Arguably the media gets little right, but one area which suffers the brute end of a cruel portrayal is mental health professionals.
In many TV shows and movies, counsellors and therapists are nine out of ten times portrayed as unprofessional and emotional: they engage in unprofessional relationships with their clients or probe into their lives and let their wants and needs get the best of them.
Cringe worthy? Absolutely. Even detrimental? Definitely.
Therapy in the media couldn't be further from reality, and both clients and therapists have to overcome these misconceptions.
Here's how we see therapists in the media...
The therapist with minimal or no qualifications
Think about UK TV sitcom the Peep Show, a show I actually love featuring the chaotic lives of two dysfunctional best friends who share a flat in London. One member of the duo, Jeremy, is a childish, lazy and unemployed musician who only manages to make money by inviting the vulnerable into his bedroom for counselling - since he printed off a certificate from the Web. The seed is planted for the individual who wings it and manages to pass as a qualified therapist.
The lazy or silent therapist
Next up is the lazy or silent therapist. This is the therapist who sits doodling behind their notepad (not all therapists take notes just in case you were wondering) or clipping their nails under the desk. Consider the silent couple's therapist in American sitcom Will and Grace who rightly angers the protagonists but whose mere presents gets them talking and thus solves issues.
The "fake", judgemental and analytical therapist
If it isn't the lazy, silent therapist at one extreme, I guarantee it's the overbearing, judgemental therapist at the other extreme. I'm sure you know what I mean - we have a recent example in Dr. Kinbott played by Riki Lindhome in Wednesday. Dr. Kinbott makes snappy judgements about Wednesday's character and the tension between the two is tangible. My own personal aggravation is hit hard when Kinbott repeatedly says,"This is a safe space" only to antagonise Wednesday.
The all-powerful, expert therapists
If therapist and client aren't head-butting each other in a painful-to-witness showdown, our media therapist has somehow managed to get themselves comfortable as the all-powerful expert in the room. The overly confident and bossy therapist asserts themselves as the answer is a client's issues while the clueless and passive client soaks up every word. This relationship is nicely seen in (another of my [guilty] TV faves) Never Have I Ever. My grievance is with Dr. Ryan's repeated line, "You're fine - because you have me".
The therapist without boundaries
This is a slippery therapist - the seemingly great therapist who will do anything to help. Dr. Kester from (classic) English TV series My Mad Fat Diary comes to mind. Kester does literally whatever he can to support his very vulnerable client, Rachel Earl, who struggles with body image and mental health issues. Kester meets Rachel everywhere at all times (literally everywhere at all times!) and even hosts her in the storage room of the counselling practice in which he secretly no longer works (unbeknownst to her) all in the name of supporting the client. Gross.
The obsessive, unethical therapist
All these media archetypes have been unethical so far - but there is the completely unhinged therapist too. There's Gypsy, a psychological thriller about a therapist who throws herself into her clients' lives. In one episode, Holloway, our therapist played by Naomi Watts, manages to track down the ex-girlfriend of one of her clients and befriends her under a false identity. You'll honestly think it doesn't get creepier.
The love-affair therapist
And boom. It did. Arguably the most-fictional of them - the therapist who destroys everything for an affair with a needy, emotionally unstable client. This is uncomfortably seen in the American creep-fest series, YOU. Dr Nicky, played by John Stomas, begins a secret everythingship with Beck, which leaves her more damaged and confused than ever. This is the worst media therapist of them all!
And they are all far from reality. Shouldn't happen. Rarely happens. Rest assured, therapy in the media isn't real therapy.
Written by Lily Llewellyn
27th February 2023
Lily is a psychotherapist trained and educated in person-centred counselling to master's level and achieved an MA in anthropology. Her areas of interest include our relationships with ourselves and others as well as the ways in which we relate to objects, such as food and money, and activities, such as shopping and work.
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