Depiction of Psychotherapy and Therapists in Film

Therapulse.ai - The AI Scribe for Mental Health
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Fan_of_Meehl

Fan_of_Meehl

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
2,797
Reaction score
5,648
I'm interested in others' opinions and observations regarding the depictions of professional psychotherapists in film and TV. Overall, I think that it's been a pretty inaccurate portrayal in most shows and films but I'm interested in everyone's views regarding what they got wrong (and how) and what they got right (and how) in various films and shows.

To start off the discussion, I think that Robin Williams' character in Good Will Hunting probably did the best (though not perfect) job of representing some core values of a good therapist by being authentic, vulnerable, accepting, strong at the right times, and--most importantly--human and not 'full of sh--' and just trying to exploit or trying to impress the client. And he really seemed to believe in and have a passion for what he was doing.

I think that the depictions that glorify loose boundaries up to and including sexual involvements with clients are the worst (Prince of Tides)?
Members don't see this ad.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Awesome...I will check it out. I was (ironically) in grad school that entire time. Time to catch up 🙂
 
Most important tip for therapists from the Good Will Hunting flick, when they engage you in a pissing contest, tell them how much you bench (free weights), lol. My pain is greater than your pain, sport. 🙂
 
The worst I've seen is the therapist is The Departed. According to a pop up version I watched, someone who does her job in real life watched the movie and said that she did everything wrong.

Also, we watched Prince of Tides in our ethics class and wrote an essay on every ethical breach Dr. Lowenstein made. It was a lot!

Edit: Glee, of all shows, had a fairly good portrayal of therapy for OCD.
 
I was a fan of the showtime series "Huff", which I felt had a somewhat accurate portrayal of psychotherapy. Also a nice depiction of how a patient's suicide can affect a therapist. Starred Hank Azaria.
Won some awards.
 
cara susanna said:
The worst I've seen is the therapist is The Departed. According to a pop up version I watched, someone who does her job in real life watched the movie and said that she did everything wrong.

Also, we watched Prince of Tides in our ethics class and wrote an essay on every ethical breach Dr. Lowenstein made. It was a lot!

Edit: Glee, of all shows, had a fairly good portrayal of therapy for OCD.
Click to expand...
Isn't Lowenstein the basis for Marge Simpson's therapist for her flying phobia?

Also, if we're including reality TV, the OCD Project was a surprisingly wonderful portrayal of EXRP for OCD (and the psychologist was a very competent and attractive guy).
 
futureapppsy2 said:
Isn't Lowenstein the bias for Marge Simpson's therapist for her flying phobia?

Also, if we're including reality TV, the OCD Project was a surprisingly wonderful portrayal of EXRP for OCD (and the psychologist was a very competent and attractive guy).
Click to expand...
Yup! The Simpsons makes fun of that film a lot, actually.
 
cara susanna said:
Yup! The Simpsons makes fun of that film a lot, actually.
Click to expand...
Homer: Ever since you started therapy, all you can do is talk about
yourself. Well what about _me_, Marge?

Marge: I just left my first session and I haven't even opened my mouth
yet!

Homer: You see? You see? "_I_ just left _my_ first session and _I_
haven't opened _my_ mouth yet".
 
Members don't see this ad :)
futureapppsy2 said:
Homer: Ever since you started therapy, all you can do is talk about
yourself. Well what about _me_, Marge?

Marge: I just left my first session and I haven't even opened my mouth
yet!

Homer: You see? You see? "_I_ just left _my_ first session and _I_
haven't opened _my_ mouth yet".
Click to expand...
Homer actually (and unintentionly) uses flooding in that episode!
 
MamaPhD said:
I enjoyed the HBO series In Treatment and thought it was fairly realistic. Though there were plenty of boundary issues for dramatic flair.
Click to expand...

I will have to check it out, MamaPhD...and will have to keep my guard up, lol
 
did I ever impugn him?
or did he bring me arbitrary angels?
 
We actually watched a series of movie/TV clips and discussed/critiqued them for a few minutes in class once. The only one I remember that's not mentioned here is the child psychiatrist from Harriet the Spy, who we all agreed did a competent job.

MamaPhD said:
I enjoyed the HBO series In Treatment and thought it was fairly realistic. Though there were plenty of boundary issues for dramatic flair.
Click to expand...

They actually used to do a Q&A with psychiatrists and psychologists after each episode and ask their opinions on Paul's skills as a therapist and post it on the HBO website. Really interesting stuff.

