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Anyone hooked on "In Treatment?"
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message 1:
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cathy
(new)
Mar 24, 2008 12:38PM
Hi there, I'm an MSW who now works in research. I still read a great deal about psych theory and the therapeutic process. Lately I've been absolutely hooked on the HBO serial program In Treatment. I'd love to discuss episodes or the whole arc with others in the field. They really did their homework on this one and most encounters feel so organic. Curious what people thought about the final episode between Gina and Paul, namely, the tearing down of the therapeutic process?
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I love the show as well! Mainly I like watching Paul take different routes with his clients, and comparing it to what I might have done. I don't often agree with how he works though. I find him to force issues with his clients when they are not ready to go to the places he wants to go. It is a tv show, so perhaps the fast pace of the therapy sessions is just a way to 'dramatize' therapy. This doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the show however. The last Paul and Gina session was pretty amazing. I think it had to be addressed, since Paul had been pushing at Gina since he came. I don't know if I would call it 'tearing down the process' though, I think she was accurately describing what had been happening between them and her experience with Charlie and David. It could be argued that that kind of painful honesty could be the very definition of therapeutic process. The boundaries are so different between them since they have so much shared personal history when they started.
Good topic!
I am hooked on the show as well, however, I am really behind an am trying to catch up.I have a MSW and I work as a school counselor. I am not so much as their "therapist", but a support system that helps them get through the trials and tribulations of adolescents. Ha!
I love the show and being a sort of fly on the wall. I like watching Paul practice. But last night it dawned on me that he is the type of therapist I am not sure I could work with personally. Meaning, I am in therapy and have been for years and this is not the type of therapist I would continue seeing. Although I am attracted to him. I am guessing he is a psychoanalyst? And it is not that that turns me off. I am not sure what it is. I believe whole heartedly in the psychoanalytic process and did some of my best (personal) work with a analyst I was working with for years. I love Freud. But there is something about Paul. Maybe it is because underneath his "clean slate" I know there is a lot of turmoil and I can see it. I am rambling...
I would love to discuss more.
I love the show too, I am completely addicted to it. I know that it is based on another show (possibly English?) Does anyone know anything about the original?
It's actually based on an Israeli show called "Betipul" and I remember reading somewhere that the makers wanted to keep it as true to the original as possible, making a few minor changes to adapt it for American audiences. I guess I should introduce myself. Hello everyone. My name is Arsalan and I'm an In-Treatment-oholic! I've seen every episode uptil episode 30. Being a PGY-1 psych intern my experience with therapy is limited but I think what Paul is practising is very closed to a form of therapy described as Intensive short term dynamic psychotherapy pioneered by the canadian psychiatrist Habib Davanloo, who basically believes in "speeding up" the therapeutic process by attacking defense mechanisms so as t bring unconscious conflicts to the pre-conscious and conscious mind. We see Paul do this most often with Gina, maybe because he wants the therapy to end as soon as possible, given his counter-transferential feelings for her.
I agree with you Arsalan that Paul is trying too hard to speed up the therapeutic process. And it's backfiring. ***SPOILERS AHEAD IF U HAVENT SEEN UP TO EP 40****...Look at Alex, he is dead now. Obviously, Paul is not responsible for this but still wishes he were. After the first session he goes to Baghdad and the 2nd, he leaves his wife. I couldn't imagine a therapist not getting the meta-message to SLOW DOWN.
I am a psychodynamic psychologist and like Paul's therapeutic style until he breaks away from the triad of Abstinence, Neutrality, and Relative Anonymity. Paul is rarely neutral and takes a too positive role and believes too much in the good will of his patients. As far an anonymity, his office is in his house. He brings himself often into therapy before there is a relationship established. And for abstinence, Paul sometimes is too pushy and goes to fast.
Also, the things a psychotherapist should do is only 3- clarify, interpret, and confront. Paul is too quick to interpret. He mentioned Alex's homosexual tendencies in the first session. I believe that the first stage of therapy is working on the relationship and mostly clarify with surface interpretation.
