifeworlds (3) “I can’t completely run free (4) “An army of women” as well as one Integrative theme: Confronting the Madonna-Whore Complex. The findings suggest that the menstrual cycle is an important topic for therapeutic exploration, as well as a gateway for understanding related female embodied experiences, including sexuality and motherhood. The study also highlights how systemic factors may influence the intersubjective therapeutic process and raises questions about ‘othering’ around gender. These findings call attention for Counselling Psychology and its related disciplines to review and enhance how gender-related topics like the menstrual cycle are incorporated into training and practice, as well as the need for additional research to build a robust body of contemporary knowledge about a universal female experience.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Middlesex University / Metanoia Institute