> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://gliszen.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # When Counterterrorism Policy Targets Ethical Care: Why the 2026 Strategy Matters for Every Helping Professional - URL: https://gliszen.ghost.io/when-counterterrorism-policy-targets/ - Published: 2026-05-11T12:50:56.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-24T21:19:22.000Z - Author: Rachelle P. Goldenberg, LCSW - Tags: Newsletter, Substack-Moved, #Migrated-1784927624346, #Import 2026-07-24 21:18 When language designed for counterterrorism begins to overlap with the work of helping professionals, it deserves careful, grounded attention. On May 6, 2026, the administration released the *United States Counterterrorism Strategy 2026*, a 16-page policy document. It identifies three primary terrorism threats: 1. Narcoterrorists and cartels 2. Legacy Islamist groups 3. “Violent left-wing extremists,” defined in part by ideology that is “radically pro-transgender” The strategy pledges to map these groups, identify their membership, and “cripple them operationally.” As a therapist and clinical social worker specializing in neurodiversity, I want to be unequivocal: **affirming transgender clients is not a political ideology. It is evidence-based, ethically required clinical care.** And for a significant portion of the clients I serve, that care sits at the direct intersection of gender identity and neurological identity. **The Data Is Not Subtle** Research consistently shows that autistic people are significantly more likely to identify as transgender or gender diverse than the general population. A 2020 study published in the *Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders* found gender diversity to be three to six times more prevalent among autistic individuals. More recent studies place that number higher still. The overlap is not coincidental or ideological. Many researchers believe it reflects a core neurological trait — a reduced drive to conform to social constructs that were never examined, simply inherited. This matters here because a policy targeting “pro-transgender ideology” does not exist in a separate lane from neurodivergent care. For many autistic clients, gender identity and neurological identity are not two separate issues. They are the same person. A clinician who affirms one is, by clinical and ethical necessity, affirming both. That is not a fringe position. It is where the research points. Non-affirming care for this population is not neutral. The evidence is clear that it produces measurably worse outcomes — significantly elevated rates of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and trauma responses, particularly among autistic individuals who are already navigating systems and environments that were not built for how their minds work. Affirming care is not a preference. It is the standard of care for one of the most underserved and vulnerable populations in clinical practice. **What Our Professional Codes Actually Require** The NASW Code of Ethics requires social workers to respect the inherent dignity and worth of every person and to actively challenge social injustice. These obligations are not optional. They are not contingent on political climate. Similar mandates govern psychology, counseling, education, and healthcare across the board. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2f/0c/2f0c8843-4e19-4a64-82b3-1d14728eb05b/content/images/2026/07/e2098651-a362-433e-ad4f-79b4def49125_1080x1920-jpeg-1.jpg) The concern is this: this counterterrorism framework does not distinguish between violent actors and licensed professionals whose ethical codes require them to affirm the humanity of transgender and gender-diverse clients — including autistic clients for whom that affirmation is grounded in neuroscience, not politics. By placing an ideology — rather than violent conduct — alongside cartels and jihadist organizations, the strategy applies a national security lens to a value system that is foundational to the helping professions. This is compounded by recent public rhetoric using language about “hunting” individuals associated with “radically pro-transgender” ideology. Regardless of political affiliation, that kind of language directed at any group — and particularly toward clinicians fulfilling ethical obligations to vulnerable populations — raises legitimate questions about safety, professional autonomy, and the chilling effect on care. **What This Means in Practice** If your professional code requires you to serve all people with dignity, this strategy places your ethical commitments inside a counterterrorism paradigm. Not your actions. Your orientation toward care. For clinicians working at the intersection of autism and gender identity, this is not an abstract political concern. The clients most affected by this policy framing are the same clients most likely to be in your office — autistic, gender-diverse, already carrying the weight of being misunderstood by nearly every system they have encountered. They do not need their therapist to go quiet. I encourage colleagues to read the document directly — not summaries, not commentary. The actual 16 pages. Consider what it means when a government policy document frames an ethical obligation to affirm human dignity as adjacent to terrorism. Silence is not neutral. It risks normalizing a distortion of our work, our professional ethics, and the science that informs both. This is not about partisanship. It is about safeguarding the integrity of every helping profession whose mission is human wellbeing, safety, and dignity — for every person we serve, including the ones this policy was written to make us afraid to help. The “We Will Find You and We Will Kill You” language originates directly from the signed strategy document itself — not just a separate Truth Social post. It was prominently amplified by White House Counterterrorism Director Sebastian Gorka on X/Twitter on May 7, 2026\. That is the most verifiable and directly sourced reference. --- *P.S. Read the documents yourself. Do not rely on summaries or commentary — including mine.* *📄* [*2026 U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy — Official White House Document*](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-USCT-Strategy-1.pdf?ref=gliszen.ghost.io) *🐦 “We Will Find You and We Will Kill You” — Sebastian Gorka, White House Counterterrorism Director, amplifying the strategy on X, May 7, 2026* *The threat language is not a tweet. It is the signed foreword of an official federal policy document. That distinction matters.*