House Democrats attended a retreat last week where psychologists counseled them on how to cope with the new administration of Donald Trump.
House Judiciary ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) brought in what he called “social psychologists” to advise the Democrats about how to deal with “authoritarian styles of speech during the Trump era,” Punchbowl News reports.
The psychologists reportedly specialize in issues like “emotion regulation”:
“During a retreat last week for Judiciary Democrats, Raskin — the new ranking member of the key panel — hosted Jim Coan, a University of Virginia professor of psychology, and Hal Movius, a consultant who specializes in ‘negotiation,’ ‘influence,’ ‘emotion regulation,’ ‘leadership’ and ‘organizational development.’”
One piece of advice the psychologists gave the Democrats was to avoid falling back into their old habit of mud-slinging, Punchbowl notes:
“The purpose of the session, according to multiple attendees, was to counsel Democrats about how to approach conflict and effectively combat what Raskin described as “authoritarian styles of speech.” Another attendee said Judiciary Democrats were also advised to avoid devolving into partisan mud-slinging — a more common hallmark of the House Oversight Committee, which Raskin previously led as the top Democrat.”