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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

Hamilton Lessons in Infidelity

HAMILTON: 5 Lessons On Infidelity

July 22, 2020 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

This piece on Hamilton was originally written for and published on YourTango.com. Why Infidelity & What Can Turn It Around? What does “I’m not throwing away my shot” have to do with infidelity in marriage? You’d be surprised. There’s a lesson in it, to be sure. In fact, the Tony-award-winning musical Hamilton holds many lessons on infidelity. …

Read moreHAMILTON: 5 Lessons On Infidelity
The Hate U Give Speaking Out

THE HATE U GIVE
Hate Yourself For Keeping Quiet?
Don’t Be Afraid Of Speaking Out

July 15, 2020 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

The world is filled with too much hate. This piece is in honor of Black Lives Matter. Dedicated to those who’ve spent their lives, like Starr Carter in The Hate U Give, having to hide, needing to code-switch to play it safe (as discussed on NPR’s Code Switch). George Tillman, Jr’s compellingly forceful film offers …

Read moreTHE HATE U GIVE
Hate Yourself For Keeping Quiet?
Don’t Be Afraid Of Speaking Out
Joker Smile Though Your Heart Is Breaking Leads To Hate in a Traumatized Boy

JOKER
Smile Though Your
Heart Is Breaking
& Hate In A Traumatized Boy

March 27, 2020 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Arthur Fleck is Joker. That’s the name of Todd Phillips’s 2019 film and Joaquin Phoenix’s well-deserved Best Actor Oscar-winning character. Arthur must be a Joker, a self-made stand-up comedian. He must laugh, though his heart is breaking. And, being a comedian is the best way to keep laughing. Isn’t that right …? No, he’s not …

Read moreJOKER
Smile Though Your
Heart Is Breaking
& Hate In A Traumatized Boy
1917 The Trauma Of War How Love & Friendship Matter

1917
The Trauma Of War
How Love & Friendship Matter

March 24, 2020 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

We see the trauma. And, we witness the friendship and love. I’m talking about Sam Mendes’s more-than-war film, 1917. I’m also talking about a different kind of war that all of us are fighting now. A war with an invisible virus. COVID-19. And, just as in 1917, it’s love for each other; our fellow warriors …

Read more1917
The Trauma Of War
How Love & Friendship Matter
JOJO RABBIT Why A Boy Needs Hitler As His Imaginary Friend

JOJO RABBIT
Why A Boy Needs Adolf Hitler
As His Imaginary Friend

February 9, 2020 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

When you’re a scared little boy in the middle of a war and your father’s missing, Adolf Hitler can become your best friend. That is, in your mind at least. And, why not? He’s the man with the most power in all of Germany. What better friend to help you stand up to your fears? …

Read moreJOJO RABBIT
Why A Boy Needs Adolf Hitler
As His Imaginary Friend
the irishman martin scorcese what makes a man not feel

THE IRISHMAN
What Makes A Man Not Feel?

February 2, 2020 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Does Frank Sheeran really have no conscience? How can a man kill with no compunction –  and not feel anything? In Martin Scorsese’s engagingly (and not too long), fictionalized film, The Irishman, we watch Frank as he moves up the ladder of The International Brotherhood of Teamsters. With just a little help from his friends. …

Read moreTHE IRISHMAN
What Makes A Man Not Feel?
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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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