A Coping Skill for a Difficult Time
In our therapy practice, we see a remarkable range of ways clients have been mentally and emotionally impacted by the 2024 election. These range from minimal impacts to feeling validated to triggering major trauma responses, depending on each individual’s unique situation and phase of life.
It’s our job to meet each client where they are, and address their needs, so how we support each client in any moment is different. As counselors, we are ethically committed to our clients’ ability to make judgments and decisions of their own free will, without imposing our beliefs or values. As we do that, and explore the impacts and reactions of each person, we are noticing an interesting trend in how many of us are relating to our devices.
So many people are responding to feelings of overwhelm by restricting use of social media and 24/7 news. It’s so easy to click on the link and get a snapshot of things happening in the world. When we’re sitting in a hyper-aroused state of alert, that access can become a way of retriggering difficult emotions and triggering doom spirals and related, unhealthy patterns.
As a member of an older generation, when I was a child, we got a newspaper in the morning, and there was evening news and coverage for special events. We simply didn’t have access to news all the time. I personally enjoy the benefit of this tiny device which allows me to do so many things, like track the roaming of my cat in real time, relax with a word game, or check the news. I also recognize the danger of getting pulled into addictive behaviors. I think back on the times of newsprint on our fingers with a feeling of loss for a world where it was easier to not be continuously tapped into messages and news and updates.
The election has been difficult for many people. I am also encouraged by how many people I see responding in thoughtful and creative ways, resetting their relationship to their devices in order to protect themselves from feeling overwhelmed.
It is my hope that this will carry forward, and not just be something we use in times of overwhelm, but realizing that while our devices are invaluable (Google Maps, I am talking about you), that we also miss out on so much when we never allow ourselves to get lost.