# If I'm looking for a therapist, is it OK to ask if they are a Trump supporter? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400 "2020-12-19T14:46:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/41 "2020-12-20T15:23:56Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > What if you ask the therapist if they support Trump and they refuse to answer either way? > > Some, maybe many, therapists are extremely hesitant about disclosing virtually anything about who they are as individuals. It’s a “boundary issue”, fearful that information about who they are as private individuals could result in transference. That’s their choice. They don’t have to justify it. I also don’t have to justify my choice to patronize those who need to hide information that’s important to me. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/42 "2020-12-20T15:44:47Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > prospective patient called their office wanting to know if the doctor was a white Christian. White, sure. But I think it could be relevant to the therapy whether the therapist is Christian. There’s a whole value system there that might be important. I’ve also known people to look for “sex positive” therapists. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/43 "2020-12-20T15:45:02Z")
The point is a good therapist wouldn’t discuss their political beliefs with you. So the question that’s important for you to have answered will weed out the good therapists. Eta: I guess if Trump is going to take up large portions of your therapy sessions, it could actually be important. I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/44 "2020-12-20T16:06:02Z")
Some articles from professionals who say, in the real world, this issue isn’t as cut and dried as @Dseid and @FigNorton are making it out to be: [What’s Trump Doing in Your Therapy Room? | Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-single/201806/what-s-trump-doing-in-your-therapy-room) > **[Psychotherapy in the Trump Era](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-games/201912/psychotherapy-in-the-trump-era)** > > New research explores how our current political climate is impacting therapy. From that last… [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bqDpLt7kbRRnc9bhS9WbOj7Me4spjLe0bSHNj0aruW3y5uB81DRqI7IX0SfXHITXLOweaP77C-8Qstgdsm_v5LXrIB5LdB1jITK2mdujdyR5aLjqrJsUJTvnhmz7zbyY3uxcLWk2Uw=w600-h315-p-k "New item by John Thornton") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/rjiAvZJHgba1eNs36) [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d1atwQJkaKOM1OdCdFP6BO9s8l-gg9AqnV6lwYC8VTDq26-qaHmnUiDChauxnEArIc3X8kPzSXf-8DzDaLE2IRjwx18GoNjXscRTngcw8ydsYYVqbuvKE3DXcC4tpywK5avm3yqtPA=w600-h267-p-k "New item by John Thornton") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/1LCNt4NfWsxQDCvJ7) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/45 "2020-12-20T16:14:05Z")
And the actual numbers from that article: > In striking contrast to decades of precedent, therapists are now routinely making their political opinions known to their clients. In a recently published [survey of 604 psychotherapy clients](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29537076) from 50 states, **only 32% said their therapist did not disclose their political beliefs**. Thirty percent said their therapists divulged their views, and the other 38% said their therapists made their beliefs known implicitly. And the reason is clear. Being a Trump supporter falls outside the spectrum of political beliefs of well balanced and well socialized normal human beings, it’s not like what you think about tax policy or how to fix healthcare. It has direct bearing on (a) your own mental health, whether you are delusional or whether you have a firm grasp on objective reality; (b) whether you fundamentally respect the dignity of other human beings. How could anyone _not_ think these aspects of personality are critical as criteria in choosing a competent mental health professional? ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/46 "2020-12-20T16:17:41Z")
Shortly after the 2016 election I returned to a therapist I’d seen from 2012-14. (I hadn’t been able to sleep more than an hour or two a night since Nov. 9 and was turning into a complete basket case.) The first question I asked her when making the appointment was whether she’d voted for Trump, because I knew I couldn’t possibly confide in her if she had. I’m eternally grateful she was willing to tell me she hadn’t. She also told me every other client was asking her the same question. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/47 "2020-12-20T16:22:21Z")
No matter what their presenting issues are, everyone in my caseload is talking about governance and COVID as they affect their lives during most sessions. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/48 "2020-12-20T17:06:09Z")
