by Stephanie King, Psy.D.

ANALYTIC NEUTRALITY IN THE ERA OF TRUMP

Can we as clinicians remain neutral right now? Is it analytically appropriate? Is it ethically responsible? Is revealing my political views as a clinician disrupting the treatment? Does it mean I’m attending to my own needs rather than the patient? Would political references made by the patient be better met with an interpretation about annihilation anxiety? Maybe I should just mention that there are “some very fine people on both sides.” I’m sorry, I just can’t. That’s not to say that I have not been grappling with this for the last two years, I have. It feels as if the “rules” of analytic neutrality are shifting, and, of course, this is assuming we already agree that we are lightyears away from the “blank screen". But in my opinion, the scales just recently tipped even more. In the past, before Trump (B.T.), I might have had more of a poker face when it comes to politics, perhaps offering an appropriate interpretation, be it in the transference, or something else. Now, I feel strongly that I need to validate the everyday danger our current administration poses to my patients' lives.

Roughly half of my practice is filled with transgender adolescents and adults, and about half of them are people of color. Their very existence puts them directly in the crosshairs of our current administration’s bigoted and harmful policies. It is not an option to leave the sociopolitical world we are living in at the door. But, it’s not just my trans patients that need this kind of support, nearly all the people I see are stuck in (among other things) some variation of melancholia due to the state of our nation. Okay — I live and work in the Bay Area which is quite different from other geographic locations; however, remaining even somewhat neutral when these discussions arise in session would be akin to gaslighting. This is not to say that we don’t explore all the facets of their experience: an adult child of a narcissistic father is going to have a different and layered reaction to our current socio-political climate, but she still may benefit from hearing that her experience could feel compounded by the fact that we have one in the oval office!

I’m curious to hear from others: how are you dealing with this in your clinical hours? How are you thinking about your neutrality, or lack thereof, in this new era where words can feel meaningless? Does it feel like something has changed for you in your work? Are you talking to other colleagues about this? And also, how is your political melancholia? Feel free to email me, I’d love to hear from you: stephaniekingpsy@gmail.com.