Feminist mental health activism in England, c. 1968-95

This paper explores the emergence of initiatives dedicated to mental health in the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) in late 1960s and early 1970s England. It charts how feminist activists in the late 1960s initially rejected psychological approaches, before employing a range of therapies and approaches to understand themselves and support one another. In doing so, this paper examines attitudes to Freud in the early WLM, the foundation of feminist mental health groups like the London Women’s Liberation Workshop Psychology Group, and the establishment of feminist therapy through organisations including the Women’s Therapy Centre. Whilst its proponents were motivated by the need to call out the sexist ideas and approaches that underpinned contemporary psychology and psychiatry, they were primarily concerned about the emotional wellbeing of members within the WLM, as well as their own aims to understand themselves and their political affiliations. Acknowledging these motives helps us to understand in more detail women’s engagement with the politics and activism of Women’s Liberation, the emotional difficulties that they faced as they sought to politicise their everyday lives, and the fact that these feelings were not always readily acknowledged by other Movement members. 


Dr Kate Mahoney is a Research Manager at Healthwatch Essex, a charity that draws on the lived experiences of Essex residents to transform health and social care. Her research has previously explored feminist mental health activism and women’s everyday health in late twentieth century Britain, researcher emotions, and oral history. Kate’s latest book Feminist Mental Health Activism in England, c. 1968-1995 was published by Manchester University Press in 2023.

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