COTC-Header-1600-x-800_crop

How a psychologist thinks about your favorite

Film & TV characters.

Sandra_Cohen0312copy

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.

IMMEDIATE FAMILY
The Way Things Are
“Supposed To Be,” But Aren’t

Paul Oakley Stovall’s Immediate Family, directed by Phylicia Rashad, is now playing at the Mark Taper Forum. Don’t miss this sensitive, very funny, and oh-so-real depiction of a family coming to grips with things not going as expected. And, even more importantly, the people they love not being who they thought they were. They fight…

Read More about IMMEDIATE FAMILYThe Way Things Are“Supposed To Be,” But Aren’t

AMERICAN CRIME
How I Would Help Russ
Turn His Guilt Around

No matter how hard Russ (Timothy Hutton) tries or how ingratiating he is in American Crime Episode 8, there’s roadblock after roadblock to his attempts to make up for his mistakes. Although American Crime is in search of the person who killed Matt and injured Gwen, Russ acts like a criminal. He’s not a suspect, of course.…

Read More about AMERICAN CRIME How I Would Help Russ Turn His Guilt Around

MAD MEN Season 7 Episode 10
4 Clues Why Don Draper
Just Might Make It

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) is finally beginning to face how much his past lives inside him in Mad Men Season 7 Episode 10. Plus, all the mistakes he’s made and the ways he’s sabotaged love because of it. At least it sure seems that way. When he says to Johnny Mathis in episode 10, Forecast: “Take responsibility…

Read More about MAD MEN Season 7 Episode 104 Clues Why Don DraperJust Might Make It