I'm a big fan of Hannibal, which is incredibly over the top but actually works a lot of genuine neurological/psychological terminology into the show. One of the main characters suffers from encephalitis at one point, and there's a case involving a woman with Cotard's Syndrome. The actual therapy sessions depicted are typically fairly absurd, but that's kind of par for the course on a TV show about a cannibal psychiatrist.

And I will second PSYDR, Huff was great. I especially liked his interactions with the young patient with macular degeneration in the second season and Huff's relationship with his brother, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. It was a much more grounded and realistic portrayal than what you usually see in TV and film. It's also the only show I can think of where I saw actual EBTs being used.

I also remember liking Tell Me You Love Me on HBO, which had a pretty interesting psychotherapist character who specialized in MFT type work.
 
In an internship seminar we actually watched Good Will Hunting from the perspective of if we were supervising Robin Williams' character. Although there are some good things that took place, we pointed out the extreme levels of counter-transference. An issue with that which we pointed out is that the therapist never actually finds out what Will's goals for therapy are. Everyone imposes their goals on him, which actually includes his therapist doing so.

Although there were again the obvious boundary crossings, I thought that some of the therapy scenes in Silver Linings Playbook were pretty realistic.
 
I understand the reason for its inclusion (i.e., it's entertaining and fulfilling to see), but in general, I dislike how so many therapy depictions have the stereotypical "a-ha!" moment, usually spurred on by an insightful therapist making just the right observation/interpretation at just the right moment. I feel like it might give folks unrealistic expectations when it comes to true psychotherapy, and when no such "a-ha!" moment occurs, they lose hope or interest.

Then again, maybe I'm just not therapizing correctly.

Edit: And for some reason, I seem to remember a scene or two from Silence of the Lambs where Clarice hands Lecter a stack of psychological questionnaires for him to fill out. Looking at what I do now, I just think to myself, "yep, seems about right."
 
Eh, In Treatment was good for what it was, but I think that it also kind of played into the whole "psychodynamic/psychoanalytic therapy=all therapy" thing a bit. I get that CBT/DBT/ACT/etc are probably less fun to watch and less ripe for boundary issues drama, but still...

Re: Will's therapy goals in GWH... Wasn't he essentially a mandated client? Having worked with mandated clients, starting with their therapy goals outright is usually pretty pointless. Using MI to develop them gradually and subtly is often effective, though, IME.
 
I hate how therapists are always psychiatrists in movies/TV.
 
AcronymAllergy said:
I understand the reason for its inclusion (i.e., it's entertaining and fulfilling to see), but in general, I dislike how so many therapy depictions have the stereotypical "a-ha!" moment, usually spurred on by an insightful therapist making just the right observation/interpretation at just the right moment. I feel like it might give folks unrealistic expectations when it comes to true psychotherapy, and when no such "a-ha!" moment occurs, they lose hope or interest.
Click to expand...

Yes, I don't see this very often but I've encountered a few patients who seem to really want that "a-ha" moment and go as far as to contrive something like it in the session. It's kind of weird. You can try to educate people up front about what therapy is and isn't, but some hopes die hard...
 
cara susanna said:
I hate how therapists are always psychiatrists in movies/TV.
Click to expand...

I want to pitch HBO/SHO a dramedy about being a neuropsychologist in CHI/NYC/LA....it's be riveting!

scene 1

*zoom in on dr. on the phone w an insurance company*

*play tense music*

If HBO/SHO don't want it, there is always The WB, it'd just need to be Doogie Howser-esque.
 
I talk about the "aha moments" with some of my patients. I actually believe that it can be an important aspect of good psychotherapy and work towards engendering some of those in my patients. A common one is when the patient acknowledges that they have to do something about their drug or alcohol use. Another is when they connect thoughts to feelings the first time. I typically explain to patients that these are not sufficient to bring about lasting change and that these experiences tend to be the beginning of that change.

I also loved the therapy in Good Will Hunting and have dealt with the defiant types of teens in about the same way at times. Of course, i haven't actually seen it since conducting psychotherapy myself so if I was to watch it today, I might have a bit more critical perspective. i know that slamming a patient up against a file cabinet might be a bit over the top. 😛

On the other hand a few years back I had a member of a substance abuse treatment group who was challenging my ability to understand what his life was like. I leaned toward patient and said in a hard tone "You have no f'ing idea where I have been and what I have gone through in my life." Before I said that he was heading out of the program to go use and likely die and the whole room had been trying to convince him to stay. After I said that, he relaxed and became tearful and decided to stay. This has been my own personal favorite "Good Will Hunting Moment" 🙂
 
MamaPhD said:
Yes, I don't see this very often but I've encountered a few patients who seem to really want that "a-ha" moment and go as far as to contrive something like it in the session. It's kind of weird.
Click to expand...

