HOW to handle politics in your therapy sessions.
What a week to be a therapist!
I personally needed a sick day and a peer group meeting to get my head straight.
Oh, and lots of music.
What’s getting you through?
My main goal today (and every day) is to get you what you need to do your job well.
Depending on your personality and experiences, it can be either TEMPTING or TERRIFYING to talk about current events/politics in your work. Despair won’t help, but neither will avoidance.
The advice that therapists should avoid politics in therapy is misguided and given the impact of government on our daily lives, not realistic.
Are we not the people who are best trained to help people have awkward conversations and discuss complicated issues?
So here's a framework for HOW to handle politics in your therapy sessions.
I suggest a quick mental run-through of these 4 questions to stay on track.
Is it in my scope of competence to discuss this topic?
Respectfully, we are all on a journey of learning. And when you learn something new, and you think it could help your client, it's normal to want to discuss it.
But take a step back. Where did you learn about this issue? Are you about to reference a viral news item or social media clip? Because you may be missing some important context and more importantly, the best practices/recommendations from knowledgeable people.
You can increase your competence with complicated issues with:
