[stopdog]

Do you discuss current events at therapy appointments?

[downandlonely]

I talked a bit about it one time, but usually I'm not keeping up with current events, and I don't want to get too political and piss someone off.

[WarmFuzzySocks]

If they relate to what I'm dealing with in therapy.

[atisketatasket]

Only if they are affecting me in real life.

[LostOnTheTrail]

Current events don't really have any bearing on why I entered therapy, so it's rare that they would come up.

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Gah, I clicked yes before seeing there's an option sometimes. Anyways, if I worry about something or if it affects me, I will discuss current events. But not every session.

I rarely and only very briefly discussed some when I was in therapy. I don't usually find current events and news triggering or affecting my mental health much and I have plenty of people to discuss them with. I am interested in politics, so that's something I quite regularly talk about with friends. colleagues etc.

One area I did discuss some more was stuff related to immigration, since I was just dealing with the long and stressful process of getting my permanent residency and had so many problems around visas and changing immigration status due to stupid administrative errors and other sloppiness that were not my fault at all. So when immigration became a big part of political agendas and fights, it inevitably interested me and sometimes provoked anxiety and anger in me even though my issues were really just administrative crap, every step of it was perfectly legal and should have been pretty easy. Still, I preferred to discuss my own stress, not what the media talked about. Other than that, politics came up very briefly with my last T a couple times but not in relation to me personally, just general discussion.

[DP_2017]

Nope. Never. Hardly even watch the news and I unfollow anything political on twitter so I only see cute animals and tv stuff.

I wouldn't want to ADD anxiety to my life by intentionally hearing about it and then discussing it there.

[skeksi]

Only if it is causing emotional reactions. In my case, when current events are stirring the trauma pot that is always on the verge of bubbling over and making me scared/angry/etc.

[Echos Myron redux]

Rarely. I discussed brexit with him. We were in agreement on that.

He occasionally brings stuff up and I generally don't engage with it much because it's rarely relevant to what I'm there for.

The other week he said he wondered if something in my dream relates to the anti-Semitism crisis in the Labour Party. I just ignored his comment because I actually think the anti-Semitism crisis in the Labour Party is largely an invention of the right wing press and I don't think Jeremy Corbyn is anti-Semitic in any way shape or form. His mentioning it actually made me uncomfortable because I don't like to think we disagree on politics but I felt his mentioning it hinted at him having a different view to me on it.

i said other which to me correlates with "rarely". there's so much damn negativity being spewed everywhere and I don't want that crap in my therapy space.

[InnerPeace111]

Rarely. Maybe once in the past year.

[AllHeart]

I wouldn’t call them discussions but they do come up. Like, last week, my t asked about how I’ve been affected by a certain, US, current event. And then I asked her if she had seen the satisfying, humorous clip of a certain “political” buffoon. We laughed. So more like casual chats about current events, and/or how the current event affects me which might lead to a discussion (not so much the event itself).

[feralkittymom]

Often. But current events are a source of stress for me and do effect my life. My T and I are generally in sync politically, though we view some past issues in politics from different perspectives. Her daughter is running for a Congressional seat, and I had voted for her before I knew of the relationship. So I don't view politics as off-topic or a waste of my therapy time. This wasn't true with former T because at that time, I was much more focused on my past and emotional crises.

[Amyjay]

Sometimes, if they affect me emotionally because of triggering trauma. But not ever just for the sake of discussing those topics.

Originally Posted by Echos Myron redux

Rarely. I discussed brexit with him. We were in agreement on that.

He occasionally brings stuff up and I generally don't engage with it much because it's rarely relevant to what I'm there for.

The other week he said he wondered if something in my dream relates to the anti-Semitism crisis in the Labour Party. I just ignored his comment because I actually think the anti-Semitism crisis in the Labour Party is largely an invention of the right wing press and I don't think Jeremy Corbyn is anti-Semitic in any way shape or form. His mentioning it actually made me uncomfortable because I don't like to think we disagree on politics but I felt his mentioning it hinted at him having a different view to me on it.

I agree with your view on the anti-semstism row.

My T once mentioned the political Baffoon referred to by allheart, but we haven't discussed any other current events. We have had philisophical discussions about society.

[Favorite Jeans]

Fairly often. Social/political issues are a huge part of my emotional landscape and current events also affect me in practical ways. However if the issue doesn't quickly relate to something emotionally intense or intimate for me, it is often something I can discuss elsewhere. I try not to use therapy for conversations I could easily have outside of therapy. That said, a few times now I've had therapy the day after an election or other major event and we have had to at very least mention it briefly heading in or out of session because... how could we not?

[velcro003]

I put sometimes. When the president first got elected, we sat together in shock for a session or two, and things related to the rally I was at, but that also was more personal. I try not to bring it in too much bc it doesn't help me to discuss it with her.

