ABSTRACT
Phyllis Chesler says: Women are in a continual state of mourning for what they never had or had too briefly, and for what they can't have in the present, be it Prince Charming or direct worldly power. It is not very easy for most women to temper, idle or philosophise away their mourning with sexual, physical or intellectual exercises. It is not necessary for the therapist to do anything wicked to miss all this important material all that is necessary is that the therapist pays no attention to the fourth ear. It seems very important for any therapist or counsellor to know how to listen with the fourth ear, particularly when working with women, children, immigrants, working-class people, handicapped people or anyone else defined by society as second-class or third-class. Alan Howard attacks therapy for being irrelevant to the real concerns of people, and specifically attacks client- centred approaches, psychodynamic approaches and psychological approaches in the clinical field.
