I have been blown away by the response from last week’s therapist reacts video. It’s a great feeling putting information out there that is so important for everyone to understand but seen as somewhat taboo. If you can find more understanding of your own mental health through movie reactions, then I’m all for it.
This is what the discussion on mental health has been about, simply wanting people to see and talk about it and not be ashamed or embarrassed.
If I have been able to find an outlet to do this then I am more than happy to continue.
This week, I watched some films that featured therapy sessions. I was interested in how the therapists were portrayed. I wanted to decipher if the general public’s expectations of therapy come from what they are seeing on screen.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Robin Williams’s portrayal of Psychologist Sean McGuire was refreshing. He does have a past that unfortunately played out against him during Will’s first session with him. However, the fundamentals of a successful therapist were there.
McGuire allows Will to lead the session. He had complete freedom of the conversation, what he did and where he went. This is important to note because many people may feel like they are entering the therapist’s space.
That’s false, as the therapeutic space is your space only. This is the only way for any client to feel comfortable and willing to open up. As a client, you have chosen to come to therapy for your own development. This wouldn’t work if the therapist starts to lead the session, tells you that you can’t talk about certain things.
Side Effects (2013)
This scene was great to react to as it was a very rare situation that a therapist and client may find themselves in.
In this scene, the client approaches her therapist whilst he is with his wife. What irks me about this exchange was the therapist (Jude Law) allowing his client to discuss her issues out in the open.
As a practitioner, your first priority is ensuring that the client feels safe and that they can discuss things confidentially. Ideally, a client wouldn’t approach their therapist outside of their session hours, but if it is urgent then the client should never be expected to talk about their issues in front of a third party.
These are just a couple of clips that I got to watch, I also got to react to It’s Kind of a Funny Story, 50/50, and Silver Linings Playbook.
