Therapist Ethics & Systemic Harm: Why Neutrality Is Not Possible
Written by Maggie Dickens, LPC-S | Online Anxiety Therapy for High-Achieving Women in Texas and Florida | catharticcounseling.com | Approximately a 6 minute read
As we navigate January 2026, we cannot ignore the clinical reality of therapist ethics and systemic harm as it relates to the ICE “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis or the Heritage Foundation’s “Saving America by Saving the Family“ report, which seeks to dismantle diverse family structures.
I have always said on my social platforms: I am a human first before I am a therapist. I am not a blank slate that isn’t seeing or being affected by what is going on in this messed-up world. I recently shared a deeper clinical defense of this stance on Instagram, and the response from our community confirmed how vital this conversation is for our collective safety. You can join that specific conversation and see the original post here.
For the “Responsible Child” who had to grow up too fast and remained the “mature one”, a therapist who ignores these systemic harms isn’t being “neutral,” they are inadvertently repeating the gaslighting of your childhood.
Therapist Ethics and Systemic Harm: Beneficence and Primary Responsibility
The bedrock of therapy ethics as defined by the ACA Code of Ethics rests on two major pillars:
- Beneficence: The commitment to maximize benefits to the client.
- Non-maleficence: The active, professional obligation to avoid and prevent harm.
Our Primary Responsibility is the understanding that the welfare of the client is the highest priority. I argue that supporting systems designed to marginalize (whether through aggressive ICE enforcement or rigid, exclusionary family policies) directly contradicts the duty to protect client welfare. You cannot “Do No Harm” while supporting the active removal of your client’s basic human rights.
Therapist Ethics and Systemic Harm: Why Your Lens Matters for Your Nervous System
For women I’ve worked with like Casandra, a 36yo childfree by choice woman born and raised in Texas, who learned early that “staying calm kept the peace,” childhood was often a series of their reality being denied.
When a therapist says, “Let’s not focus on the news; just breathe,” they are mirroring the emotionally unavailable parents who told you that your valid feelings were “dramatic” or “too much”. This is systemic gaslighting. Systemic threats are not “just politics,” they are clinical stressors that keep your nervous system in a “tired but wired” state of hyper-vigilance.
Institutional bodies are also recognizing this clinical reality. In a recent statement, the American Psychiatric Association acknowledged the significant mental health impact of public unrest and social upheaval, affirming that sustained peace and stability are fundamental to well-being.”
MAGA vs. Conservative: Does My Therapist’s Political Alignment Matter?
I am often asked about the “MAGA therapist” paradox. To answer this, we have to look at therapist ethics and systemic harm through a lens of human rights rather than just political parties.
The Distinction Between Conservatism and MAGA Nationalism
There is a significant clinical difference between a client or therapist who identifies as moderate or conservative and those who align with the MAGA movement of 2026. Many who lean conservative are actively rejecting the current administration’s Operation Metro Surge and the Heritage Foundation’s rigid family policy recommendations because they still believe in the bedrock of civil liberties.
However, the MAGA platform has moved into a space that outwardly celebrates white nationalism and actively fights against diversity and rights for all—including LGBTQ+ safety, religious freedom, family planning, and bodily autonomy.
The Ethical Line of “Whole Personhood”
A progressive or moderate conservative therapist can ethically work with almost anyone. Why? Because our therapeutic lens views every person as a whole human deserving of safety, autonomy, and rights—even if that person votes for systems that would technically remove ours. We don’t believe our rights are the only ones that matter.
A MAGA-identified therapist, however, faces a fundamental ethical conflict. The ACA Code of Ethics mandates that we honor diversity and promote social justice. It is clinically impossible to follow the “Do No Harm” mandate while simultaneously celebrating the removal of a client’s bodily autonomy or the dismantling of their family structure.
Resources for Systemic Advocacy and Healing
- Feminist Therapy: Healing Beyond the Patriarchal Lens
- The Responsible Child Archetype: Why You Feel You Have to Do It All
- People-Pleasing Recovery: Trading Compliance for Confidence
A: You have the right to ask. Look for a “Statement of Support” or an “Ethics Statement” on their website. If they claim to be a “blank slate” or refuse to acknowledge how current events, like the 2026 ICE surges, affect your nervous system, that is a data point. A safe therapist should be able to articulate how they uphold the ACA Code of Ethics regarding diversity and social justice without gaslighting your reality.
A: It matters when “politics” cross into human rights. While therapists don’t need to be your political twin, they must align with the ethical mandate of Non-maleficence (doing no harm). If a therapist supports the dismantling of bodily autonomy or LGBTQ+ rights, their “lens” may prevent them from seeing you as a whole, deserving human, which fundamentally breaks the therapeutic alliance.
A: In most states, including Texas and Florida, therapists are bound by confidentiality laws (HIPAA) and ethical codes that prohibit reporting a client’s immigration status. Reporting a client to ICE would be a catastrophic violation of the “Primary Responsibility” to client welfare and the mandate to “Do No Harm”. However, in the 2026 climate, it is vital to work with an advocacy-based therapist who explicitly states they will not cooperate with systemic harm.
A: Clinical ethics are clear: your medical history is confidential. Unless there is an immediate threat of harm to a “born” person (the standard for “duty to warn”), having or seeking an abortion does not meet the legal or ethical criteria for breaking confidentiality. An ethics-based therapist views reproductive care as a human right and will protect your privacy as a matter of professional life and death.
A: Neutrality in the face of systemic violence, like the Operation Metro Surge, is a form of gaslighting. For the “Responsible Child,” being told to “ignore the news” mirrors the childhood trauma of having their feelings dismissed. True healing requires a therapist who acknowledges that the world is on fire and helps you regulate your nervous system without denying the flames.
