TRIGGERS

 Deep breath! I am shaking and angry and I want to share why. As a therapist and as an educator, I know that I am to keep my personal feelings and thoughts mostly to myself, especially around my students and clients. Today I received a blog from a large entity that supports counselors and I was triggered by one of the points the blogger was making: Trump caused irreparable damage to our country and world....Some synonyms for irreparable are irreversible and irrevocable. Are you serious??? You can't change things a president does? You can't undo laws, mandates, etc? Who says they are wrong? Who says that the current administration isn't even worse? Or, better yet, what if the Trump administration was on to evil and was trying to combat it? No matter what side of the fence you are on and how righteous you feel about your beliefs, the solemn duty of educators and counselors is to go where the client/student is and teach them from an unbiased viewpoint. 

Conservatives, liberals, middle of the roaders - call if what you may. There is no absolute. There is NO black or white in knowledge and. I believe in the little gray matter in my head, as Poirot might say. These little gray cells help me maintain a balanced position in life. 

Once, while teaching at a middle school (of course, public school, as if it were private I may have replied differently), a student asked if I personally believed in abortion. This kid was 12-years old. The age of my sweet granddaughter now. I told this child and the class that SOME people believed in abortion and some did not. They were to go to their homes and speak with their parents and decide what they believed. I left it at that. We did not have a discussion about it, but if kids had asked more questions, I would continue to be the voice of reason and balance. Developmentally, they were not ready for more in-depth discussion. They demonstrated this by not even asking any more questions. I am fairly easy to talk with, so it wasn't that they were afraid. They simply were satisfied.

We learn as counselors to ask, "Why is that important to you? Why do you want to know?" That's a great question that deals with the issue at hand. Perhaps the student/client is unsure of what to believe. Perhaps they want to be informed, in which case I would calmly (if it was the appropriate moment/time) share what prolife folks commonly believe and what pro-choice people believe. I would not take either side. I would be TEACHING. What a concept, huh?

Working on my own countertransference about this matter, I chose to write this blog. I feel a bit better. I don't feel superior. I simply affirm what I believe and I pray and hope that every educator, counselor, coach, adult, etc., realizes that we cannot brainwash our students or clients. We must allow for critical thinking and free speech. God bless America!