Traversing the Political Landscape

It seems on the daily we are overwhelmed with the political changes and new orders announced from the administration. At record numbers, the information appears to come from so many different aspects affecting the American way of life. How do we maintain awareness? When do we need to react? When do we need to be proactive? How does self-care enter our picture on these days?

Guiding with EMDR Therapy

EMDR therapy guides us to a practical approach of Perception (Zooming In) or Perspective (Zooming Out). EMDR clinicians Baylon and Melo (2025) explained that gaining perception acknowledges how you may question, “how is this going to affect me?” Rather than avoiding these conversations, EMDR therapy invites these challenges as rich content to process and gain understanding.

Next, EMDR therapy can help you see the bigger picture to gain perspective (Zooming Out). Imagine yourself as a bird on a wire, looking down at everything below. By shifting our perspective, we can widen our view to consider our community. What is the bigger story? What may be examples from our shared history that point to our resilience?

Practicing Zooming In and Zooming Out

Since the greatest predictor of success in therapy is the relationship, both you and your therapist can acknowledge how these events are complex (Egan, 2014). Any concerns are welcomed so you can begin to understand its impacts and potential for EMDR reprocessing.

Keep in mind, for every negative experienced, it takes five positives to overcome this imbalance. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, that’s when it’s time to refill the cup.

Practicing art therapy coping strategies can be self-soothing and supportive when guided with an art therapist. The act of doing helps you find your own ways to calm yourself. Artmaking helps to magnify positive feelings and thoughts within a safe, held therapy space. Art therapy embraces perspective-taking allowing you to zoom in or zoom out with images on paper and find new ways to broaden your view (Hinz, 2009).

After calming the nervous system, you may have more openness and lightness. From this grounded place, you can begin to look at the feelings and thoughts that are impacting you from a fresh perspective. EMDR protocols may help you process your goals at this time to help you tap into your own resilience for insight and healing.

Grappling while Calming

By calming and opening our mind with EMDR and art therapy, we can begin to clearly see the possibilities and challenges in a new light. We can grapple with systemic problems and simultaneously acknowledge the presence of new opportunities. By growing our perception and perspective, you can reconnect to your own resilience in these challenging times.

Ready to gain a new perspective? Let’s make a fresh start together to create your calm and healing. Feel free to reach out for a free consult.

You can also learn more about the work I do on the Meet Andrea page.

Looking forward to sharing a birds-eye view with you,

Andrea Sutrick, ATR-BC, LMHC

Resources

Baylon, L. & Melo, V. U. (2025, January 25). [Blog]. Navigating political changes and complex situations in EMDR therapy. Emdria.org blog. Retrieved from https://www.emdria.org/blog/navigating-political-changes-and-complex-situations-in-emdr-therapy/

Egan, G. (2014). The skilled helper. (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Hinz, L. D. (2009). Expressive therapies continuum: A framework for using art in therapy. New York: Routledge.