Our History
OUR HISTORY
Womankind began September 1977 as a feminist collective that was
created to meet the counseling needs primarily of women. From its
inception, it has been a place where women, men, couples, children and
families have addressed the central concerns of their lives. During the
Second Wave Feminist Movement in the U.S., women and their allies
mobilized for greater gender equality and reproductive rights. Women
formed consciousness raising groups, book groups, and woman-owned
businesses. There was an explosion of research across academic domains
on all aspects of women’s lives. Research was re-written to include
women’s perspectives, uncover forgotten histories and ‘speak about the
unspeakable’ such as prevalent violence against women, lesbian
existence, workplace and pay discrimination, and mothering concerns.
Women began numerous professional organizations to mentor each other.
The field of psychology of women was born with enormous ramifications
for analyzing the assumptions and treatment of women in psychotherapy.
The first offices for Womankind were located at 15 Warren Street in
Concord, NH. Rent was $230.00 per month for a space with five
counseling offices. The founding mothers were Pat Wilczynski of Concord,
Carol Moore of Contoocook, Marilyn Patterson of Warner, and Paula
Bacher of Henniker. Pat, Carol, and Marilyn had all worked for the NH
Women’s Health Services in Concord. From its beginning, the focus of
Womankind was on feminist informed research and clinical treatment of
women, an egalitarian, shared power workplace model, and attention to
the personal lives of staff as a significant influence on clinical work.
Womankind believed then, as it does still, that “the Personal is the Political
is the Clinical”.
Womankind has employed more than 40 multidisciplinary staff in its
history-social workers, psychologists, nurse practitioners, mental health
counselors, office managers, a minister and a psychiatrist. Early decades
were marked by community activism and brown bag discussions open to
the community. The practice was concerned about the various forms of
violence against girls and women, gender discrimination in law ands the
workplace, sexual orientation diversity, and sustaining the growing
practice through numerous grants.