DC Therapists: Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Counsellors
Say you want to write about a DC superhero seeking psychological treatment or seeing a counsellor. I know, it often feels overwhelming trying to pick someone to use; it can feel like every psychologist or psychiatrist is either seen treating villains in Arkham Asylum and getting promptly killed on page, or is an outright villain. But not all of them fit into those two categories! There are more than a few characters across DC who have provided psychological treatment for various superheroes and can be trusted to keep secret identities; both those who know about various identities and those who would keep them as privileged information if approached by someone who wanted treatment.
This is the please stop using Dinah Lance as a psychologist in stories about comics canon, she is a florist, martial artist and secret agent folks post.
Heroes who also have psychological qualifications:
Lilith Clay [Omen] and Kara Zor-L [Power Girl] (Action Comics #1051, Power Girl 2023): psychiatrist and telepathic therapist
Kent V. Nelson [Doctor Fate] (Countdown to Mystery 2007): psychiatrist
Khalid Nassour [Doctor Fate] (Superman 2018 #23-25): EMT and counsellor
People who have specifically treated superheroes or know superhero identities:
Dr Claire Foster (Superman 2002, Titans 2008): either psychiatrist or psychologist
Dr Owen Slade (Flash 1987 #9-11): psychiatrist
Dr Bridget Clancy (Nightwing 1999): doctor, occasional psychiatrist
Dr Parker (The New Titans #57 1988): therapist
Dr Marion Winston (Amethyst Princess of Gemworld 1983 and 1985): child psychologist
Dr Leslie Thompkins (Batman, generally): general practitioner/primary care physician, occasional social worker
Dr Alan Huss (Batwoman 2011): therapist
Dr Simon LaGrieve (Suicide Squad 1987): psychiatrist
Dr Marnie Herrs (Suicide Squad 1987): psychotherapist
Dr Mac McCoy (Suicide Squad 1987): psychiatrist or psychologist - refers to himself as a head-shrinker
Dr Edmond Cathcart (Brave and the Bold 1955): psychiatrist
People slightly outside the scope of the project who are still worth mentioning:
Dr Ryk’rr (Legionnaires 1993 & Legion of Super-Heroes 1989): a psychologist for the Legion of Super-Heroes. Slightly beyond the scope of this project, given she’s based in the 31st century, but if you’re writing stories set in the 31st century and want a therapist, she’s available!
Dr Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn, Batman generally): psychiatrist. I don’t think Harley reasonably fits into the categories I want, as she’s definitely disbarred as a psychiatrist and all over the shop depending on period, but Harley also does love to give unsolicited counselling advice.
If you want to add more names in I am delighted to add them.
Currently in the “this is going to take more research” pile are the following:-
Brian Bryan (Azrael 1995): It seems that Brian twonames here is another failed therapist who ended up on the street, then gets himself back together over the course of the Azbats run, counselling JPV. Not yet added as I suspect I need to read a bunch of the run to get enough relevant context.
Rene Carpenter (Vigilante 2005): I need to track down a version of this miniseries, and see whether she’s a beneficial character or not. Given this is Vigilante, that’s not a given.
Dr Derwood Denton (Ambush Bug): He treated Ambush Bug and then became a TV doctor and from summaries seems to occupy a similar niche to Dr Phil at best, so I suspect he falls outside the scope of what I want.
Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud (Kid Eternity 1993): this is some Vertigo level nonsense involving dead spirits of real psychiatrists and I am going to need to read around it for more context.
