{"id":193128,"date":"2025-06-18T01:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T01:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/193128\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T01:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T01:18:10","slug":"therapists-neutrality-is-no-longer-an-option-politics-is-tearing-us-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/193128\/","title":{"rendered":"Therapists, Neutrality Is No Longer an Option \u2014 Politics Is Tearing Us Apart"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a myth still floating around in therapy rooms: that we, as clinicians, should remain politically neutral<\/a>. That talking about politics is \u201cbiased,\u201d \u201cinappropriate,\u201d or \u201coutside the scope of practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

That myth is not only outdated \u2014 it\u2019s dangerous.<\/p>\n

Because in 2025, politics is personal. It\u2019s in the couple fighting over whether their kid deserves access to gender-affirming care. It\u2019s in the immigrant family wondering if it\u2019s safe to drive to work. It\u2019s in the exhausted single mother who lost her Medicaid, who now chooses between medication and groceries. And it\u2019s in every client who walks into therapy wondering if their grief, anxiety, or rage is \u201ctoo much,\u201d when in fact it\u2019s a rational response to being gaslit by a society that treats their pain as an inconvenience.<\/p>\n

\"Female<\/p>\n

I work primarily with individuals facing chronic or terminal illness alongside PTSD, anxiety, and depression, often presenting with major life transitions, pending decisions and facing long awaited truths. Many of my clients come from marginalized communities \u2014 though not all. And politics shows up in all their lives, whether they name it that way or not. My therapeutic approach is grounded in trauma-informed, systems-aware, and grief-sensitive care. In this framework, political context isn\u2019t an abstract add-on \u2014 it\u2019s a core part of understanding what is breaking people down and what is available to help them rebuild. I integrate elements of narrative therapy, existential therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), all within a trauma-informed and systems-oriented framework. These modalities allow clients to explore meaning, agency, and identity in the face of overwhelming circumstances \u2014 political or otherwise. I don\u2019t impose a political lens \u2014 I help clients connect the dots between their emotional distress and the broader forces that may be impacting them, if and when they are ready.<\/p>\n

Mental health doesn\u2019t exist in a vacuum. It\u2019s shaped \u2014 deeply and daily \u2014 by politics, policies, and power. If we ignore this, we\u2019re not providing care. We\u2019re providing containment. We\u2019re telling our clients, in effect, \u201cBring your trauma, but not the truth about where it came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let me be blunt: political violence is family violence. And it\u2019s showing up in session after session.<\/p>\n

As a therapist trained in trauma-informed and systems-oriented care, I view political context not as a distraction from mental health, but as an inseparable part of it. Whether I\u2019m offering existential support to a terminally ill patient, providing grief counseling to someone navigating the loss of autonomy due to disability, or helping a caregiver manage burnout, politics is already in the room \u2014 it shapes the conditions of suffering and resilience.<\/p>\n

In practice, this doesn\u2019t mean that therapy becomes a political discussion \u2014 it means we acknowledge how political realities shape the client\u2019s emotional landscape. When a terminally ill patient tells me their pain medication was reduced because of restrictive prescribing laws, I don\u2019t treat that as just a symptom management issue \u2014 I help them process the fear, anger, and betrayal that comes with being denied dignified care. When a caregiver says she\u2019s working 60 hours a week and still can\u2019t afford to pay all her bills or seek medical care, I don\u2019t pathologize her exhaustion \u2014 I name it for what it is: burnout rooted in structural neglect. When a disabled client expresses guilt for needing help, I explore how capitalism equates worth with productivity. These are not abstract political ideas. They are daily, lived realities \u2014 and validating that truth becomes part of the healing.<\/p>\n

While I do occasionally support individuals with more complex diagnoses, the majority of my clinical work is with those navigating trauma, grief, anxiety, and depression \u2014 especially in the context of life-altering medical diagnoses. These are not the \u201cworried well.\u201d These are people grieving their bodies, their safety, and their place in a rapidly shifting world. And the way we talk about that grief \u2014 or avoid talking about it \u2014 matters.<\/p>\n

