# 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:** 6
**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, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/101 "2020-12-20T21:26:44Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > No more so than people picked Biden… Would I be wrong in guessing that the tl;dr version here is “bOtH sidEs dO iT!11!!!” ? ---
**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, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/102 "2020-12-20T21:31:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > The survey is asking therapists how willing they are to communicate their political beliefs to their patients. ~70% of them are willing to communicate their political belief to their patients to some degree. It was? Not the part that @Riemann quoted that I was responding to. Quote from the post I responded to with different added bolding. > [@Riemann](#): > > 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. The article _also_ reports a survey of therapists which says that 63% believe they have at least “implicitly” made their beliefs known, not actually shared such explicitly. The “So what?” The op is asking for an out of the box explicit sharing of the therapist’s personal voting history. The data presented demonstrates that such explicit sharing is infrequent. FWIW @susan’s deflecting cautious but exploratory responses are what I’d be expecting and most respect. For some here her if push came to shove “not going to answer” would be a deal breaker. To me her thoughtful and respectful exploration of the question being asked would be what got me asking to be put on what I would suspect is her waiting list! ---
**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, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/103 "2020-12-20T21:33:26Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I once asked a therapist I’d seen for awhile if she or anyone in her family were gay. Her reply was, “Do you feel like I’m giving you what you need?” That was a good response in that context, and I withdrew my question. If I wanted a gay therapist, I would ask up front. If I wanted a gay-affirmative therapist, I’d ask that. Thanks for your whole post but this bit gets to the core of my concern with a certain direction of vetting your therapist. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/104 "2020-12-20T21:34:50Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > It was? Not the part that @Riemann quoted that I was responding to. Quote from the post I responded to with different added bolding Well, I misread that. Sorry. ---
**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, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/105 "2020-12-20T21:59:53Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > A good therapist shouldn’t have to prove he’s on “your team” to help you. Any therapist who wants my money needs to answer whatever questions I need answered. The framing “your team” is your own rhetoric and merits no response. > [@FigNorton](#): > > His wife said the patient’s bigotry could be a block in the therapist relationship. Nothing was said about “the patient’s bigotry.” Again this is your own framing and your own inflammatory rhetoric to leap upon your own high horse, or whatever it is you think you’re doing here. How about you give your business to who you want, and I’ll do the same, and stop harassing others about their choices in that same regard? ---
**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, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/106 "2020-12-20T22:06:03Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > If these cause psychological distress, then _yes_ ! Why is this so difficult? He’s not having any difficulty whatsoever. This obviously isn’t about gaining understanding. ---
**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, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/107 "2020-12-20T22:21:23Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > This obviously isn’t about gaining understanding. I think the corollary to this thread is that I wouldn’t want somebody who thinks I’m wrong to not want a Trump supporter as my therapist as my therapist. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/108 "2020-12-20T22:29:06Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > She thought it doesn’t matter. Me, it goes to values. And, as I told her, I have little desire to see _any_ doctor who voted for a COVID mitigation strategy which, at the time of the vote, was expected to kill another 1-3 million fellow citizens. Seems to be a violation of the hippocratic oath. The Hippocratic oath ALSO prohibits abortions. How do you feel about that? “I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy.” > **[The Hippocratic Oath Today](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/hippocratic-oath-today/)** > > Read classical and modern versions of the oath and a short article about its controversial nature today. ---
**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, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/109 "2020-12-20T22:33:15Z")
Having never been responsible for an abortion, nor not seeking one out, I’m not interested in your silly diversion. ---
**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, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/110 "2020-12-20T22:38:12Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > The Hippocratic oath ALSO prohibits abortions. The _modern_ version does not, as you well know, from your own cite. Hippocrates based his theory of medical ailments on imbalances in the four humors. Perhaps you also feel that such modern developments as the germ theory of disease are equally misguided? And Hippocrates believed in a diverse array of deities. How do you feel about temples to Zeus? ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/111 "2020-12-20T22:38:37Z")
YOU are the one who brought up the oath. Live by the sword, die by the sword. ---
**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, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/112 "2020-12-20T22:39:14Z")
nm… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/113 "2020-12-20T22:47:04Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > YOU are the one who brought up the oath. Live by the sword, die by the sword. You are the one who misleadingly brought up the original version, more than 2000 years old. Like **JohnT** says, it is a silly diversion from the basic subject of this thread. There’s no sword there. ---
