
In his conversations with trans clients, Will Williams, a therapist in Oakland, California, sees the psychic toll exacted by the fusillade of recent executive orders targeting transgender protections. Many of his patients are filled with fear â and for legitimate reasons.
In the days after Donald Trump took office, the administration required passports to be marked with sex assigned at birth, banned trans people from serving in the military and cut funding for gender-affirming care. On some federal websites, the âTâ was removed from âLGBTâ.
âThereâs this literal embodied experience of âOh Iâm a target,ââ said Williams, who is trans. â[We are] the 1% that is going to be targeted and blamed, and when it comes down from the theoretical into daily life â psychically thereâs an experience of being erased.â
When clients ask him âDo I even exist?â, Williams can at least offer some comfort. He asks: âHow is it to be in a room with another trans person?â The question makes plain what is in front of them: yes, they both exist. âThe medicine is in that,â Williams says. âTrump can say the moon doesnât exist anymore, but the moon still shines, and it still waxes and wanes.â
Williams is among the many therapists who are figuring out how to navigate a profession that has been plunged into uncharted territory during a tense second Trump term. Itâs a new atmosphere, and therapists say they are âlearning besideâ their clients as they go.
Many of those who spoke with the Guardian requested anonymity so they could speak freely about sensitive issues.
Liberal therapists say they sometimes incorporate their political views into the healing process to provide support for clients distressed by Trumpâs actions. âYouâre taught in school that therapists arenât supposed to be political, but itâs very political,â one liberal practitioner said. âNow, at least in my therapist friend group, weâre like, âScrew that, no, this is very political.ââ
Trumpâs policies, such as deporting immigrants, go against therapistsâ code of ethics that requires them to uphold clientâs dignity and worth, she said. That hasnât precluded her from working with Trump-supporting clients. Some donât return âand thatâs OKâ, but she successfully works with a range of conservative patients.
On the other end of the spectrum, some therapists say they are encountering liberal clients who are fearful of coming to therapy: âThey want to know if their therapist voted against their human rights.â Providing assurance to anxious clients is an instance in which many are choosing to share their political views. âWhen appropriate, I want to let them know that itâs really safe,â one therapist said.
Liberal therapists, conservative clients
The relationship between liberal therapists and conservative clients has demanded a slight revision of therapeutic calculus. A few said they find themselves revolted by their clientsâ beliefs but figure out how to work with them effectively despite the fraught dynamic.
None of the therapists I interviewed said they try to change clientsâ political views, but therapy is often about getting people to think about problems in their lives differently â and sometimes thereâs overlap.
One therapist I spoke with used the example of some of her clientsâ fear and hatred of transgender people. She asks them where those fears stem from, because they are often passed on generationally.
âWhat kind of things were you taught as a child? If you heard your parents talking about this â do all of your values align with your parentsâ values? Have you ever broken from them? Will you feel rejected by your family or community if you think differently?â she asks.
As therapy progresses, fears are often unlocked, and some of those questions are answered. âEven if the client isnât focused on the political aspect, we can work on some of those themes, like fear, without getting into politics,â she said.
Another liberal practitioner who took on a Trump-supporting client had doubts about their potential for growth in part because of the latterâs very religious, conservative beliefs. The client was upset with their churchâs liberal positions on some issues, and that was causing a problem in their life.
The therapist encouraged the client to talk with church leadership and to try to understand a different viewpoint. âI didnât look at it as an opportunity or say, âOh, I got a chance to try to win them over,ââ she said. âIt was, âOh, you have this conflict, and maybe if you can see another perspective that would help you.ââ
Sometimes, the roles are reversed and fear is on the other foot. A practitioner who fears fascism and societal collapse, and has stocked up on supplies in case âthe shit hits the fanâ, said the money she makes taking on conservative clients is worth it.
âYou know, Iâm billing $90 an hour, and I can listen to that bullshit for 50 minutes for $90,â she said. âI feel gross saying that because I do think my [Trump-supporting] clients are doing something awful, and are the personification of the problems I deal with.â
A website, ConservativeCounselors.com, highlights the work of conservative therapists around the country. The Guardian sent emails to five of them, but only one responded in a brief email.