For clients with conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or OCD, the approach may look different \u2014 more structured, grounded in psychoeducation and stabilization. But even in those sessions, the political may emerge: a client with schizophrenia may express distress about police encounters or housing instability. A client with OCD may obsess over safety in a world that genuinely feels unsafe. The goal isn\u2019t to politicize their diagnosis, but to contextualize their reality when it intersects with systemic harm \u2014 which it often does. Politics is never the starting point with these clients \u2014 but it\u2019s sometimes part of the healing terrain.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen marriages strained \u2014 or collapse entirely \u2014 over what used to be \u201cjust political differences.\u201d But these days, political values are tied to core moral beliefs \u2014 about race, gender, freedom, safety, bodily autonomy, and truth. What was once dismissed as a \u201cdifference in opinion\u201d is now a chasm of reality. Often, one partner upholds values shaped by justice, empathy, and collective care, while the other clings to traditionalist, individualist ideals<\/a> grounded in hierarchy and control. These are not minor disagreements. They are deeply entrenched worldviews. And when therapists fail to name the political context for these divides, we\u2019re leaving our clients to fumble through that confusion alone.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen clients grappling with ruptures in their families of origin. Adult children going no-contact with parents who repeat conspiracy theories<\/a>, downplay racism, or vote for policies that harm marginalized communities \u2014 and then blame their children for being \u201ctoo sensitive.\u201d These are not random interpersonal dynamics. These are political wounds. When a queer client is told by their father that they\u2019re going to hell, that\u2019s not just a \u201cfamily issue.\u201d It\u2019s the product of a society that still sanctions that kind of hate under the guise of religious freedom.<\/p>\n

Children are watching, absorbing, and reacting to all of it. When one parent is attuned and emotionally safe, while the other is emotionally avoidant, authoritarian, or dismissive \u2014 those dynamics mirror societal power structures. Children internalize whose emotions are welcome and whose are not. They learn quickly who is allowed to cry, who must be strong, and who gets blamed when the house feels unstable. That\u2019s not just family dynamics. That\u2019s cultural indoctrination.<\/p>\n

We are also witnessing a silent epidemic of friendship losses \u2014 what many are calling \u201cthe second pandemic.\u201d Lifelong friendships are fracturing<\/a> because one person can no longer tolerate being around someone who denies their humanity, votes against their rights, or trivializes their trauma. This is not ideological \u201cintolerance.\u201d This is survival. And therapists who encourage clients to \u201crepair\u201d these ruptures without acknowledging the political stakes involved are pathologizing healthy boundaries.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to be honest: not all relationships are meant to be preserved. And some are only \u201cfunctional\u201d because one person is constantly shrinking, suppressing, or self-abandoning to keep the peace.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s often unspoken in these relational breakdowns is the emotional toll on everyone \u2014 not just those directly harmed. Even those who benefit from the status quo suffer. How many people have quietly swallowed their discomfort at a racist joke to avoid rocking the boat at Thanksgiving? How many have minimized their identity or advocacy to keep a friend group intact? How many white, straight, cis, able-bodied clients feel guilty and isolated because they\u2019ve realized their communities are built on unspoken agreements to ignore injustice?<\/p>\n

This is not just about \u201cthem.\u201d It\u2019s about all of us. Polarization doesn\u2019t just tear apart families \u2014 it tears apart the very fabric of social trust. It creates cultures of silence and tension where no one feels fully safe or seen. It teaches people to perform connection instead of embodying it. And that emotional dissonance is a form of trauma, too.<\/p>\n

When therapists urge clients to \u201cstay connected\u201d at the cost of their dignity or peace, we are reinforcing a model of relationship that rewards silence and punishes truth. That is not conflict resolution. That is compliance.<\/p>\n

Yet too many therapists still try to \u201creframe\u201d this pain as communication issues, generational differences, or unresolved attachment. While those frameworks can be useful, they\u2019re insufficient when divorced from context.<\/a> A white client breaking down over a fractured relationship with a Black partner must understand the dynamics of privilege and power. A disabled client facing rejection from family due to their care needs isn\u2019t just \u201cstressed\u201d \u2014 they\u2019re facing systemic ableism. A working-class immigrant client juggling three jobs while supporting a family back home isn\u2019t just \u201coverwhelmed\u201d \u2014 they\u2019re being crushed under a capitalist boot that rewards exploitation and invisibility.<\/p>\n

Grief is a universal language \u2014 one of the few experiences that bridges political divides. But what differs is the naming of that grief. Conservative clients may call it \u201closing their way of life\u201d while progressive clients may describe it as \u201cfighting to survive oppression.\u201d The lived experiences may not be so different \u2014 but the interpretations are shaped by the beliefs, fears, and values that give them meaning. As therapists, our role isn\u2019t to correct those narratives \u2014 it\u2019s to make space for them, explore them, and understand how they help or hinder healing.<\/p>\n

