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  • Published: 21 February 2023
  • ISBN: 9781529151121
  • Imprint: Hutchinson Heinemann
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $35.00

What Women Want

Conversations on Desire, Power, Love and Growth




From a leading psychotherapist comes an electrifying examination into female desire told through the stories of seven very different women.

After thirty years of research, Sigmund Freud still felt the great unanswered question was: 'What does a woman want?' Fifteen years into her own journey as a psychotherapist, Maxine Mei-Fung Chung believes her collaboration with her patients holds the answers.

Through the profound and moving stories of seven very different women, Maxine Mei-Fung Chung sheds light on our most fundamental needs and desires. From a young bride-to-be struggling to accept her sexuality, to a mother grappling with questions of identity and belonging, and a woman learning to heal after years of trauma, What Women Want is an electrifying and deeply intimate examination into the inner lives of women.

Based on hours of conversations between Maxine and her patients, this book lays bare our fears, hopes, secrets and capacity for healing. With great empathy and precision, What Women Want presents a fearless look into the depths of who we are, so that we can better understand each other and ourselves.

To desire is an action. This extraordinary book liberates and empowers us to claim what we truly want.

  • Published: 21 February 2023
  • ISBN: 9781529151121
  • Imprint: Hutchinson Heinemann
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $35.00

About the author

Maxine Mei-Fung Chung

Maxine Mei-Fung Chung is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and writer with over fifteen years of clinical experience. She lectures on gender and sexuality, trauma and attachment theory at the Bowlby Centre and was presented with The Jafar Kareem Award for her work supporting people from ethnic minorities experiencing isolation and mental health problems. What Women Want is her first work of non-fiction.