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Characters On The Couch

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

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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 …

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The Way A Baby Lives
The Girl in the Train What's in an Obsession?

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
What’s In An Obsession?

August 11, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Paula Hawkins’ New York Times bestselling novel, The Girl On The Train, gives us Rachel – a girl obsessed. There’s no question this novel is a mind-bending murder mystery par excellence. But, for me as a psychoanalyst, it poses a more interesting question. What’s behind Rachel’s obsession? Rachel Watson rides the train every day. She …

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What’s In An Obsession?
Date Rape Loretta Young and Clark Gable

DATE RAPE
What Loretta Young & Clark Gable
Remind Us Of Now

July 16, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Date rape is a confusing thing. You know the guy. Went out with him. Even consented to kiss him. Maybe even more. But, when it came right down to it, you said “No “and he didn’t listen. Is it your fault for having gone that far? It’s not. No is No. There’s no reason to …

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What Loretta Young & Clark Gable
Remind Us Of Now
Narcissist & The Narcissist Next Door

WOMEN BEWARE
“The Narcissist Next Door”
by Jeffrey Kluger

June 17, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Women Beware. Of the Narcissist. That face that begs for love.* I know. It seems like love. The two of you are amazingly in sync. You’ve found your soul mate. Suddenly, things change. What happened? He’s wonderful, right? There must be something wrong with you. There’s not. A Narcissist is a master at the beginning …

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“The Narcissist Next Door”
by Jeffrey Kluger
Heartburn A Novel by Nora Ephron

HEARTBURN
A Novel by Nora Ephron

July 31, 2014 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

“’Tis the season to be jolly.” It’s also the season to miss people. Nora Ephron is someone to be missed. She could make us laugh at our necks, and at almost anything. Her novel, Heartburn (a barely fictionalized account of the end of her marriage), even manages to make us laugh at divorce. Why does she …

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A Novel by Nora Ephron

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.”

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