Navigating Political Stress
Friday, May 15th from 10am to 4:15pm
6 CEs
Presented by Drs. Brett Ford and Kevin Smith
Workshop Description:
Politics has become an inescapable feature of modern life—and for many people, a chronic source of psychological stress. This continuing education workshop integrates research from psychology, political science, and clinical practice to help psychologists understand how political stress affects well-being and what can be done about it. We review evidence showing that political stress is a distinct and enduring stressor with meaningful mental health consequences, as well as substantial individual differences in vulnerability. The course then examines how people commonly regulate their political emotions, highlighting both the short-term relief and longer-term trade-offs of disengagement strategies such as avoidance and distraction. Moving beyond these trade-offs, we discuss emerging, more promising approaches that foster engagement rather than withdrawal—including emotional acceptance, mindfulness, agency, positive emotion, and social connection—and review early empirical evidence for their benefits. Finally, the workshop creates space for collective reflection on how politics shows up in clinical work, how therapists can care for their own well-being, and how to navigate ideological differences while remaining grounded, ethical, and client-centered in an increasingly polarized world.
Objectives:
1. Describe the unique features of political stress and differentiate it from other forms of stress, including its chronic, identity-relevant, and relational dimensions.
2. Summarize the empirical evidence linking political processes to psychological well-being, including why political stress represents a chronic and measurable public health concern.
3. Assess individual differences in vulnerability to political stress, including traits, emotion beliefs, and perceptions of agency.
4. Identify different emotion regulation strategies used in response to political stress and describe the theoretical framework guiding these distinctions.
5. Evaluate the trade-offs of common emotion regulation strategies used in response to political stress, considering both their immediate benefits and potential long-term impacts on civic engagement and psychological well-being.
6. Identify effective approaches to fostering emotional resilience in politically charged times.
7. Compile and compare ethical and culturally responsive strategies for navigating political topics in therapy through peer discussion, including considerations of therapist identity, boundaries, and supporting clients across ideological differences.
About the Presenters:
The workshop is co-led by Dr. Brett Ford and Dr. Kevin Smith. Dr. Brett Ford is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and director of the Affective Science & Health Lab. Her research explores how people navigate emotional life—what they believe about emotions, how they manage them, and the trade-offs of striving to feel good—particularly in the face of personal and societal stressors. She earned her Ph.D. in social-personality psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Smith is a professor of political science at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, whose work explores the biology and psychology of individual-level differences in political attitudes and behavior. His research investigates where political beliefs come from, why they are resistant to change, and how they drive action—alongside a longstanding interest in public policy and state politics. Dr. Smith received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
