POLITICS ENETRING THE THERAPY ROOM

We often think that politics don’t belong in the therapy room. After all, this is the client’s space, a place to explore personal issues. Politics are in the general domain, it’s out there, it belongs to the public..

So lets take note of how political issues are so much an intrinsic part of our lives. We are directly influenced by the political canvas, by how our lives are being mapped and how it affects us and the people around us. We relate to each other within the framework of our lives. It doesn’t mean we have to agree with each other’s opinions. Quite often, an open debate is a revealing tool to understanding the other. Equally, it tests our ability to accept people for who they are and their beliefs and outlook on life.

At the moment we are experiencing a political turmoil. We are challenged. Where is there a better place than the therapy room, to explore what feelings it arouses in us? It may tap into own insecurities, lack of safety or injustice outrage. The outside world reflects on our inner world.

The process of therapy is about change. Changes in the political canvas mirror our personal difficulties, or fluidity, in coping with change. Whether we agree with the changes or not, we need to learn to incorporate them into our lives, to cope – in order to affect change in our lives, when necessary.

Which brings us to flexibility. How rigid or how flexible are we? And how judgemental? How can we build bridges between opposing factors, rather than alienate each other and create conflict?

These issues, which are triggered by the political climate around us, could serve as fruitful material for the therapeutic process. So rather than resist it, ‘leave it out of the room’, lets welcome it in – whilst always keeping the personal perspective.