Trauma and grief are not partisan. People across the political spectrum are hurting \u2014 often from the same systems, even if they interpret that harm differently. My role is not to impose a worldview but to make space for theirs, and to help them examine whether those narratives are healing or harming them. I believe therapy is for everyone \u2014 not to convert, but to liberate. And liberation looks different for every client.<\/p>\n

I do not assume political alignment with my clients. Many of the people I support identify as conservative, religious, or apolitical. And the pain they bring into the room is no less valid. My approach is grounded in building safety, first and foremost. Political conversations only emerge when they are relevant to the client\u2019s distress \u2014 and when they do, I follow their lead. A conservative client may not use the language of structural trauma, but they still grieve being unseen, overwhelmed, or betrayed. In those moments, I am not pushing ideology \u2014 I am witnessing their pain and helping them make meaning of it. Similarly, liberal or progressive clients may speak in terms of injustice, oppression, and collective grief. They may arrive already attuned to systemic harm but burdened by a crushing sense of helplessness or despair. With them, too, my role is not to co-sign every fear, but to hold space for it, to ground it, and to help them navigate how to live and act meaningfully in a world that often feels broken.<\/p>\n

Therapy is not about indoctrination \u2014 it\u2019s about liberation. And liberation requires honesty. It requires naming reality. It requires expanding our understanding of trauma beyond personal history and into structural context.<\/p>\n

The argument for neutrality hides behind professionalism, but neutrality is not ethical. It is not compassionate. In many cases, it is violence. Silence benefits the status quo. And the status quo is deeply oppressive.<\/p>\n

Being apolitical in the therapy room privileges the comfort of the privileged over the safety of the marginalized. It centers the therapist\u2019s anxiety about \u201cbeing political\u201d over the client\u2019s lived trauma. It sends the implicit message: You can talk about your symptoms, but not their roots. You can cry, but not rage. You can describe what hurts, but not who hurt you \u2014 especially if it\u2019s the government, the culture, or capitalism itself.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not therapy. That\u2019s pacification.<\/p>\n

To be trauma-informed, we must be system-informed. To be culturally competent, we must be politically competent. To be ethical, we must refuse to be neutral in the face of injustice.<\/p>\n

Because let\u2019s be real: most modern therapy was never meant to dismantle oppression. It was built to help people cope with it \u2014 quietly. Western therapy upholds the individual above the collective. It pathologizes resistance.<\/a> It tells people to regulate their emotions before asking whether those emotions are, in fact, entirely appropriate reactions to political abandonment and systemic betrayal.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re not interrogating that \u2014 in our education, supervision, and sessions \u2014 then we are just teaching people how to survive inside a burning house.<\/p>\n

Decolonizing therapy means expanding our frameworks beyond pathology. It means trusting our clients\u2019 rage, grief, and fear as intelligence. It means integrating somatics, collective care, and political education into our practice. It means moving therapy away from \u201cfixing the individual\u201d and toward supporting collective healing and transformation.<\/p>\n

The institutions governing our work must evolve, too. Training programs need to treat structural racism, capitalism, transphobia, and state violence not as electives, but as core curriculum. <\/a>Licensing boards must revisit codes of ethics that promote neutrality over justice. And therapists need to stop hiding behind false objectivity while people suffer in silence.<\/p>\n

What if our therapy rooms were not just spaces for healing, but spaces for resistance? What if we made room for activism, advocacy, and imagination? What if we understood resilience not just as bouncing back, but as fighting back?<\/p>\n

We are living through mass disillusionment. Political betrayal is everywhere. From the Supreme Court to school boards, from healthcare systems to housing policies, people are watching their dignity eroded in real time. They are grieving what democracy was supposed to be. They are anxious because the world is unsafe. They are angry because the world is unjust. And they are tired \u2014 bone tired \u2014 of being told to meditate their way through it.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t need neutrality. We need courage. We need therapists willing to take the risk of being misunderstood in order to be truly present. We need clinicians who understand that the real risk isn\u2019t speaking up \u2014 it\u2019s staying silent while injustice becomes normalized.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s my plea to my fellow therapists: stop playing neutral. Stop using \u201cscope of practice\u201d to avoid hard conversations. Stop minimizing systemic trauma to keep your comfort intact. Clients don\u2019t need you to save them. But they do need you to stand with them \u2014 to see them, believe them, and name the truth with them.<\/p>\n

Because in times like these, silence isn\u2019t therapeutic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s betrayal.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussion\u2014broadly speaking\u2014of psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers\u2019 own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a myth still floating around in therapy rooms: that we, as clinicians, should remain politically neutral. That…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[105,218,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-193128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114701736583270084","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}