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Characters On The Couch

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

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The Power of the Dog Why Phil Burbank’s Cruelty is About What He Hates in Himself

THE POWER OF THE DOG
Why Phil Burbank’s Cruelty
Is About What He Hates in Himself

December 7, 2021 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Jane Campion’s chilling new film, The Power of the Dog, has much to say about that old adage: what we hate in others is what we can’t accept in ourselves. And, wow, does the character of Phil Burbank spell that axiom out in spades. Sure, he embodies everything there is about toxic masculinity. Yet, what …

Read moreTHE POWER OF THE DOG
Why Phil Burbank’s Cruelty
Is About What He Hates in Himself

CODA
How To Be Entitled to Your Own Life
(Even When Someone Needs You)

September 1, 2021 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

CODA, written and directed by Sian Heder, is a beautiful, heartwarming coming-of-age film with a happy ending. Not all difficult stories of trying to have your own life in the face of someone who needs you (read: your parents) end with so much understanding, acceptance, and support. It’s hard to break away and be yourself …

Read moreCODA
How To Be Entitled to Your Own Life
(Even When Someone Needs You)

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Where Trauma Driven Obsession
Takes You & It’s Not Healing

May 8, 2021 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Cassie lost her very best friend (and only true soulmate) to suicide. Why? A violent and repeated rape seriously traumatized Nina and she couldn’t go on. And, no one listened. No one saw the rape as rape and no one blamed the rapist. It makes sense, doesn’t it, that Cassie can now think of nothing …

Read morePROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Where Trauma Driven Obsession
Takes You & It’s Not Healing
SOUND OF METAL How Silence Stops A Man From Running

SOUND OF METAL
How Silence Stops A Man From Running

April 26, 2021 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Ruben has been on the run for a long time. No one becomes a heroin addict unless there’s something too painful inside for him to stop, for even a moment, to hear (or feel). So, Ruben runs – with drugs, frantic hard metal drumming, and in his desperate love for his singer-girlfriend, Lou (Olivia Cooke). …

Read moreSOUND OF METAL
How Silence Stops A Man From Running
The Father Dementia and The Fight To Hold Onto Who He Was

THE FATHER
Dementia & The Fight To Hold On To Who He Was

April 19, 2021 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

The brilliance, and terror, of Florian Zeller’s The Father, is that we’re living inside the mind of an aging man losing his identity to Dementia. To watch it from the outside is bad enough. I know. I was that daughter too. But to be the one losing his grip on who he was is truly …

Read moreTHE FATHER
Dementia & The Fight To Hold On To Who He Was

TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
How Do You Not Be Stopped From Speaking Out?

April 14, 2021 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

The horror of Bobby Seale’s gagging by Judge Julius Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin’s timely film, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is an image of what Black Lives Matter is fighting against. It’s an image of how being silenced provokes rage. The history and trial speak for themselves. But, as a psychoanalyst, I can talk …

Read moreTRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
How Do You Not Be Stopped From Speaking Out?
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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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