Navigating the Political Minefield in Psychotherapy: The Ethics of Self-Disclosure, Managing Countertransference and More

CPD

Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Handouts

Speaker

Kirsten Lind Seal, PHD, LMFT Related seminars and products

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Kirsten Lind Seal, PhD, LMFT, holds an MA in counseling psychology and a PhD in couple and family therapy from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lind Seal teaches ethics at two universities and regularly conducts trainings on ethics and cross-cultural issues at the local, regional and national level. She is currently adjunct associate professor at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and core ethics faculty (adjunct) at Chaminade University of Honolulu. She has extensive training in teaching and learning: at Saint Mary’s she was a Teaching Fellow (2013-2014), and she completed the Preparing Future Faculty Certificate Program at the University of Minnesota in 2014.

Dr. Lind Seal’s research has been published in Psychology Today, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and Family Process. She has published several case studies and an ethics focused “In Consultation” piece in the Psychotherapy Networker and has reviewed for The Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy (UK). She is currently conducting a scholarship of teaching and learning research project examining the impact of her cultural context ethical decision-making model on graduate students’ cultural growth and ethical decision-making at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

Dr. Lind Seal’s professional memberships are with the Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy, for which organizations she has created, presented and recorded numerous trainings and webinars on a variety of ethical issues. She has been participating in ongoing monthly anti-racism groups through NEAFAST for the last three years.

She has a completely virtual private practice where she works with individuals, couples and family, and offers ethics consultations to colleagues. She has been interviewed as a content expert by MPR, CNN.com, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune and has for the last 9 years has been a regular on-air contributor on Relationship Reboot, a weekly segment on relationships on WCCO TV’s Channel 4 (CBS Twin Cities).

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kirsten Lind Seal maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with Chaminade University of Honolulu and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She receives a speaking honorarium from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kirsten Lind Seal is a member of the Minnesota Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, a contributor/creator of segments on Mid-morning WCCO TV And of The New England Association For Family And Systemic Therapy.

Additional Info

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For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.

Objectives

1. List three reasons that disclosing political beliefs can strengthen the therapeutic alliance.
2. Identify two different interventions to manage client anxiety around political uncertainties.
3. Determine three ways implicit bias can influence countertransference reactions.
4. Develop a countertransference management centred on best practice from current literature and scholarship on this topic.

Outline

Political Self-Disclosure and the Therapeutic Alliance

• Define political self-disclosure
• Therapist political self-disclosure vs. therapist self-disclosure
• Steps to build alliance when politics clash
• Techniques to find common ground with divergence around political belief systems
• Uncover similarities between client and clinician
• Reasons for and against self-disclosure
  • Strong countertransference reactions with divergent political belief systems
  • Therapeutic outcomes with convergent political beliefs
  • Impact of political discussions on other clinical issues

Relevant Ethical Principles of Political Self-Disclosure with Clients

• 6 basic principles of ethical practice
• Relevant professional ethical codes (AAMFT, APA, ACA, NASW)

The Role of Implicit Bias in Countertransference Situations

• Understand the neuroscience basis for implicit bias
• Actionable steps for managing implicit bias and countertransference
• Differential effects of political versus other types of implicit bias

Strengthen Own Capacity for Managing Countertransference

• Lead indicators of countertransference
• Frequent politically-based countertransference situations
• Common risks and benefits of countertransference
• Create ongoing countertransference management plan
• Overcome barriers to implementing a countertransference management plan
• Discern particular and germane characteristics for self
• Plan for and apply appropriate learning program for self-awareness

Understand and Explore Collective Trauma Response

• Viktor Frankl’s “pause before response”
• Trauma triggers from both sides of the political aisle
• Relevant collective trauma research to current political climate
• Limitations of the research and potential risks

Target Audience

• Counsellors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Case Managers
• Therapists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Other Mental Health Professionals