My Journey as a Citizen Therapist

Abstract

My story begins with the idealism of humanistic and family systems therapies of the 1970s, followed by disillusionment with making a difference in the larger world, and then the discovery of citizen therapist work. I describe my initial forays into direct community action and then two current projects on major social problems: police relationships with the African American community and political polarization in the Trump era. A key breakthrough along the way was coming to see my role as a citizen professional in a democracy—acting with community members rather than just for them.