Hamilton

By Andy Williams, LCSW

The release of Hamilton for home streaming was a highly anticipated event in our household this month.  For the past 4-5 years, Hamilton’s music has served as the soundtrack to both the exciting and the mundane moments in the life of our family-- accompanying us on long roadtrips (when those were still a thing pre-COVID), and providing a welcomed distraction to homework completion and household chores, every lyric committed to memory.   As my daughters grew older and their musical interests diversified, the soundtrack showed up less frequently in our playlist, but having never seen an original-cast performance of the show, we were excited for the opportunity, and the televised version did not disappoint!

While Hamilton traces the tragic arc of its namesake, it also provides a different way of experiencing the early years of our country, an era of cultural and geopolitical disruption marked by bitter political rivalries, severe social inequities, and intense and divisive visions for the future.  The obvious parallels to our own time in history are what made this story so compelling and worth telling when the musical first premiered, and those parallels seem all the more striking in the midst of our current events.  

I am neither film critic nor historian, but as a therapist I have found much in the retelling of our country’s early history and its connection to the current moment that resonates with the practice of therapy.  While therapy has as its aim the promotion of safety, security, and wellbeing, it is fundamentally a disruptive endeavor.  Regardless of the theoretical orientation or interventions that are employed, the person seeking and the person providing therapy are looking to create change of some kind, to disrupt patterns of thinking, feeling, acting, connecting, or just being in the world.  Similarly, it is difficult to realize meaningful change in the larger systems in which we are embedded (social, political, cultural, global) without disruptive forces or events occurring, sometimes serving as the catalyst for change, sometimes as the result of change, and sometimes both.  

Even when change is desired, whether it be in the creation of a new form of governance, the dismantling of unjust or oppressive systems, or the resolution of symptoms related to issues such as depression or anxiety, the process of changing is uncomfortable and often divisive.  While we may no longer challenge others to a duel to resolve such divisions, we can see conflicts occurring even within ourselves as we strive for new behaviors or new attitudes while simultaneously being pulled back toward more familiar ways of being.  For therapy to be effective, attention must be given to the change process itself, accepting the inherent contradictions and conflicting feelings that emerge along the way. 

Alexander Hamilton, the character and the historical figure, understood that while change was disruptive and difficult, so too was staying put.  Tragic as his story may be, it illuminates the idea that creation and disruption are two sides of the same coin, as true in therapy as it is in any other endeavor.  With a nod toward Lin-Manuel Miranda’s brilliant lyricism, in the midst of significant change or upheaval, we can look for moments of quiet to pause and catch our breath, but the work that must be done compels us to keep pushing forward.  It’s rarely easy, but if you’re interested I can recommend a good soundtrack to keep you company along the way.