Dr. Hayat Nadar, a Syrian licensed clinical psychologist based in Uptown, warns his patients: “Don't go to the hardware store to buy milk.”
This is her response to changes in the way patients seek care after the war in Gaza. The people who come to her are people who support Chicago's marginalized communities and the Palestinians living in the area, and they find someone who understands from personal experience what they're going through. she said.
That way, “they don't have to explain their whole experience and don't have to face resistance about what reality is for them,” she said.
As an endless war rages on, mental health workers in Chicago are now faced with questions about how best to treat patients affected by violence. Some in the field believe that neutrality in conflict is harmful to patients, and argue that the experience of health care providers is used in treatment. Some argue that abandoning an empathetic yet unbiased approach to care is contrary to the way we work.
“People want to know that you're a safe place,” says Anna Finkelstein, a licensed Jewish clinical social worker who lives in Skokie. “Being a therapist is about being inclusive and helping marginalized people.”
But under the new thinking, “it's like having to choose a side. It goes against everything we've been taught.”
Finkelstein was trained to practice therapeutic neutrality. This is a concept that tells you to remove yourself from the session in order to better help your client. If the perspective is too deep, the provider can give referrals to others. But she has felt pressure in recent months to clarify her views on the war.
She has also seen this change impact her professionally. In March, her name appeared on a list of “Zionist therapists” posted in a local Facebook group. The post says health care providers should not refer patients to anyone on the list. She said she has never spoken publicly about her opinions on Israel to avoid letting them interfere with her activities. She believes she was chosen because of her “Jewish-sounding name.” Eventually, she noticed that more customers saw her on the list.
Shaina Campbell, a Jewish licensed clinical professional counselor who practices in Finkelstein, says, “Regardless of whether our views differ from our clients', we respond to their needs and are curious and open to their perspectives.'' Showing compassion should be important.”
Dr. Vail Wright, board certified physician and senior director of medical innovation for the American Psychological Association, said that as mainstream medicine moves away from the psychoanalytic model, where neutrality is the norm, more health care providers are using “self-disclosure.” He said it is now available. ”
For practitioners struggling to find a balance, Dr. Wright suggested consulting colleagues for advice, but said healthcare professionals should consider how best to treat patients on a case-by-case basis. He said there is.
“There's so much going on in the world right now that it might be helpful to acknowledge that and say, 'I feel that way, too,'” said Wright, who lives in Villa Park. “The hard part is keeping therapists from talking about themselves.”
Some recent studies have been critical of training that ignores the effects of global conflicts.
Researchers Zvika Orr and Mark Fleming argue that “health care professionals need to counter the depoliticizing effects of medical neutrality with the aim of strengthening peace, health equity, and social justice.'' “They should be trained in their structural competencies,” said a 2022 study published in the journal Global Public Health. .
Nadar said remaining neutral could shift the blame for mental health problems caused by structural bias onto patients.
“If I don't acknowledge that there are systems in place that are causing these feelings, then I'm telling my clients they're sick,” she says.
Nadia Greenspan, an Evanston-based psychotherapist who has spent summers working in trauma zones such as Rwanda, Serbia and Ukraine, and has also worked with patients in Gaza, said privilege influences health care providers. He said that there is a possibility that the problems faced by patients could come to be viewed as “politics,'' and that medical professionals must respond to this problem. neutral.
“People of color, straight people, non-neurotypical people don't often talk about their lives and call it 'politics,'” Greenspan said.
But Finkelstein and Campbell said the pressure to make their views known has led them and other Jews to retreat into their communities.
“Until this year, I had never felt targeted or marginalized as a Jew,” Finkelstein said.