âConservative therapists have formed a pretty tight group, and many of us have shared that youâve reached out for an interview,â the therapist, Maria Coppersmith, said. âThe general consensus is that the Guardian is so ultra-liberal, that any conservative therapist that shares his or her viewpoint is likely to have their words twisted and will be highly misrepresented. You might get a naive newbie therapist that will agree to an interview, but I am respectfully declining.â
âScrew that, this is very politicalâ
To describe whatâs occurring in the interplay between therapy and politics, Bill Doherty, co-founder of Braver Angels, a non-profit that works toward depolarization, borrowed a term from practitioners in destabilized Latin American countries: political stress. âItâs the anxiety and psychological preoccupation that stems from whatâs happening in our political situation, how government officials are behaving and how weâre treating each other when we disagree,â Doherty said. âThe challenge is therapists have their own viewpoints â they vote â this is not external to their lives. So the major challenge thatâs now happening is therapists trying to keep their own political leanings from influencing clients.â
Broadly speaking, therapists say the profound shock and sharp sense of fear that was almost universal among liberal clients after Trumpâs first win has been replaced with variations of numbness, hopelessness and resignation.
âAfter Trump won in 2016 everyone was like, âOh my God whatâs going to happen? What are we going to do?â And during Covid they were like, âOh my God, there are no adults in Washington! What are we going to do?ââ a therapist said. Now his clients are much more despondent. âTheyâre like, âFuck it, let it burn,ââ he said.
Williams said there was indeed less âfear and scramblingâ in November 2024, but it has been more difficult for trans clients this time around. Many are running against the clock to make changes to identification cards, birth certificates, passports and other documents.
Similarly, a therapist who works with federal employees says there is a broad sense of âwhiplashâ. The administration has also attacked minorities and women employed at federal agencies, claiming that they are unqualified and were only hired due to DEI initiatives. That takes a toll on some clients, who may end up questioning how people view their worth.
And then thereâs intra-family strife. One therapist certified to practice in Michigan and California said familial stress is greater in Michigan, a purple, more religious state. His clients feel a dissonance: âThey say, âI love my parents, and theyâre showing up for me, but then I also know that they voted for this person whoâs completely appalling.ââ
Start honoring the numbness
Each therapist who spoke with the Guardian said anger and numbness over the second administration are initially appropriate responses. âAnger is a protective force,â Williams added.
But to help his clients to settle their nervous systems, he directs them inward: âIn the stillness they can access the greater wisdom â usually the message is there of whatâs going to be supportive to them.â He also urges them to âgo to nature and connect to systems older and larger than this moment, and put energy toward something life-affirming and creativeâ.
Another therapist has clients accept this new reality. âNormalize that there is this threatening energy that is closing down certain civil liberties and trying to change social norms,â he said, adding that he also urges people to be curious about their numbness.
This doesnât mean embracing being inactive, however. âFind ways to start honoring the numbness, while starting to move energy, whether thatâs physical movement, or getting out, seeing people and finding light in what feels like a dark time for some folks, whether thatâs through art, music or nature,â he added.
Doherty recommends what he calls âbufferingâ: limiting intake of news and conversations with friends and family about politics. Thatâs an especially helpful strategy for couples he counsels who have differing political viewpoints. Many still make it work, Doherty said.
Most therapists tell their clients to focus on what they can control. Some suggest putting energy into mutual aid projects or partaking in local political action. One therapist is seeing her siblings more, making herself an ally to trans folks. She also likes to listen to the Moth story hour as a healthy escape from reality.
However, another therapist pointed to a meme in which a person is lying in the road, about to get hit by a large truck. In the meme, a nearby therapist waves, shouting: âJust focus on the things you can control!â She finds the advice to be ludicrous. âI feel like an asshole as a therapist sometimes, so I try to not say shit like that.â
Liberal therapists often face many of the same fears as their clients. Williams recounted how he worked with some of his youngest clients who were âheartbrokenâ, and how there was synergy in that process.
âWhat I tried to do in those situations was reconnect them to: âWeâre here, weâre alive, thereâs a purpose,ââ Williams said. âI actually left those sessions feeling more purposeful, and feeling more power from what I witnessed after reconnecting them with themselves.â
Another therapist said she felt a similar energy by opening up about her political views and fears: âIt feels more like weâre in this together,â she said.