Today the NY Times published an interview with a woman named Dea Bridge who advertises herself as a conservative therapist in Colorado. The first half of the podcast falls into what I would call the “Gorillas in the Mist” style of interview. Host Meghan Daum is asking questions about the boundaries of conservative therapy which seem to assume the worst about Bridge. For instance, this question about marital therapy.

Daum: So let’s take an example: If a couple comes in for marriage counseling — to a therapist like you, someone who takes a conservative or Christian approach — would you say that the goal, ideally, would be to keep this couple together? And might this be different from how another therapist might approach this same couple?

Bridge: That’s kind of a loaded question. I don’t do marriage counseling because I don’t want to be in that position. I have done some couples work, but in fact, the one couple that really sticks out in my mind divorced. I met with them individually, and after meeting with the wife, her vision of the marriage was so oppressive to her — it was making her ill. And we talked about her willingness to be in the relationship. So I would never be the one to say you have to make it work at all costs because this is what God wants. That’s not my job.

Then there’s a question about trans kids which again seems like she’s suspicious Bridge might have problematic opinions.

Daum: Hypothetically, if clients did come to you and they were transgender or if they were coming to you because their child was identifying as transgender, would you say, “I’m going to refer you to somebody else?” Or do you think you would try to work with them?

Bridge: I think it would be in their best interest for me to refer them to someone else from the get-go, because if I give it a go for my own curiosity and it fails miserably, then I haven’t done the client justice. They need to get to somebody who is going to give them the best chance of success.

Asked for her opinions about the mental health crisis among young people, Bridge replied, “Kids spend way too much time on social media and not enough time in relationships. Not enough time outside. Not enough time eating good, healthy food.” Daum admits it “sounds pretty logical to me” but it’s clear that the two of them inhabit very different worlds. Eventually we get to the question I just knew was coming.

Daum: Do you think that Donald Trump made everybody go crazy?

Bridge: What do you mean by “made everybody go crazy”?

Daum: In my world, I know a lot of people who were so distressed about the election of Trump that they had to go on anxiety medication. They couldn’t sleep. It dominated their lives, their goals, their thoughts, their relationships, their conversations for four years and even to this day.

Bridge: That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Why would you let one person in the world control your life? Are you that weak?

Asked for her best advice about what people can do to improve their mental health, Bridge replied, “Fix your diet; examine how you’re spending your free time and who you’re spending it with; just take responsibility for your choices and stop blaming other people for your feelings.” All of that strikes me as good advice but also not advice a certain type of very online progressive is likely to take. You can see that in the reactions to the interview, nearly all of which are critical.

It is striking that at several points the interviewer asks for examples of how conservative patients are allegedly being oppressed (or at least poorly treated) by putatively too-liberal therapists. Yet no concrete examples are offered. This seems to be yet another gripe about “victimization” with no actual victim.

A lot of people were upset that she called people “week” for being upset about Trump.

For me, the “tell” that this therapist is wholly unqualified is when she imagines that a client who was distressed about the election of Trump is “weak”, and questions why anyone would allow one person to control their lives.

The election of Trump, and the resulting constant media frenzy around this chaos agent, revealed people’s values. It caused many rifts in relationships, both with family and friends. It upended marriages. It disrupted what many were comfortable speaking about if they were in mixed ideological company for fear of being attacked. It revealed ignorance and lack of critical thinking from those we expected more from. It revealed those who put money before decency. It caused terror, ultimately born out, that he would appoint justices that would take away women’s rights.

So to not understand why one person is disrupting people’s lives shows an utter lack of curiosity; calling them weak reveals her contempt.

It just keeps going like that. Lots of snobbery suggesting she’s not a real therapist or at least not a good one even as other people argue what she’s saying about resilience would fit perfectly with the sort of thing any competent liberal therapist would say.

This isn’t my field so I’ll reserve judgment on her professional qualifications but I do recognize a certain kind of awkward progressive discomfort when I see it. There’s lots of that in the interview and in the comments.