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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.

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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AMERICAN CRIME
Why Drug Addiction Is
Sometimes Impossible to Kick

Nothing in Aubry’s (Caitlin Gerard) life in American Crime Episode 5 is as important or as enticing as drugs.  Not even love.  And, she’ll put her life and Carter (Elvis Nolasko) at great risk to get her fix. What are Aubry and Carter running from in Episode 5 of American Crime? Drug addiction isn’t the…

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MAD MEN Season 7 Episode 8
Don Draper’s Dream &
The Mother He Lost

Mad Men Season 7, Episode 8, Severance, shows us just how much Don Draper needs therapy. Psychoanalysis would be even better, with his traumatic history, one he’s unconsciously living out. Don’s needed therapy for a long time. But, now, with Meagan gone, this loss repeats earlier losses. And, with Don finally opening up about the…

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