果酱视频

Within days of the 2016 presidential election, Nili Solomonov, then a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at 果酱视频, began to notice an unusual phenomenon. Some of the patients she was seeing in her clinical practice were disturbed by the election鈥檚 outcome, and they wanted to talk about it.

鈥淭here was a lot of talk about it in clinical circles, too,鈥� Solomonov recalled. 鈥淢y colleagues were observing the same thing. I thought, 鈥楾here鈥檚 something important happening here and we have to address it.鈥欌��

Dr. Solomonov discussed the matter with Jacques P. Barber, Ph.D., dean of the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, and the two launched a research project that resulted in a paper: 鈥淧atients鈥� perspectives on political self-disclosure, the therapeutic alliance, and the infiltration of politics into the therapy room in the Trump era,鈥� published in the May 2018 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Dr. Barber and Dr. Solomonov believe their study is the first 鈥渜uantitative psychotherapy research study that investigates the effects of the 2016 presidential election, Trump administration actions and the current political events on patients鈥� experiences in therapy.鈥� They also think it explores
issues that are rarely encountered in the therapeutic process.

鈥淗istorically,鈥� they wrote, 鈥渟tudies focusing on the effects of historical-political events on the therapy process have predominantly emerged following a national traumatic event, such as the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York鈥�or the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.鈥� What many news outlets called 鈥減ost-election stress disorder鈥� impacted the therapy process in a different way, creating a significant dilemma for many therapists (and, by extension, for their patients).

鈥淭raditionally, psychotherapists have been reluctant to say much about themselves during counseling,鈥� said Dr. Barber. 鈥淭he idea was to keep the dialogue focused on the patient.鈥� However, many of Dr. Solomonov鈥檚 patients, as well as many of her colleagues鈥� patients, wanted to know if their counselor鈥檚 political views diverged from their own. In turn, the counselors wondered, as Dr. Solomonov did, 鈥淲hat do I do if my patient has different views from my own?鈥�

The primary aim of the research project became investigating two interrelated issues: patients鈥� perspectives on politics in the therapeutic space, and 鈥渨hat happens when the therapist and the patient have divergent and often polarized perspectives on a major political-historical event affecting their everyday lives.鈥�

In collaboration with faculty in 果酱视频鈥檚 Derner School, Dr. Solomonov and Dr. Barber developed a survey tool. Then, for nine months following the presidential inauguration, they recruited patients anonymously through online websites, listservs, social media and local community clinics nationwide. Although Dr. Barber and Dr. Solomonov applied highly conservative exclusion criteria to the 1,300 patient responses that were collected, they were still left with an impressive sample of 604.

The highly diverse sample included participants from every state, both major political parties and a range of ethnic and racial backgrounds. About two-thirds reported having political discussions with their therapists and nearly half said they would like to talk about politics more often in their sessions. Similarly, about two-thirds of participants said their therapists
had divulged their political leanings.

While Dr. Solomonov and Dr. Barber acknowledge the study鈥檚 limitations, they also stress that it has important clinical implications. 鈥淭he evidence suggests that patients want to discuss politics in their sessions and may benefit from appropriate self-disclosure of their therapists鈥� political stances and open and genuine discussions about current sociopolitical topics,鈥� they wrote. 鈥淥ur results also indicate that in the face of an unstable and disruptive political climate, therapists are highly likely to disclose their political orientation, explicitly or implicitly.鈥�

Dr. Barber and Dr. Solomonov presented their findings in late May 2018 at the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration conference in New York. They are also working on a companion paper exploring the issue from the therapists鈥� perspective, which they expect to complete later this year.

Jacques Barber, Ph.D., is recognized internationally for his research into the process and outcomes of psychotherapy. Author of more than 180 refereed journal articles, he has written about depression, panic attacks,听substance addiction and personality disorders. This year, he received the Distinguished Psychologist Award for Contributions to Psychology and Psychotherapy, a lifetime honor from Division 29: Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy.

Nili Solomonov, Ph.D. 鈥�18, received her degree from the Derner School of Psychology in May. In addition to her research on psychotherapy in the Trump era, she is working on the development of ratings for quality of听continuing medical education, in conjunction with eight pharmaceutical companies.