I am not prepared to open up, to share my deepest, darkest thoughts and feelings with someone who voted for Trump. I am not going to seek advice on how to cope with the problems that I may have as a result of what Trump and the movement behind him has done to our country from someone who supports him. I’ll accept them as clients and take their money in exchange for the services they provide. I’ll let them provide me with services in exchange for my payment. I’m not going to be comfortable, though, explaining my concerns about the future of our country and of our civilization itself with someone who feels that it is going swimmingly. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/49 "2020-12-20T17:23:06Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > She is about as liberal as can be (and doesn’t hide it) yet many of her clients are overt Trump supporters (and some are even players in his reign). They don’t seem to be put off by her. There’s some aspect of selection bias based supply and demand, I’d suspect. Other than explicitly faith-based ones, therapists tend to skew other than the Trump supporting side of the spectrum. A client who demanded a Trump supporting therapist has a smaller universe of choices.\* (The career choice selects for people with empathy and compassion inclusive of those very different than you.) > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > That’s their choice. They don’t have to justify it. I also don’t have to justify my choice to patronize those who need to hide information that’s important to me. That is true. And I posed the subject to my therapist wife and she leaned to your side. Bringing up the religion analogy her response included pointing out that some Orthodox Jews would exclude a more secular Jew as a therapist - to them they are apostates and better to see a righteous Gentile than an apostate. And they are right that it might get in the way of developing a functional therapeutic relationship. > [@Riemann](#): > > And the actual numbers from that article: Please note: “Thirty percent said their therapists divulged their views”. Making “their beliefs known implicitly” is a squishy thing of “wink wink nudge nudge” and _sometimes_ projection. _Implicitly?_ Maybe accurate maybe not (given the skew of therapists a guess of not a Trump supporter does have good priors) and certainly not explicitly stated or even hinted at before any therapeutic alliance is created. **The overwhelming majority, 70%, did NOT actually divulge their views.** So while I stated “[s]ome, maybe many, therapists are extremely hesitant about disclosing …” that data suggests I was too cautious. _Many_, a solid majority, still do not divulge their views. > [@Riemann](#): > > Being a Trump supporter falls outside the spectrum of political beliefs of well balanced and well socialized normal human beings Let’s reality check here: 47.8% of Americans voted for Trump. You may not knowingly have meaningful interactions with many of them, especially in our current world, but this sort of description of nearly half of our country as being, well, almost not really countable as normal human beings, is IMHO very disturbing. . . . \*The cited Psychology Today article confirms that skew. Only 7% of therapists polled self-identified as Republican, less than independent or even than “other”, and a solid majority as Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/50 "2020-12-20T17:26:10Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > …this sort of description of nearly half of our country as being, well, almost not really countable as normal human beings, is IMHO very disturbing. It’s the _description_ that’s disturbing? I think the reality is what’s disturbing. But in any event you are misrepresenting what I said. I never said anything remotely like we should not “count” them as human beings. I said their behavior is outside the norms of well socialized human behavior, that they have a tenuous grasp on reality, that they are delusional. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/51 "2020-12-20T17:31:51Z")
But then they’re okay with six bankruptcies, the lies, the weakness of the lies, the “all Mexicans” remarks, the “pussygrabbing” bragging, the malice, the racism, the conspiracy stuff, whatever you call “if I don’t get what I want, it’s rigged” thing, the fawning over Putin, Duterte, and Kim Jong Un; the betrayal of the Kurds, the malice, spitefulness and meanness of his attacks on John McCain’s capture, did I mention the lies? And so very very much more. Worse yet is if they don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/52 "2020-12-20T17:33:13Z")
Not 46 % _of Americans,_ 46% of _ **voters** _. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/53 "2020-12-20T17:33:47Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > The overwhelming majority, 70%, did NOT actually divulge their views. I think you have that backwards. > [@Riemann](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > **only 32% said their therapist did not disclose their political beliefs**. > [@DSeid](#): > > that data suggests I was too cautious. _Many_ , a solid majority, still do not divulge their views. > [@Riemann](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Thirty percent said their therapists divulged their views, and the other 38% said their therapists made their beliefs known implicitly. That’s 68% that made their views known to their clients. That’s a pretty solid majority. