He proposes three such groups: first, those working with Eros and "psychic relatedness" (including Esther Harding and Toni Wolff); second, those who view a woman not as one who relates, but "as she is, in her own right" (Perera, Marion Woodman and Ann Belford Ulanov); and third, those most compatible with contemporary feminism (e.g., June Singer re androgyny).
Samuels later adds that Perera wrote of finding a nascent therapy, a "wisdom in change" embedded in an ancient goddess myth.
[4] Perera's 1981 book Descent to the Goddess concerns the commanding Inanna of Sumer who presides over the avenues of "destiny".
As portrayed by Perera, under the sway of Ereshkigal a woman may become familiar with impersonal energies that can inflict a pitiless pain on other people, yet be part of a healing process and a stage of psychological growth.
"[T]his goddess myth of an underworld journey and return enables Perera to shape depressive mental states as potentially empowering women.