[Cinnamon_Stick]

Do you think therapy is realistic to the way it is in t.v shows and movies?

I don't think so. In movies you always see a huge office with someone laying on a couch.

[Ellahmae]

My T has a big office and I lay on the couch.

[divine1966]

My t has a couch. I don't lay on it because I'd fall asleep lol so I sit

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[ScarletPimpernel]

My T has a huge corner office and a couch. But I don't lay on it. She also doesn't take notes during session.

[atisketatasket]

I think it'd be better to think about the depiction of therapy on film as more metaphorical...like I would say that "The Treatment" might be a decent description of how a therapist can move into a client's head outside of session.

[LonesomeTonight]

One way I think is unrealistic in movies/TV is how much the T seems to tell clients what to do. Like, on Grey's Anatomy (don't judge!), when Callie and Arizona were in marriage counseling, their T specifically told them to go through a period where there was no physical contact (and I think maybe no communication?) In my experience with marriage counseling, MC wouldn't specifically tell us what to do. He might give us occasional homework (like, have a disagreement and see that it's OK), but even at one point early in therapy, when I had strong feelings for someone else (way before the transference, another person), he wasn't trying to tell us what to do. Or taking sides.

Then there's In Treatment, where he crosses so many boundaries...

One example that does seem more realistic is in Good Will Hunting. Because I recently had an experience, in marriage counseling, where I came out of it feeling very much like the scene with Matt Damon and Robin Williams (RIP) with "It's not your fault."

And my T has a couch, but I sit in a chair. With our MC, he sits on a couch and H and I sit on a loveseat (though physically, I'm probably about equidistant from MC and H because of how we sit). I guess I sit on a couch with p-doc, but those are 25-minute appointments, so not as much time to fall asleep!

[stopdog]

The second one I see has said she found the therapist interaction on the mobster show to be a decent depiction. I can't think of the name off the top of my head.

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by stopdog

The second one I see has said she found the therapist interaction on the mobster show to be a decent depiction. I can't think of the name off the top of my head.

Sopranos? Dr. Melfi? (She annoyed the heck out of me.)

[stopdog]

Yes - that is it.
I kind of liked her - but I did not watch it regularly

[laxer12]

Depends on the movie/TV show...I just sit on a couch in front of my T but she doesn't take notes at all. Most T's in Hollywood will take notes so I guess that's the big difference for me.

I agree with LonesomeTonight that Good Will Hunting seems to be pretty congruent with my experience.

[Cinnamon_Stick]

My T has a couch in her office. I didn't mean that having a couch is weird. I meant that whenever you see therapy in movies or t.v people are laying on the couch. I could never lay. I would fall asleep.

I have also noticed that the therapist tell people what to do instead of offering advice or suggestions.

[BeatriceBlue]

I always liked the therapist in Ordinary People. Not a perfect portrayal, but he wasn't lecturing.

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon_Stick

I have also noticed that the therapist tell people what to do instead of offering advice or suggestions.

When they do that, they're just basically a device to move the plot forward. Just to get to the stage where a therapist would offer me advice, I'd have to talk, and as it takes hours for me to say anything much in therapy...that would be a boring movie!

Based on my experience everyday therapy wouldn't be riveting viewing. Atisket says it all.

Originally Posted by LonesomeTonight

One way I think is unrealistic in movies/TV is how much the T seems to tell clients what to do. Like, on Grey's Anatomy (don't judge!), when Callie and Arizona were in marriage counseling, their T specifically told them to go through a period where there was no physical contact (and I think maybe no communication?) In my experience with marriage counseling, MC wouldn't specifically tell us what to do. He might give us occasional homework (like, have a disagreement and see that it's OK), but even at one point early in therapy, when I had strong feelings for someone else (way before the transference, another person), he wasn't trying to tell us what to do. Or taking sides.

Then there's In Treatment, where he crosses so many boundaries...

One example that does seem more realistic is in Good Will Hunting. Because I recently had an experience, in marriage counseling, where I came out of it feeling very much like the scene with Matt Damon and Robin Williams (RIP) with "It's not your fault."

And my T has a couch, but I sit in a chair. With our MC, he sits on a couch and H and I sit on a loveseat (though physically, I'm probably about equidistant from MC and H because of how we sit). I guess I sit on a couch with p-doc, but those are 25-minute appointments, so not as much time to fall asleep!

Realistic and ideal are very different... It is actually quite common for therapists to cross boundaries. I had to write a paper for an ethics class on why not to sleep with clients. The statistics were quite alarming. There are many instances on this site alone of therapists giving advice or crossing boundaries...

So whether or not it is useful therapy or realistic as to what therapy actually is like... Also, therapy irl varies endlessly. To expect media to be representative of all therapy would be ridiculous.

I think many mainstream movies and TV shows are at least somewhat unrealistic in how they display everyday situations and human interactions, not just therapy. Part of the reason why we watch them as entertainment, to have a break from ordinary reality, no?

I liked In Treatment though, probably one of the most realistic depictions of therapy sessions and challenges both patients and therapists deal with, in my opinion. Maybe I feel this way because the setting is similar to my own experience even though of course I don't have so much insight into my T's personal life and he does not seem to be struggling with his reactions as much as the guy in the show.

In terms of office setting, my T sits in a chair and I sit on a coach that is placed next to him. There is also another chair father from him on the other side of the room and that was where I sat down automatically in my first consultation, I guess some patients probably use it also in the longer run. My therapy is psychoanalytical but I would not want to lie down on the coach and not face T when talking. As far as taking notes, he did that in my very first session but never again.

In general, I would say it's impossible to truly genuinely display long-term therapy on film... there are just so many dynamic things in a process over time, including all the unspoken things that go on in both the patient's and T's heads during and between sessions that are crucial to the process. I would say it's similar to any film or show about relationships of any kind.

[Myrto]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Sopranos? Dr. Melfi? (She annoyed the heck out of me.)

Can I ask why she annoyed you? As a huge Sopranos fan, I love her character. Also the actress is hot so there's that I found her depiction of a psychiatrist rather realistic.

Other than that, I agree that most of the time, therapists in movies/tv shows seem to be mostly psychoanalysts (in Woody Allen movies for instance) instead of psychotherapists/psychiatrists.

Also they often seem to talk about very mundane things I've noticed such as a movie with Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman (can't remember the title) where Uma is basically talking about her realtionship like she would with a friend. That's just odd to me. Like, no despair? no depression? Nothing really serious? Depression isn't glamourous enough I suppose.

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by Myrto

Can I ask why she annoyed you? As a huge Sopranos fan, I love her character. Also the actress is hot so there's that I found her depiction of a psychiatrist rather realistic.

It is realistic. That's what annoyed me. ; )

Seriously, I found the whole show annoying and stuck with it for only a season or so. At the time, I had little experience of mental health professionals, so I found the portrayal of Melfi off-putting, she seemed cold and affect-less and not particularly helpful. Now I know better, of course, but I suspect I would find her annoying still.

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