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/54 "2020-12-20T17:42:28Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > but this sort of description of nearly half of our country as being, well, almost not really countable as normal human beings, is IMHO very disturbing. No, that’s another thing that you have backwards. That’s nearly half of our country that does not consider the other half to be human beings. That I won’t share my deepest darkest secrets with them doesn’t mean that I don’t think that they are a human being. It means that I don’t trust them with my deepest darkest secrets, that I don’t trust them to have my mental well being as a priority. However, those who support Trump do not think that the rest of us are human beings, that we are deserving of rights or any sort of recognition. And that’s just for not being a Trump supporter. They think even less of minorities or anyone who is different from them. Put it this way, if you were gay, and you were having problems with things, would you ensure that the person with whom you chose to confide in was not an advocate of gay conversion therapy? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/55 "2020-12-20T17:44:20Z")
Yes that degree of othering is disturbing to me, is _disturbed_ even I think. I don’t think you are other than a “well socialized normal human being” because you are thinking that way, but I think the fact that a large number of Americans, most “well socialized normal human beings”, whichever way they voted, think that those who voted otherwise are therefore other than “well socialized normal human beings” … would describe each other in those terms, terms that dehumanize each other … disturbs me. Your mileage obviously varies. @margin - an accurate, if possibly pedantic, correction. @k9bfriender - I know a guy who back in the day believed that almost every female in the bar was hot for him. Nah, none actually came on to him, but he could tell. They _implicitly_ let him know by how he saw them look at him, and of course what he read as what they meant by looking in his direction was correct! Right? A belief of what someone _implicitly_ means while not actually saying is not actual divulging anything. I agree that Trumpists dehumanize. And I find dehumanizing them also to be objectionable. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/56 "2020-12-20T17:46:56Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > The point is a good therapist wouldn’t discuss their political beliefs with you. That’s not a point. That’s some dude’s opinion that you’re taking as fact for some reason. If it guides your choices, fine. You should also check out his later post where his wife, a therapist, agrees with me. I wonder if you’ll also take her opinion as fact. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/57 "2020-12-20T17:52:33Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > terms that dehumanize each other You seem to be making a _both sides_ argument here. Both sides are dehumanizing, really? Don’t be intolerant of their intolerance? The straw man that anyone should not “count” as human was only introduced by you, nobody else has said anything like that. I am characterizing their _behavior_, their delusional mental state, not their rights or their identity as human beings. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/58 "2020-12-20T17:52:44Z")
And FWIW I don’t agree with that. Some good therapists will, along the way, be more open about who they are in their private lives and use that to develop the relationship, cautiously. But there are many good therapists who wouldn’t: a majority at least still don’t explicitly discuss their political beliefs with their clients, even though they statistically are likely to share your beliefs about Trump. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/59 "2020-12-20T17:53:01Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I agree that Trumpists dehumanize. And I find dehumanizing them also to be objectionable. Has anyone in this thread suggested they aren’t human? My opinion is that I cannot reliably trust their judgment, words, behavior, conduct, or knowledge for anything whatsoever that’s important to me, and I won’t give them a dime of my money, and I won’t have them in my professional or social circles any more than necessary. I’d give them CPR (well after COVID is gone, naturally), but that’s as far as it goes. They’re human, and like most humans, I have no obligation whatsoever to give them the time of day. I just have some specific reasons in this case. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/60 "2020-12-20T18:04:17Z")
Not tolerating intolerance is very different than using dehumanizing and pathologizing terms of them. @HMS_Irruncible I consider describing them other than “well socialized normal human beings” to be dehumanizing and othering them, yes. As do you I think of them as “like most humans” but I consider myself to have an obligation to give most humans the time of day and more, even if they and you do not see our obligations to each other in the same way as I do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400.md?page=4)