What is it about?
As politics has increasingly become a source of stress among patients and psychotherapists alike, some therapists refuse to work with patients who have political values that differ from their own. This paper examines the whether such refusals are ethically or professionally permissible.
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Why is it important?
All people, even those with socially reviled conditions, are entitled to mental health treatment. By allowing political motivations to contaminate the field, we undermine the legitimacy of psychotherapy as mental health treatment and cede ground to those who argue it is little more than a form of social control.
Perspectives
The United States is in a difficult political moment but it will not be remedied by psychotherapists becoming activists attempting to effect some political change among their patients. Psychotherapists are needed now - but in their role as psychotherapists.
Jordan Conrad
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This page is a summary of: Psychotherapy, Politics, and the Limits of Professionalism, American Journal of Psychotherapy, May 2025, American Psychiatric Association,
DOI: 10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20240066.
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