About This Training
Clinical work doesn’t happen outside of politics — and neither do therapists.
In this 3-hour live Zoom training, Dr. Zain Shamoon offers grounded guidance on how to practice ethically and sustainably in the current political climate. This training brings depth, nuance, and credibility to these questions—offering clinicians a way to remain engaged without becoming overwhelmed, reactive, or professionally exposed.
Therapy in the Crosshairs is a 3-hour live, remote training grounded in reflexive praxis and the core tenets of Lovewell education. The training draws on Dr. Shamoon’s work at the intersection of systemic therapy, social context, and Person of the Therapist (POTT), centering how power, positionality, and professional role shape clinical and civic decision-making during times of political threat and social upheaval.
Designed for mental health clinicians navigating heightened polarization, state violence, and moral distress, the training integrates two interconnected domains of practice:
- Clinical work with clients impacted by political stress, value conflict, and fear, and
- Therapist engagement in activism and community life, with careful attention to boundaries, safety, and institutional risk.
 Rather than framing therapists as neutral observers or ideological actors, the training emphasizes ethical responsibility, reflexive accountability, and harm reduction. Participants are supported in developing discernment around when to engage, when to contain, and how to act with integrity—both inside the therapy room and beyond it—while protecting clients, clinicians, and workplaces from unintended harm.
register now!What We’ll Explore
Reflexive Praxis Under Pressure
- Political context as a shared clinical and professional environment
- Moral distress, countertransference, and therapist activation
- Reflexive praxis as a tool for accountability, not neutrality
- Three Arenas of Practice: Clinical, Professional, Civic
Clinical Application in the Therapy Room
- When to engage, contain, redirect, or pause political material in session
- Working with value conflict (e.g., clients who support ICE enforcement or political positions that may conflict with the therapist’s values) without debate, collusion, or avoidance
- Case vignettes emphasizing person of the therapist intersections, power, and role clarity
Activism, Community Engagement, and Professional Boundaries
- Activism as meaning-making vs over-functioning
- Visibility, documentation, and workplace impact
- Supporting client civic engagement without role confusion or increased risk
- Applying reflexive decision-making tools beyond the therapy room
This training may be especially helpful if you are asking questions like:
- How do I show up for my clients when I’m struggling myself?
- When does political content belong in therapy—and when doesn’t it?
- How can I engage in activism without putting my license, clients, or workplace at risk?
- How do I work ethically with clients whose values deeply conflict with mine?
What You'll Walk Away With
Who This Training Is For
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Registration & Pricing
This virtual training is open to mental health professionals across the United States.
Equity Pricing:
A limited number of equity-based or hardship-rate seats are available.
Email us at [email protected] to request one — no documentation needed.
About the Trainer
MEET
Dr. Zain Shamoon, PhD, LMFT
(he/him)
Dr. Zain Shamoon is a licensed therapist, educator, and consultant whose work sits at the intersection of systemic therapy, anti-oppressive practice, and clinician self-of-the-therapist. He brings extensive experience teaching and training mental health professionals on issues of power, identity, ethics, and professional responsibility, particularly in contexts of social and political upheaval. He has served in academic, clinical, and training roles supporting mental health professionals across the country.
Dr. Shamoon holds a doctoral degree in a mental health–related field and has served in academic and clinical training roles supporting therapists, supervisors, and organizations. His work emphasizes reflexive praxis—the ongoing examination of how clinicians’ social location, values, emotional responses, and institutional contexts shape clinical and civic decision-making.
As a trainer, Dr. Shamoon is known for his grounded, relational approach and his ability to translate complex systemic and ethical concepts into practical, clinically relevant guidance. His teaching prioritizes role clarity, harm reduction, and professional accountability, while making space for therapist humanity, moral distress, and sustainability.
Dr. Shamoon’s professional focus aligns closely with Lovewell’s educational commitments to health equity, power-conscious pedagogy, and anti-oppressive practice. His trainings are dialogical, case-based, and deeply applied—supporting clinicians in navigating real-world dilemmas with integrity both inside the therapy room and in the broader community.
