By:Emma Grady-Pawl, LMSW

Do you ever find yourself up late at night, your phone lighting up the dark as you scroll through
distressing headlines and social media reactions? You’re not alone. We’re living in a time of
political uncertainty and upheaval, and we’re also more plugged in and aware than ever before.

Constant exposure to violence, suppression, and injustice—especially toward marginalized
groups—can take a toll on our emotional well-being. Many of us feel caught in a painful
tension: staying informed can increase anxiety and despair, while stepping back can bring guilt.
It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of systems that harm us or our loved ones, whether they
are immigrants, transgender, Black and Brown, or queer.

And as a therapist, I can’t tell you these fears are irrational. They’re not. Coping skills alone
can’t solve racism, capitalism, transphobia, or other systemic forces. But Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a way to hold our pain while still finding purpose,
movement, and hope.

ACT encourages us to clarify what matters to us most and to take action aligned with those
values, even in the face of distress. It doesn’t deny pain, but it helps us focus on what we can
influence: our choices, our relationships, and our acts of resistance and care.

In practice, ACT teaches us to handle difficult thoughts and emotions, so they have less power
over us, and to identify what we want to stand for and how we want to treat ourselves and
others. Taking values-based actions—whether building community, joining local efforts for
change, or setting boundaries around media use—helps us move toward a life that feels more
grounded and meaningful.

When we apply this lens to political anxiety, we begin to see what’s inside our control and what
isn’t. We can act where we can make change, and practice compassion where we can’t. As
Rebecca Solnit writes in Hope in the Dark, hope is “the belief that what we do matters even
though how and when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can know
beforehand.”

Notice what matters to you. Start small. You don’t have to have all the answers—you just have
to keep moving in the direction of your values.

Have hope, and practice Acceptance and Commitment.