Curt and Katie talk about why mass shootings happen. We look at the complexity of the research and how solely blaming mental illness, doesn’t reflect the research and is stigmatizing. We also talk about how to identify risks and what to do to try to prevent violence.
It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.
In this episode we talk about:
Looking at why Mass Shootings happen
Defining Mass Shooting
The harm that blaming mass shootings on mental illness can cause – stigma, lack of seeking mental health treatment
The limitations and complexity of the research
The dehumanization of others and the role that it can play in the violence
Attribution Model, low self-esteem, moving out to fringe groups, radicalization
Developmental factors including parenting, culture, gender, coercion, history of violence
The difficulty with learning from sound bites
The role of violent media, video games
The importance of differentiating correlation from causation
The most important factor: access to guns
“Aggrieved Entitlement” leading to seeking revenge in a violent way for a perceived or actual victimization
Multi-systemic solutions and what therapists can do to address the situation
Compassion, listening, and connection as a way to intervene prior to radicalization
Seeing from a different perspective than what is “acceptable” for you, to help to build alliance and open opportunities for challenging violent beliefs
Clarifying therapy versus threat assessment
Fighting Fascism in the world and in the therapy room