All in all, I love the show. It is Hollywood and months of therapy in real life is crammed into 23 minutes. At the same time, Paul's personal life is a very good reflection of his desire to speed up the therapeutic process and to be a savior figure. I love that he is aware of this and working on it with Gina. I'll keep watching...
A In-Treatment-oholic! Welcome! I thought the show was Spanish, so thanks on the clarification. As others have mentioned, I think the sessions are intensified more to move story lines forward, that to demonstrate brief technique, but who knows. I feel that Paul is too quick to attack defense mechanisms and we see the fallout of this via Sophie and Alex.
He seems more psychodynamic, and really I'm not sure he is married (d-oh!) to any particular framework. Gina seems more strict and detached. I'd run from her office.
Deconstruction would be better than tearing down, yes. I guess it was their questioning the value of therapy, what is "real" and what isn't via patients' presentation and what is more critical: the relationship or the analysis. I loved that Paul dropped a Yalom ref in the heat of "battle" on this one. The best moment in the Gina v. Paul showdown was her concession that he could put his feel on the table. I don't like her style, but I liked the explanation of why she practices that way. I think I'm attracted to CBT and more "predictable and practical" modes of practice for the same reason. I do love that she broke "character" and told him to basically shit or get off the pot on the Laura Issue. Gah!
Oh lord. 'FEET' on the table! Feet! HAH!
You guys sound so much more experienced than I am. Maybe it's because I work with adolescents in a school setting and I do not do any traditional therapy per se. I do not feel as knoweledgeable as I thought I was.I am putting myself out there, I know.
I actually can't tell if I like the show or not, but I find it addicting none-the-less, though I'm not that far into it yet...I am definitely intrigued about Gina and Paul's relationship though...
Hi There, I'm Val and I'm not a psicologist or anything related but interested in understanding more about my mother's borderline as well as how this affected me. I'm totally hooked up with in treatment and what prompted me to google about this and hence how I didcovered your group is what Paul and Kate discuss with Gina in season 1 about their daughter Rosie who was a 'natural mediator' to which Paul/Gina say that we are not born with this, but it's more of a 'coping mechanism'. It's interesting, I've always been the mediator in my family, friends, school, so was just interested in knowing more about this. I know that 'in treatment' is not real life psicoanalysis but I like the way they explain things. Do you happen to know of any books I could read that explain the Freudian concept that patterns are rooted in someone's childhood but explained as a story? something simple? I once read a book called 'the other side of her' by salley vickers that helped me understand what was going through my Mom's head, it really touched me.
Anyway.. if you know of a book, like 'in treatment', i'd love to read it.
I am a psychologist with about 20 years experience in therapy and I actually like In Treatment even though I fear it has descended into some real "howlers" in the latest eps.(My training therapist would smack me over the wrists for some major "transference" errors in Series 3)Gabriel Byrne is like many therapists I know who care A LOT for their clients -he has a strong personality that feels very deeply for his clients, he makes mistakes and is willing (eventually) to acknowledge them and, above all, he is willing to see a therapy through to a potential conclusion, which sometimes doesn't always happen in therapy....
I just started watching the first season--up to episode 7 now. It's definitely entertaining, and Paul does pull out some insightful numbers, but I also have mixed feelings about his approach already.
Hi. I started off as a medical practitioner (zero training in transferrence) and studied psychology in my mid-fifties (some but I think too little training in transferrence). I devoured the first two seasons of "In Treatment" a couple of years ago - loved it and wish that I could re-watch with a peer group of sorts. However, transferrence is such an important issue and I do wish the serious had dealt with it with more clarity. If anyone is interested, I found David Wallin's book "Attachment in Psychotherapy" absolutely fabulous regarding transferrence.
That was a great read. Was a topic, including counter-transferrence we covered early in our masters program. Much has changed since 1996, though.