[LabRat27]

This actually just came up and we’re going to have to.

Friday he made a comment referencing a certain event that has been the focus of U.S. news lately, when I talked about judging my 13 year old self for behaving “badly” (i.e. not being “the adult”/perfect 100% of the time), he made some comment about that being what kids do and something about what was the focus in the news right now.
I was kind of shocked and said there is absolutely nothing in common there. And he backtracked and said I was right, apologized, said he wasn’t sure why he said that, but didn’t really really explain what he’d meant. I’m hoping he meant just the whole drinking/partying thing in general (which I didn’t even do in high school).

The more I’ve thought about it since then the more it’s bothered me. I don’t need to know if we disagree on fiscal policy. But I need to know that his fundamental values are consistent with mine.

And honestly I was hurt by the comparison. I at least rationally know that, by the standards by which I judge others, I am not a bad person. And I believe that the person he brought up was culpable for their actions, behaved in a reprehensible manner, and has done nothing that might redeem them; I believe they are a bad person.
If he thinks the behavior in question was excusable or falls under “just kids behaving badly” then I can’t trust his judgement.

I’m also going to tell him that I’m not asking for the specifics of his beliefs, and that if he’s a member of [a certain party] i definitely don’t want to know, but that if he voted for [a specific candidate within that party] that I would want to know so that I could get up and walk out and find a new therapist.

[Moreta]

Very often. My therapist knows current events make me anxious asf and my husband works in a political job. My therapist goes to my church so I know our views will align on most things. He always reminds me to stay off twitter if it gets too much. lol. *scrolls through twitter anyways*

Sometimes I do. I link it back to my issues, which are sometimes affected by current events. She's mentioned current events briefly before, especially around LGBTQ rights, as she knows I take note and care deeply. I will probably mention India's decriminalization of gay sex because it's heavily affecting my country's own debate over such laws, and my community.

[Echos Myron redux]

Originally Posted by LabRat27

This actually just came up and we’re going to have to.

Friday he made a comment referencing a certain event that has been the focus of U.S. news lately, when I talked about judging my 13 year old self for behaving “badly” (i.e. not being “the adult”/perfect 100% of the time), he made some comment about that being what kids do and something about what was the focus in the news right now.
I was kind of shocked and said there is absolutely nothing in common there. And he backtracked and said I was right, apologized, said he wasn’t sure why he said that, but didn’t really really explain what he’d meant. I’m hoping he meant just the whole drinking/partying thing in general (which I didn’t even do in high school).

The more I’ve thought about it since then the more it’s bothered me. I don’t need to know if we disagree on fiscal policy. But I need to know that his fundamental values are consistent with mine.

And honestly I was hurt by the comparison. I at least rationally know that, by the standards by which I judge others, I am not a bad person. And I believe that the person he brought up was culpable for their actions, behaved in a reprehensible manner, and has done nothing that might redeem them; I believe they are a bad person.
If he thinks the behavior in question was excusable or falls under “just kids behaving badly” then I can’t trust his judgement.

I’m also going to tell him that I’m not asking for the specifics of his beliefs, and that if he’s a member of [a certain party] i definitely don’t want to know, but that if he voted for [a specific candidate within that party] that I would want to know so that I could get up and walk out and find a new therapist.

Wow. That would bother me a lot. What a terrible comparison. Good for you for challenging it. Hugs.

[nottrustin]

Yes, with T we would often quickly bring up events usually at the very beginning or end if the season. Unless it was a topic that triggered me. Then I would mention it as a gateway to the subject. With current T if the news is triggering. I night say, "the whole media frenzy about ________ is really triggering and then tell her what is happening

[Myrto]

One of the many problems with therapy is that it completely ignores the context we all live in. Everything is reduced to the individual level as if the society we live in has no impact on our mental health. Misogyny, sexism, homophobia, racism are all things that can deeply affect us: it increases powerlessness, anxiety, depression. The rare times I tried to talk in therapy about the misogyny and homophobia I was experiencing I was met with stunned silence or the therapist simply stared at me and tried to change the subject. My last therapist even dismissed homophobia. Therapy is utterly pointless for everything except venting imo.

[velcro003]

Originally Posted by Myrto

One of the many problems with therapy is that it completely ignores the context we all live in. Everything is reduced to the individual level as if the society we live in has no impact on our mental health. Misogyny, sexism, homophobia, racism are all things that can deeply affect us: it increases powerlessness, anxiety, depression. The rare times I tried to talk in therapy about the misogyny and homophobia I was experiencing I was met with stunned silence or the therapist simply stared at me and tried to change the subject. My last therapist even dismissed homophobia. Therapy is utterly pointless for everything except venting imo.

I’m sorry you experienced that with your T. Mine is the complete opposite and realized how these big issues you mentioned affect people and society. She doesn’t shy away from any of those topics.