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Characters On The Couch

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

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psychotherapy

Diane Guilt & Shame How Self-Sacrifice Can Ruin A Life

DIANE
Guilt & Shame
How Self-Sacrifice Ruins A Life

May 15, 2019 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Shame can ruin a life. A mistake can force a woman to live in self-sacrifice. For Diane, the reasons why are hidden in the loaded question: “How is Brian?” This question haunts her through the entirety of Kent Jones’ character-driven film, Diane. Not only is Brian Diane’s alcoholic and drug-addicted son, but underneath her attempts …

Read moreDIANE
Guilt & Shame
How Self-Sacrifice Ruins A Life
can you ever forgive me? writer's block, finding your own voice, and a critic in your head

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Writer’s Block?
It’s That Critic In Your Head

March 6, 2019 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Lee Israel has talent; she just doesn’t believe she does. We can see it in Marielle Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me. In a creative way she impersonates the letters of great writers, adding her own writerly wit; but, hiding behind their names. (In fact, the NY Times called her book: Can You Ever Forgive …

Read moreCAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Writer’s Block?
It’s That Critic In Your Head
Weiner: What's wrong with Anthony Wiener A Psychoanalyst's Answer

WEINER
What’s Wrong With Anthony Weiner?
A Psychoanalyst’s Answer

July 4, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

The big question in Josh Kreigman and Elyse Steinberg’s documentary Weiner is: “What’s wrong with Anthony Weiner?” Why would a political official destroy his reputation and his career? Why would he humiliate his wife? Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC’s Last Word posed this million-dollar question to Weiner on national TV: “What is wrong with you…I mean …

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What’s Wrong With Anthony Weiner?
A Psychoanalyst’s Answer
Neflix's Love A Dance of Insecurities Obstacles to Making Love Work

NETFLIX’S LOVE
A Dance Of Insecurities
Obstacles to Making Love Work

June 23, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Is it real? What does it take to make love work? Netflix’s Love by Judd Apatow, Paul Rust, and Leslie Arfin raises some important questions. What takes an attraction farther than a romantic fantasy? What allows two people who’ve been hurt in the past to get beyond the fear of being hurt again? Sometimes we don’t …

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A Dance Of Insecurities
Obstacles to Making Love Work
Janis Little Girl Blue Singing for her Feelings To Be Heard

JANIS LITTLE GIRL BLUE
Singing For Her Feelings
To Be Heard

May 31, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

“I sing because I can experience a lot of feelings…” Otherwise, Janis Joplin had no one to hear. The most chilling part of Amy Berg’s documentary, Janis: Little Girl Blue, is to witness the cold formality of Mother and Father Joplin. No one can miss Janis’s hunger for love. Less obvious are the roots of …

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Singing For Her Feelings
To Be Heard
Losing Ground When a call to Mama is unanswered

LOSING GROUND
When A Call For ‘Mama’
Is Unanswered

May 4, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

What is lurking below the surface of a highly intellectualized philosophy professor’s emotional control? We find out in Losing Ground, filmed in 1982 but recently released by Milestone Films, noteworthy for being the first feature-length film produced and directed by a Black American woman. Kathleen Collins, who died an early death of cancer in 1988, …

Read moreLOSING GROUND
When A Call For ‘Mama’
Is Unanswered
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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

Everything Everywhere All At Once Breaking Out of Someone Else's Box
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SOUND OF METAL How Silence Stops A Man From Running

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