Women's lives

From adolescence and adult partnerships, through motherhood, to growing old, "Women's Lives" explores themes which are central to women's experience, focusing on areas such as growing up, women on their own, sexuality, bringing up children, and family relationships. Sue Llewelyn and Kate Osborne argue that a multi-faceted approach is needed to understand a woman's life, taking in not only her personal psychology, but also the social context in which she lives. The authors are both clinical psychologists with an interest in psychotherapy, and they draw on their own direct experience of working with women in distress, as well as on feminist writing, novels, and autobiographies, to illustrate their arguments. Each chapter presents a detailed case history, highlighting an important aspect of women's lives, and demonstrates the increased understanding to be gained from a combined approach using social psychology, feminist ideas, and psychodynamic insights.