November 8, 2016: The day I became a White clinician

Abstract

When Donald Trump became president of the United States, I discovered that my clients who identified as Black saw me as a White clinician. With that came a host of nefarious attributions. To preserve therapeutic efficacy, and the genuine relationships with people about whom I cared, I had to distinguish myself from the president; thus, I learned not only how it feels to be seen through the bias of skin color but what I needed to do to identify as a person rather than a White person. "Welcome to my world," said one African American client.

Conducting psychotherapy in the Trump era: Therapists’ perspectives on political self‐disclosure, the therapeutic alliance, and politics in the therapy room

“…In the past 2 years, many clinicians and researchers have described the significant and often unexpectedly overwhelming effects of the current political climate on their own and their patients’ experiences and in‐session discussions (e.g., Aibel, ; Bodnar, ; Coren, ; Davis, McCann, Goodman, & Storch, ; Markowitz, ). Farber () argued that “Trump's election as president of the United States seems to have generated more in‐session psychotherapeutic discussions than any political issue since 9/11,” an opinion more likely to be shared by many mental health professionals.…”

Where “culture wars” and therapy meet: Exploring the intersection between political issues and therapeutic practice

“…Although there is a growing body of literature exploring therapeutic conversations about social and cultural identities (Cardemil & Battle, 2003; Jones & Branco, 2020; Trevino et al, 2021) and many anecdotal accounts exploring the personal challenges and anxieties which arise during explicit discussions of political issues with clients (Birbilis, 2018; Bodnar, 2018; Krupka, 2021), there are few empirical studies that consider how these discussions enter the therapeutic encounter. The studies that do exist tend to survey practitioners based in the United States who have offered therapy during the Donald Trump administration.…”