About the Webinar:

Political identity has become one of the most emotionally charged forces shaping families and communities today, and these tensions inevitably show up in the therapy room. For many clinicians, navigating political differences with clients can evoke powerful transference and countertransference reactions that can challenge our sense of neutrality, compassion, and therapeutic presence. At the same time, systemic work often places us in the middle of families with deeply conflicting political identities, where maintaining multipartiality requires both skill and self-awareness.

This webinar explores how marriage and family therapists can remain grounded, ethical, and relationally attuned amid political polarization. We will examine how political identity activates the therapist’s internal world, how to recognize and manage countertransference without abandoning clients, and how to hold steady when a client’s worldview conflicts with our own. Through a systemic lens, we will consider what multipartiality looks like in families divided by politics and explore meaningful strategies for staying present, fostering connection, and protecting the therapeutic alliance, especially when the work becomes personally challenging.

Rather than offering judgment or prescriptive rules, this conversation invites clinicians to reflect more deeply on our values, ethical responsibilities, and our role in helping families bridge divides during one of the most polarized eras in American life.