Beyond the Individual
As a therapist, I work on a one-to-one basis with clients, but I firmly believe that therapy needs to look beyond the individual. A lot of mental health 'treatments' are rooted in individualist ideas that seep through into how we understand and respond to emotional distress. But this is only a fragment of the fuller picture and it’s important that therapists work with clients to look further.
In my practice, taking therapy beyond the individual and honouring some principles associated with anti-oppressive practice means:
Taking into account the context someone lives in
We can start with recognising and honouring the feelings, behaviours and thoughts emerging for someone. We can look at their current situation; (un)employment, family, partner(s), activities which nourish or drain. We might look back to the past and explore attachments, upbringing, significant events. This is all important. But, there is a layer that is often left missing. Everything we experience happens within a society, within systems that either advantage or disadvantage us and often a mix of the two.
For the queer client, it may not be enough to explore feelings around their gender and sexuality if we ignore the very real threats to their safety. For the poor client, we can acknowledge their profound sadness but we miss a key part of supporting their understanding of themselves if we don’t invite conversations around austerity into the room.
Whatever a client brings, we do them a disservice not to bring attention to the wider context of their experience. We leave them to consider what is ‘wrong’ with them or ‘broken’ inside them that means no matter how many self-care practices they embed, they still feel depressed. We fail to note that there are limits to what we can do on an individual level when we exist in societies that are designed to oppress parts of our identity.
Considering how power and oppression are operating in a client’s life
The therapy room can serve as a mirror for the outside world. If therapists are not thoughtful and considerate around issues of power and oppression, they risk repeating harmful behaviours with clients. One way of demonstrating a commitment to supporting clients is by exploring how power and oppression have shown up throughout their life.
It can be helpful for a client to begin to explore how power and oppressive systems have impacted their experiences. For example, a client struggling with disordered eating, may be continually getting frustrated with themselves for finding it challenging to change their eating behaviours. We can offer a new framework for understanding by inviting curiosity about the impact of misogyny, fatphobia and poverty on their relationship to food and their body.
Looking beyond the individual invites new ideas and a greater depth of understanding to the individual experience. We can allow space for the mixed emotions that might appear upon recognition that systems are not set up to support us all to thrive.
Questioning the ‘normal’
It’s a common experience to have clients express that they just want to be ‘normal’. What this often means is that they want to fit in with their peers, the people around them and what society deems to be the ‘right’ way to exist. The truth is that very few of us actually fit this ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’ way of being. A need to belong is tied to our survival, it makes sense that we want to be viewed as ‘the same’ as everyone else. If we can blend in then we are less of a threat, we protect our safety. But this often comes at a great cost. We lose ourselves to the desire to fit into an ever-changing ‘norm’ decided by the privileged in society. We bend and break parts of ourselves to be accepted by a society that will often just find new things that are wrong with us.
When we look beyond the individual framework of many therapeutic practices, we invite more curiosity. What does being ‘normal’ mean? What would it feel like to fit in? Is there a way to engage with communities in which we can feel safe and show up more authentically? The default position to just be more like everyone else, more palatable and acceptable is one to be questioned.
For example, a lot of people are given the message that their emotional responses are ‘too much’. Some therapists might view this as a signal that the client needs to work on improving their emotional regulation. That might help somewhat but we can go further and explore together what being ‘too much’ means and who we are ‘too much’ for. If we seek to suppress our emotions, who are we doing this for and will it ultimately bring us closer to the person we want to be?
Recognising the limits of therapy
Therapy can be immensely powerful and life changing. I’ve seen it as a therapist and experienced it as a client. But it is also limited by external circumstances, it is unfair to pretend otherwise. It is okay to admit that therapy cannot change everything and is not a single solution to a client’s challenges. That doesn’t mean it isn’t useful or worth exploring as a tool to improve our lives. It can serve as a container for all the complicated feelings and experiences that emerge in response to a challenging world. But if external factors are limiting a client’s capacity for change and growth, it is worth recognising and acknowledging this.
Conclusion
Allowing the outside context to enter therapy enables a richer experience for therapist and client. We can start to afford ourselves more self-compassion when we recognise that not all of our challenges are ours to hold sole responsibility for. We can act on the things within our control to improve our lives but we do not have to ignore the things we cannot control to do so.
Additional resources
Working Within Diversity: A Reflective Guide to Anti-Oppressive Practice in Counselling and Therapy – Myira Khan
Intersections of Privilege and Otherness in Counselling and Psychotherapy – Dwight Turner
A Straight Talking Introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework: An alternative to psychiatric diagnosis – Mary Boyle and Lucy Johnstone
Colonial Psychology: The Psychology We All Recognize (Psychology Today) – Darcia F. Narvaez
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