Therapy Without Bias: Serving Politically Underserved Clients with Dr. Andrew Hartz | Private Practice | Political Stress

In this episode I had a powerful conversation with Dr. Andrew Hartz, a clinical psychologist and founder of the Open Therapy Institute. We explored how politics, values, and therapy are increasingly showing up together in the therapy room and why that matters for both clients and clinicians. What's New with Berries: Berries now lets you generate a complete, personalized treatment plan in seconds - built from your diagnoses, session notes, and clinical preferences, using customizable templates that match your voice and style. Its powerful "golden thread" ensures your treatment plan and notes stay clinically aligned, continuously informing each other as care evolves. With the new Magic Update feature, your plan updates effortlessly without the need to rewrite from scratch. The result? A streamlined workflow where every session builds on the last, and documentation becomes part of your clinical process - not just another admin task.  Use code TherapyShow50 for $50 off your first month - CLICK HERE.  Key takeaways: Therapist bias is a real and growing concern. Many clients feel alienated due to perceived political or ideological leanings of their therapists, often unintentionally communicated through things like pronoun usage or assumptions about worldview. Most therapists lean left politically, which can lead to clients self-censoring, feeling misunderstood, or avoiding therapy altogether. The Open Therapy Institute (OTI) was created to support therapists who want to offer politically neutral, values-attuned therapy and serve populations that feel underserved, especially those with conservative or centrist views. Therapists can grow their practice by learning to work effectively with clients from across the political spectrum. There is high demand and low supply of therapists trained to do this well. We discussed the importance of dialectical thinking. This means helping clients (and ourselves) hold multiple perspectives and tolerate ambiguity, especially around politics, religion, and identity. If you're a therapist who wants to grow in this area or reach more clients who feel left out by traditional therapy, check out Open Therapy Institute, https://opentherapyinstitute.org. Browse all my NBCC approved Podcourses - just $5 each. Get one CE contact hour. Build your first CE course (free) Get my Coping with Political Stress Ebook and Peaceful Politics AI Guide  Therapist Conversation Framework: Politics in Session A printable PDF with 97 questions to navigate political talk in therapy - without taking sides. Solution-Focused Therapy Guide72 questions + prompts to help adult clients clarify goals and move forward using SFT. Check out all my Counselor Resources.