**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, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/114 "2020-12-20T23:15:35Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > > [@JohnT](#): > > > > She thought it doesn’t matter. Me, it goes to values. And, as I told her, I have little desire to see _any_ doctor who voted for a COVID mitigation strategy which, at the time of the vote, was expected to kill another 1-3 million fellow citizens. Seems to be a violation of the hippocratic oath. > > The Hippocratic oath ALSO prohibits abortions. How do you feel about that? > “I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy.” > > [The Hippocratic Oath Today | NOVA | PBS](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/hippocratic-oath-today/) Please don’t attempt to derail a topic by pulling in hot-button material that is at best tangentially related. Everyone – no more talk of abortion in this thread, please. That’s an official mod instruction. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/115 "2020-12-20T23:23:44Z")
To clarify something I posted earlier about it probably being rare for a legit therapist to be a Trump supporter - I meant a fervent Trumpite, as opposed to someone who voted for Trump for whatever reason but who doesn’t think he’s the cat’s ass (to invoke an unpleasant metaphor). Another, hopefully non-controversial clarification: a lot of newly minted M.D.s are not administered the Hippocratic oath in any form. Either they are inducted under an alternate set of principles, or an oath is skipped entirely. My med school used an alternate “oath”, the details of which I have forgotten entirely, although the gist was “don’t be an asshole”. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Hoogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Mr\_Hoogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Hoogly)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/116 "2020-12-20T23:25:56Z")
It seems the crux of the question is whether any trump supporter can be a decent person, I’m sure there are plenty of nice people who follow him for whatever their reasons, and some not so nice, just like followers of any mainstream politics or politicians. A better question might be ‘is there any therapist out there I could find who has the same views about absolutely everything as I do’ to which the answer would be, no there won’t be. ---
**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, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/117 "2020-12-20T23:32:27Z")
> [@Mr\_Hoogly](#): > > just like followers of any mainstream politics or politicians. Oh, I was so wrapped up in my assumptions that it had never occurred to me that _both sides do it_. Golly, you’ve put the cat among the pigeons with that insight. We’ll all be rethinking our worldview immediately. ---
**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, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/118 "2020-12-20T23:44:20Z")
> [@Mr\_Hoogly](#): > > It seems the crux of the question is whether any trump supporter can be a decent person Um, not really? The crux of the question is about how to address value systems with therapists, especially if those value systems are something you wish to discuss in your sessions. ---
**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 21, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/119 "2020-12-21T00:15:49Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The crux of the question is about how to address value systems with therapists, especially if those value systems are something you wish to discuss in your sessions. I can agree with this, and would go further to say that the crux is whether before choosing a therapist one needs explicit reassurance that the therapist will explicitly _agree with and endorse_ your values and beliefs, (rather than to respect them whatever their own beliefs are) if those values are something you wish to discuss. Some here _strongly_ feel/think yes, for at least the values that they believe are inherent to having voted for Trump, to the degree that therapists who respond as @susan does would be off their list. Doubling back: > [@k9bfriender](#): > > “Are you a Trump supporter?” “I did not vote for him”, would be an implicit answer. You are right that we have very different understandings of what is explicit and implicit. To me that is a very clear explicit and direct answer of “No.” OTOH an implicit understanding could occur by hearing validation of being upset over immigration policies and disgust over specific things Trump has said. Which could be accurate (and again, a priori with therapists, who are relatively infrequently Trumpists, most likely is) but some who voted for Trump disagree with him on multiple specifics but have such an interest in having conservative judge selections, be it for abortion issues, or guns, or whatever, that they still voted for him anyway. In that case a conclusion concluding that being against Trump was implied might be wrong. Mostly though it is very different than explicitly saying “I did not vote for 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 21, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-im-looking-for-a-therapist-is-it-ok-to-ask-if-they-are-a-trump-supporter/928400/120 "2020-12-21T00:26:45Z")
> [@Mr\_Hoogly](#): > > It seems the crux of the question is whether any trump supporter can be a decent person, I’m sure there are plenty of nice people who follow him for whatever their reasons, and some not so nice, just like followers of any mainstream politics or politicians. The crux of it, to me, is nothing to do with a judgment of decency. I judge that by my standards, they have either seriously compromised judgment or seriously compromised ethics. Based on that, I won’t trust them on anything where those failings can harm my interests. I also don’t want to reward such people with my business. I don’t get why people are squirming in a fit of pique at the idea that others have standards and will enforce them. Who finds that threatening? Why? [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=5) [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=7)