The power dynamics in therapy can continue to enforce these existing oppressive imbalances and marginalise certain groups – something we might inadvertently overlook as therapists. Needless to say, therapy is never just about the person sitting in front of the therapist, but also very much about the implicit values and assumptions they both make about one another’s way of being in the world.

In this cutting-edge and therapeutically oriented two-evening workshop, Miriam Taylor will first explore the ways that powerpresents in the client’s life outside the therapy room – which can be in the form of an implicitly controlling partner, bullying supervisor, toxic friendship or parental power play. Daily microaggressions such as well-meaning straight friends/family bringing up the sexuality of a gay client, as though their sexual orientation is what identifies or defines them, can also be an ever-present oppressive marker in a client’s life. Recognising this can be the first step in the journey towards healing and empowering the client. We will then explore the structures that can mirror the experience of trauma for the client within the therapy room, such as:

• Maintaining power dynamics between therapist and client by positioning the therapist as the expert, with little room for feedback and informed consent
• Overemphasizing individual choice and self-responsibility without the acknowledgment of lack of choice/control in systemic oppressions
• Avoiding topics of race and how it plays into the traumatic experience
• Dismissing appropriate emotional responses to oppression such as rage

Following on from this discussion, we will then take a systems perspective to widen the frame of understanding and get underneath the dynamics that are often implicit and potent forces in therapy. As Judith Herman says: Trauma therapy must begin with understanding history. A look at intersectionality will add nuance and complexity to the frame when as therapists we live and work in multicultural societies. For example, if you are a well-educated, Caucasian, heterosexual female therapist providing therapy to a young Black/Hispanic/Asian disadvantaged person, how do you traverse the implicit biases of class, race and privilege coming into play?

In the second part of the workshop, we will look at practical examples of how these dynamics can be unconsciously re-enacted within the therapy. We will include the therapist’s own relationship to power and oppression in order to better engage with them as they inevitably emerge in the consulting room. Difficulties that can emerge in the therapy room may include:

• Clients perceiving that therapist is glossing over the differences of privilege, gender or race as if these are unimportant
• Clients finding assumptions about their class or background unhelpful or irrelevant, showing a lack of understanding of their cultural context

Implicit bias is presented as an opportunity for deepening our curiosity about differences. As therapists, it is imperative that we are aware of the importance of the power differential and lack of equality in the therapeutic relationship – and how we can equip ourselves to deal with these implicit imbalances sensitively and humanely.

Finally, we will develop some ways of reframing power as something that is supportive to both therapist and client. Here we will examine the distinguishing characteristics between power over and power with. Power Over is dominant and oppressive while Power With is collaborative and enabling. We will also consider how these power paradigms function within mental health professions overall.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify aspects of parallel power operating in wider systems
• Analyse the psychological implications of oppression and distinguish between power over and power with
• List four different classes of trauma and how they intersect
• Explain the meaning of minority experience and our responses to difference
• Discuss our own relationship to power and how we use it
• Analyse our position as a therapist within systems that holds power

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