As a colleague of mine who forwarded this press release to me wrote, “Oh, dear God.”

A Beverly Hills therapist says presidential candidate and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama may be the best “woman” for the job because he has nurturing qualities for a nation in “need of a hug.”

Read on to see the full press release and decide for yourself if this example of gross self-promotion hasn’t gone just a teensy weensy bit over the top.

Is Barack the Best Woman for the Job?

Beverly Hills therapist Rebecca Roy thinks Obama’s caring qualities speak to a nation in need of a hug

Barack Obama seems to embody a number of what we would call “traditionally feminine” qualities; empathy, understanding, compassion. Is it possible that he is the best “woman” for the job? That is the opinion of Rebecca Roy M.A, Beverly Hills-based therapist and expert on America’s psyche.

Roy says Barack’s Mr. Mom qualities appeal to a scared post-9/11 society who wants to be told everything’s going to be all right. “Not since Bill Clinton has a presidential candidate appealed to that side of us that wishes for someone to ‘feel our pain,’” says Roy. “Barack Obama strikes a cord because he appears to be willing to embrace openness and understanding. There appears to be a kindness about him and this sensibility enables us to let go and let someone else carry our collective angst. “

So, why are Americans in need of nurturing now? What is it about these “feminine” qualities that we are responding to? “In a post 9-11 world, anxiety is a constant underlying feeling for many people,” says Roy. “We initially responded to the crisis and shock in an aggressive manner which may have made us feel momentarily satisfied that we ‘won’.”

“The truth is, 9-11 changed us forever,” she explains. “We are no longer sure of ourselves or our place in the world. We don’t have the swagger that got us through the first few years. What we are left with is a kind of gnawing hunger for nurturing. Someone to take it all away and make us feel better and tuck us into bed at night, sure in the knowledge that tomorrow will be a better day.”

She adds: “The underlying feelings of sadness and fear have surfaced and we are going to that place that all hurt children go when they are scared: Mom. Barack Obama, while being very much a man, has succeeded in making us believe he will embrace our pain and simultaneously give us our teddy bear.”

Rebecca also believes that this return to the feminine comes at an interesting time; a time when the world is searching for a greater sense of connectedness. She thinks the desire to connect and be made whole through others is not, and has not, been a traditional American perspective the past 20 years.