I had a pt do this a few months back. He "miraculously" was healed at church the day before he had to report back to work or be terminated. Miracle....or something.
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
I want to pitch HBO/SHO a dramedy about being a neuropsychologist in CHI/NYC/LA....it's be riveting!

scene 1

*zoom in on dr. on the phone w an insurance company*

*play tense music*

If HBO/SHO don't want it, there is always The WB, it'd just need to be Doogie Howser-esque.
Click to expand...
Scrubs had a lot of insurance drama, so it could happen!
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
Workers' Comp case. I don't recall the details, as the referring doc told me in passing a few months ago.

I had another guy bump his head and it stopped his headaches, dizziness, et al. It's rarely a dull day in out-pt land.
Click to expand...

Wait. The bump stopped his symptoms? In the VA mTBI or slight bumps cause everything, from profound dementia to prostate cancer.
 
WisNeuro said:
Wait. The bump stopped his symptoms? In the VA mTBI or slight bumps cause everything, from profound dementia to prostate cancer.
Click to expand...

I know, right? Of course…this was another, "go back to work bc you were cleared weeks ago or you are fired."

Last yr I had a "blind" guy regain his sight after praying on it.

Miracles. Everywhere.

----

I think the only way I'd last in the VA system now is if my Chief gave me 100% freedom to use PVTs and make recs consistent with the research. That is what I do now, so I don't mind taking the psych cases when I have the ability to make proper referrals and recs.
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
I think the only way I'd last in the VA system now is if my Chief gave me 100% freedom to use PVTs and make recs consistent with the research. That is what I do now, so I don't mind taking the psych cases when I have the ability to make proper referrals and recs.
Click to expand...

This is how I practice in the VA. the day they tell me I can't do it my way, is the day I turn in my resignation letter.
 
Best therapist I've ever seen on screen is Steve Carrell's character in Hope Springs. He's a couples therapist working with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. A good chunk of the movie is therapy, and I think it's really well done. Shockingly.
 
MamaPhD said:
I enjoyed the HBO series In Treatment and thought it was fairly realistic. Though there were plenty of boundary issues for dramatic flair.
Click to expand...
This is my big issue. Even when TV tries to get it right, they have to add in the boundary issues for flair. Ugh. Sadly, this, and less than this, is what uninformed people think of our work.
 
bmedclinic said:
This is my big issue. Even when TV tries to get it right, they have to add in the boundary issues for flair. Ugh. Sadly, this, and less than this, is what uninformed people think of our work.
Click to expand...

TV and movies do a pretty poor job of depicting most professions, even when they get some of it right. Medicine, law, police/investigative work, and others get the same treatment. I like to think that most people are at least vaguely aware of this. The problem is that there aren't a lot of good counterexamples with which to replace the TV version. Even if there were, the TV version is more memorable. 🙂
 
^^ My favorite example of this was the school psychologist from The Simpsons. When he was introduced he was the the "District Psychiatrist," and then apparently someone on staff realized that few schools, let alone a school system the size of Springfield, would have a full time psychiatrist on staff. ("I hope someone was fired for that blunder" etc. etc.)
 
Chalupacabra said:
^^ My favorite example of this was the school psychologist from The Simpsons. When he was introduced he was the the "District Psychiatrist," and then apparently someone on staff realized that few schools, let alone a school system the size of Springfield, would have a full time psychiatrist on staff. ("I hope someone was fired for that blunder" etc. etc.)
Click to expand...
He did a terrible job assessing Bart, that's for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

inourdreams
  • Locked
Seeking Guidance on Ethical Dilemmas in Psychotherapy
Replies
1
Views
699
AcronymAllergy
AcronymAllergy
R. Matey
Psychotherapy certifications: The good, the bad, and the grifty
Replies
38
Views
4K
Sanman
Sanman
BuckeyeLove
Olfactory ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose
Replies
29
Views
6K
ClinicalABA
ClinicalABA
Psycho Bunny
How can I get as much exposure to psychodynamic psychotherapy as possible in a clinical PHD/PsyD program?
Replies
15
Views
2K
quickpsych
quickpsych
DynamicDidactic
Psychotherapy Fads: The Case of Trauma-Informed Therapy
2
Replies
71
Views
5K
DynamicDidactic
DynamicDidactic
Top