I see his character as an idealized personification of therapy. It's like everything else on screen that's meant to represent real life interactions--it's distilled, honed, and (if the acting is good) riveting. In real life, if someone were to tape a session, it would just be two boring-looking people sitting in a room. Without a tight script and really good soundtrack, it would be incredibly tedious to watch.

I like the movie though.