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For the first time in over 20 years, the events in the political and social
world have entered my consulting room in a way that is not only
troubling, but also problematic to address. Anxiety is on the rise. It has
been my experience that “identity politics,” the divisions and conflicts
that have intensified in our society during and since the election, are
creating severe disruptions not simply between anonymous people
with differing political affiliations, but more importantly for the work I
do, in relationships between family members, friends, and coworkers.
Political pundits and social media describe our social divisions in terms
of identity politics: conflicts are occurring between people with
different racial, social class, gender, and other social identities. We
pigeonhole people, then assign them to polarized identity groups with
the choice of identity narrowed to the binary of “us” and “them.” With
this binary thrust upon us by political events and social conditions, our
human, emotional identities are being erased in our relationships.
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In my psychotherapy office, conflicts around identity have emerged as
a major focus in therapy sessions. Since the election, I hear a lot of talk
about “us” and “them” as I listen to some people talk about themselves
and their relationships in the world. One person, Christopher, spoke of a
painful Thanksgiving dinner where his father told him, “I’m ashamed of
you! How could you vote for that criminal Hillary? You’re not one of us.”
“I really didn’t want to bring up the election because I think you’re for
Hillary. But I don’t think you’re a fanatic like my mother, and I can’t
stand these horrible feelings. I think she hates me. She called me and
screamed that I better not vote for Trump. She said, ‘No daughter of
mine could be so stupid and ignorant. You’re an embarrassment.’ ”
Both Christopher and Liz felt under assault by their parents. They were
in disbelief that their parents could lash out so forcefully. Christopher
was very angry at his father: “He’s so rigid and closed-minded. I can’t
have an intelligent conversation with him. I never thought I’d think of my
father as a bigot or stupid, but that’s what I’m thinking now. I don’t like
these feelings. I keep thinking, ‘Does my mother agree? Am I a bad
son?’ ”
I then asked Christopher what he thought his father would say if I asked
him what he’d like Christopher to understand about him. At first,
Christopher replied he didn’t know. But he thought for a bit and said:
Talking with Christopher about his father’s vote for Trump led us to
hypothesize about and explore his father’s fuller identity, rather than
ascribe the binary identity of Trump supporter. It allowed Christopher to
develop some empathy for his father’s hurtful outburst to him on
Thanksgiving. It also helped him to think about their different identities
beyond “us” and “them.”
When Liz and I talked about her mother, a picture of a woman similar to
Liz emerged: “We’re both very passionate about things. As a kid, we
heard about this woman that was mistreating her animals. Mom and I
got very active in getting the animals taken away from her. We both still
work for animal rights. When we don’t agree, she can get nasty. I
suppose I was pretty scared of her rages growing up. That awful phone
call about my not voting for Hillary was a pretty typical communication.
I guess I had a pretty typical response. I get angry and scared. I have an
urge to comply, which would and wouldn’t make me feel better. But I
won’t change my vote. I thought of lying to her about it.”
Liz and I talked more about who her mother was as a person, not just a
Hillary voter. Both she and Christopher got the point: their relationships
with parents are complex and multilayered, with so much history. Voting
for Trump or Clinton is not what defines who anyone is, nor does it have
to divide a parent-child relationship into “us” and “them.”
The preceding article was solely written by the author named above.
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