On why politics are personal; they’re relational.
As a couples therapist, I intimately work with men and women who have been assaulted/have assaulted. Men and women who seek mentoring around living respectful and relational lives, even if it wasn’t what was modeled for them as normal. In other words, I help couples heal power dynamics everyday.
The political circus we’re bearing collective witness to is very much akin to the pain and abuses I witness daily in my office.
Politics is about people. And if it’s about people, it can be either about turning toward people, and tending to/governing them. Or it can be about turning away and having power over them.
Again, very much the story I witness daily in my office.
And since we’re talking about people and relationships, there’s a truth worth stating. We can turn toward one another. And that starts with believing someone when she tells you “don’t trust them with power over you.” Listen, be curious.
That’s not what we witnessed in modern politics though, at every turn she’s gaslighted. And here’s the rub, many know that gaslighting too well. It’s the same power that’s oppressed them too.
We can’t repair what we don’t recognize as broken. We pass down what we aren’t conscious of. We avoid what makes us uncomfortable. When we do, we remain stuck and tuned out. Turned away and disempowered.
We rise together, collectively, because we believe. We don’t have to believe her story, you see, because herstory is all of ours.
We empower ourselves, our relationships, our families, our communities, the next generation when we talk openly about a restorative, reparative, reclamation of power.
I wish you and yours healthful, respectful relationships in all aspects of your life.
