therapists are people and should subsequently have character-shaped impact on plots and emotional arcs.
when i first moved to Japan i started having panic attacks and sought out virtual therapy. My first few therapists, based in my home country, were so excited about me being in Japan that they just asked me to send them pics of the tourist spots or whatever and never addressed that i was in an active mental health crisis. I ended up having *worse* panic attacks after these sessions
Then a therapist really did help me! She was chill about the Japan thing, but eventually our relationship soured because she told me about memories other patients had confidentially shared with her. And she had a little yappy dog and thought it was adorable that he interrupted all of my very expensive sessions. Complicated situation!! So much more interesting than the vague, smiling-in-a-suit therapists and their bland couches that we see on TV.
These are pretty benign examples. I know darker and more melodramatic examples from real life that i won't share because the stories don't belong to me, but: therapists are complicated people! Getting therapy is complicated! I'm fine with therapy being depicted in media if that's how it's portrayed, but it basically never is
And: Even when therapy is effective, it's not because someone merely went to therapy. Therapy (especially CBT) is an active, participatory process, which means we should see characters trying (sometimes failing) to use the advice they've received irl, which would also impact plot. But therapy just stays shoved into neat little snapshot therapy-office scenes in media. smh.
Sorry i want to edit to add: even when therapists are wholly good and effective, they're still way more interesting than what we see in media! My best therapist used to tell such funny jokes they cracked through the numbness of my major depressive episode. He framed the finger-painted artwork of his child patients in his office and would explain them with the gravity of an art historian at the Louvre. He played David Bowie covers in Portuguese. I sent all my equally depressed friends to him and none of them were helped like I was and that made my friendships with them awkward and complicated. Do you see how watered down fictional therapy is in comparison
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