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Characters On The Couch

How a psychologist thinks about your favorite Film & TV characters.

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Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Ashley Judd 7 Ways To Overcome Shame After Sexual Harassment

ASHLEY JUDD
7 Ways To Overcome Shame
After Sexual Harassment

October 8, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Ashley Judd is speaking out. Good, because sexual harassment is damaging. You feel powerless. End up with a lot of unwarranted shame. You even blame yourself. But, when someone has power over you, of one kind or another, it’s hard to say, “No” – to report it, or to stand up for yourself. You might …

Read moreASHLEY JUDD
7 Ways To Overcome Shame
After Sexual Harassment
He Named Me Malala A Father Gives A Daughter Her Voice

HE NAMED ME MALALA
A Father Gives A Daughter
Her Voice

October 6, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Davis Guggenheim’s documentary film, He Named Me Malala, on the life of 18-year-old Pakistani Nobel Prize laureate and activist for the education of girls has opened in theaters to mixed reviews. I haven’t seen it yet, but I will. I’ve been thinking about the part a father plays in whether a daughter loves or hates …

Read moreHE NAMED ME MALALA
A Father Gives A Daughter
Her Voice
Francine Christophe's Chocolate This is How A Baby Lives

FRANCINE CHRISTOPHE’S CHOCOLATE
The Way A Baby Lives

October 4, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Listen. It is 1941 in Bergen-Belson concentration camp, a non-extermination camp where many prisoners died nonetheless of starvation. Francine Christophe is 8 years old, bearing a large Star of David (Juif) on her chest, imprisoned there with her mother, the barracks head. A strong and reassuring mother, keeping chocolate for the moment her daughter needed it …

Read moreFRANCINE CHRISTOPHE’S CHOCOLATE
The Way A Baby Lives
The Visit 4 Signs Loss and Guilt are too scary to feel

SHYAMALAN’S THE VISIT
4 Signs Loss And Guilt
Are Too Scary To Feel

September 29, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

M. Night Shyamalan’s new psychological horror film, The Visit, has twists and turns and unexpected surprises that I wouldn’t think of revealing. And, of course, this film has one of Shyamalan’s shock endings – it wouldn’t be a Shyamalan film without it. But for me as a psychoanalyst, there’s something else of more interest. What …

Read moreSHYAMALAN’S THE VISIT
4 Signs Loss And Guilt
Are Too Scary To Feel
Busyness Are you blocking something out?

BUSYNESS
Are You Blocking Something Out?

September 26, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Stuart Whatley of the Huffington Post headlines his 9/25/15 article called The Myth Of Busyness in this way: “We in the West aren’t as freed up as we should be, but we also aren’t as busy as we’re constantly told.”  I found it interesting to read his detailed article on realities and fantasies about our …

Read moreBUSYNESS
Are You Blocking Something Out?
Jon Hamm Wins Emmy Early Losses Not To Be Forgotten

EMMY’S 2015
Jon Hamm Wins!
Early Losses Not To Be Forgotten

September 22, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

I’ve been rooting for Jon Hamm. As a Mad Men enthusiast and psychoanalyst, I’ve written a number of pieces on the effects of Don Draper’s early trauma. Not only that, I’ve long admired the way Hamm brings Don’s very real struggles to life. Little did I know that his own early history, in some critical …

Read moreEMMY’S 2015
Jon Hamm Wins!
Early Losses Not To Be Forgotten
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Inspiration

“We come to Film and TV to find our hidden stories. If we look deeply into a character’s psyche, there is much to see about ourselves.”

Recent Posts

The Power of the Dog Why Phil Burbank’s Cruelty is About What He Hates in Himself
SOUND OF METAL How Silence Stops A Man From Running
The Father Dementia and The Fight To Hold Onto Who He Was

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