What it Means to “Process” Your Feelings About State Violence in 2026

It’s appropriate to feel horror, disgust, fear, and rage in the United States right now.

These feelings let us know that we are alive and protective of ourselves and others. They are also incredibly painful and distressing. How can we honor what we feel while also staying “sane” and continuing to meet our responsibilities?

Above all, imperfectly.

We are taking in news faster than we can process. Perfection has no role in any type of emotional processing, and it’s only more complicated when we are processing collective and personal traumas in real time without the promise of safety to return to.

I know that it doesn’t feel good or helpful to doomscroll, but it also doesn’t feel moral or possible to turn away and ignore reality. As a therapist, I offer a framework to name feelings, make good use of information, and translate feelings into grounded action.

What does it mean to “process”?

Processing feelings means turning raw emotional, psychological, and physiological experience into something known, understood, expressed, and accepted.

Processing does not mean denying, distracting, or minimizing. Sometimes when I hear the general public talking about “coping” with feelings I hear a description of denying one’s feelings. This isn’t really what coping means, but in a social context of memes and brief explanations, this complexity can easily be lost. Coping strategies are meant to reduce harm and reactivity while preserving contact with reality.

There are many times when feelings change through processing. This can be incredibly relieving and even liberating. But sometimes feelings don’t change; they just become more manageable.

What do I mean by “state violence”?

By “state violence,” I mean harms carried out or sanctioned by government institutions including policing, incarceration, militarized actions, and policies that produce systemic injury. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I recognize the direct impact of oppressive systems on mental health.

How can we process feelings about current events?

In the context of learning about current events today, I don’t believe we can expect our feelings to change. I believe it’s more useful to aim to understand what we are feeling and make use of what we feel.

Identify what you’re looking for

I don’t advocate for ignoring the news or social media. I do believe we can help ourselves be clear about what we are seeking when we scroll, read news, or talk to loved ones. Our minds do well with a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. If you can give your mind an objective, you are helping yourself know when you’ve seen enough for the time being. Your objective may be to get a basic summary of major events or to identify an action item.

Below are example questions you may ask yourself about a given news story to make a decision about whether or not you have enough information to step away from the story for the time being:

1.) Can I summarize the basic details of what happened?

2.) Do I have an idea of 2-4 opinions others have about this event? What do I think about their views?

3.) Is there anything that I need to immediately change or do based on this news?

4.) What do I not yet understand and might need help understanding?

And lastly,

5.) How does this news make me feel?

Identify what you feel

How many times are we hearing vague references to “everything that’s happening” and that “the world is on fire.” It might feel good to know that others are thinking about national events, too. When you’re with people you trust and feel safe with, I encourage you to be more specific. These are also questions you can explore alone, in writing, or in therapy.

What are you feeling?

What are you afraid of?

What is hurting you to hear about?

Do you feel empathy, fear, disgust, terror? Guilt?

The more we can know what we’re feeling and express what we feel with words, the more intense it will feel in the moment. It might momentarily feel better to be vague, but the consistent vague references to feelings keep us in a constant state of stress without an opportunity for relief. I appreciate how scary it is to be overwhelmed with feeling, but I do believe in the power of continuing to try to find the words. For example: “I feel rage at the footage of X, fear about Y happening locally, grief for Z families, and guilt about my limited capacity today.”

Let it be personal

We don’t all feel the same way. There may be overlap in collective consciousness, but there are also differences. We each have not only our own social identities, but also our own personal histories relating to power, abuse, injustice and violence. This is both social and personal. Know your mind and where the news lands for you.  

Continue your care for additional mental health issues

Collective crisis moments can intensify existing trauma and mental health challenges: heightened hypervigilance, sleep disruption, intrusive memories, dissociation, depressive spirals, or urges to numb.

You do not need to justify seeking professional help.

Additionally, I trust that the more free we are from our personal intra-psychic conflicts, the more capacity we have to take effective action for the collective. Said more simply, you will be more grounded and able to choose aligned actions.

Knowing and caring for your own mind expands your capacity, creativity, and power.

Look to leaders

When we feel helpless, we can be prone to fantasies of omnipotence. We might start to believe that because we don’t know it all or can’t do it all, we can’t do anything. It’s important to remember that none of us need to know how to do it all.

For example, I can help you process your feelings and put them to use, but others are going to be much stronger leaders in terms of identifying actions you can take. I am looking to organizations and individuals who are more knowledgeable and skilled than I am in this type of action. There’s not one leader or one person who has all the answers. We need to know ourselves, our feelings, our values, and also look to others who know more than us.

Last but not least

Finally, as you may have heard others say, celebrate  joy, community, and love.

In sum: name specific feelings, set boundaries with information, connect personal history to present reactions, act within your capacity alongside trusted leaders, and nourish joy and community.