How a psychologist thinks about your favorite
Film & TV characters.
Welcome to Characters On The Couch, my Film & Television site, where I delve into character psychology. If you’re interested in psychology, film, or a combination of the two, I bring my insights into your favorite contemporary and classic characters. I hope to help you understand their deeper psychological motivations (and, maybe, even your own).
When you think about truly iconic films, do you wonder what gives them such staying power? Is it the time of your life when you watched them? Is it the costumes or images that seemed unforgettable? Did one or more characters align with your struggles or painful experiences? Did you feel along with them? Or maybe, it’s simply that the film pulled at your heart and caused you to explore emotions in a new and profound way?
I say it’s all of the above. And, in the same way, when these meaningful elements are missing, a story becomes forgettable. I hope this site will encourage you to transform your story, personal or in writing, into magic by finding the human thread that links it and you to a universal experience.
Everything in life ties us back to complex emotions and the rhythm and language of feelings and psychology. I'll offer your that language of feeling in my blog as I write about the human struggles in each film.
INSIDE OUT 2: Fear Of Being Alone Triggers Old Trauma & Brings On Anxiety
An old trauma trigger – like the fear of being alone – brings on Anxiety. That’s what happens to Riley Anderson in Kelsey Mann’s Inside Out 2. So, it isn’t just the new emotions of puberty, with Anxiety now taking center stage and pushing away Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust into the “Back of…
INSIDE OUT: Why Sadness Matters, Especially After Trauma
Sadness matters. Especially after trauma. Every feeling matters—all the time. Feelings are normal and human. We all have them. Yet, do you – Fight them? Hide them? Feel Shame about them? Want to crawl under a table if they show? Peter Doctor’s Inside Out isn’t just a children’s movie. It’s for everyone who struggles with…
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE
ALL AT ONCE
Breaking Out Of Someone Else’s Box
Who chooses what’s “right” for you? In the best of worlds, you do. But, if you’re afraid to trust your own voice, it can be very hard to believe that. Especially when there are people in your life, and other voices inside, who tell you they know the right answers. And, so, in Everything Everywhere…