I am writing about Open Dialogue in relation to women and some of the most prominent original figures in the movement such as Birgitta Alakare who was the psychiatrist with the original Finnish team. There is a sadness that such a group needs to exist as there have been voices that have discussed the importance of women in the voice of Open Dialogue and its evolution. It is however felt by some of us that increasingly it is the male voice that is being heard.
This may well be for a number of reasons including published work and research which is predominantly male. In addition originally it was the male members of the Finnish team that were the main exponents of Open Dialogue and did most of the travelling to promote the approach. Perhaps the majority of psychiatrists and psychologists in the original team were male because of gender representation in professions in the 70’s and 80’s. In 2018 however psychology and psychotherapy are female orientated professions and far more women qualify as psychiatrists so the bias has altered.
Certainly in the Helsinki International training there was not an assumption of male bias as the supervisors were equally split between the sexes as was the teaching, facilitation and the students. We think however in the women’s open dialogue forum that there are important female considerations. That feminist thinking, research and ideas need to be aired in relation to the promotion of Open Dialogue as an approach in a worldwide arena where men still in many instances dominate the professions. We also wish to work with our male colleagues to explore ideas and awareness around issues of difference and to keep diversity and discrimination on the agenda.
