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How a psychologist thinks about your favorite

Film & TV characters.

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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.

LENA DUNHAM’S SELFIE
Exercise Is Great
OCD Needs Much More

As a psychoanalyst who treats OCD, I want to chime in here. I certainly don’t think Lena Dunham’s Selfie on Instagram intends to give the impression that exercise is the answer to anxiety, OCD, or depression. Not with her years of struggle with disturbing thoughts that lead to OCD. There’s no question that exercise helps…

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MAD MEN Season 7 Episode 8
Two Sides Of Don Draper
Which One Will Win In The End?

Don Draper’s (Jon Hamm) on the chase again in Season 7, Episode 8, but this time he seems different. So is Diana (Elizabeth Reaser). Don’s more sensitive than he’s been with any woman in the past. But, Diana: she’s like the old Don running from his past, the one we’ve known for 7 Seasons. Then…

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AMERICAN CRIME
Ways To Make It “All Go Away”

Aubry’s (Caitlin Gerard) alive in American Crime Episode 6. But coming back to reality in the throes of withdrawal and without drugs is quite distressing. No one in American Crime wants to face the truth. Except, maybe Aliyah (Regina King), Carter’s sister. Truth can be very difficult to face. Aliyah says it well: “If they hurt…

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