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Characters On The Couch

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

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Spotlight Breaking the Cult of Secrecy Around Sexual Abuse

SPOTLIGHT
Breaking The Cult Of Secrecy
Surrounding Sexual Abuse

February 4, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one” M. Garabedian Secrets are damaging. The film, Spotlight, directed by Tom McCarthy, tells the story of one very pernicious secret uncovered by an investigative team, named Spotlight, at the Boston Globe. That secret, the widespread sexual abuse by Catholic …

Read moreSPOTLIGHT
Breaking The Cult Of Secrecy
Surrounding Sexual Abuse
The Revenant Humanizing Revenge

THE REVENANT
Humanizing Revenge

January 14, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

As much as I loved Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, I can’t say I felt the same about The Revenant. I know the film won big at the Golden Globes and has received Oscar nods for Best Picture and Best Actor. Perhaps that’s because a fantasy lives deep inside us about exacting revenge where we believe revenge …

Read moreTHE REVENANT
Humanizing Revenge
The Danish Girl Barren Trees & A Divided Self

THE DANISH GIRL
Barren Trees & A Divided Self

January 7, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Director Tom Hopper’s beautifully conceived film, The Danish Girl, begins and ends with artist Einar Wegener’s paintings of barren trees. The barrenness in these trees tells volumes about the lonely depletion of a self when the real self is split off and hidden. Artist Einar Wegener’s courageous transition from male to female, together with Eddie …

Read moreTHE DANISH GIRL
Barren Trees & A Divided Self
TRUMBO The Dynamics of Fear It's Ravages Ruins & Undoing

TRUMBO & The Dynamics Of Fear
It’s Ravages, Ruins, & Undoing

December 14, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

“Now the truth of the matter is that there are a lot of things people don’t understand. Take the Einstein theory. Taxes. Love. Do you understand them? Neither do I. But they exist. They happen.” – Dalton Trumbo Dalton Trumbo is right. Things we don’t understand do happen. And, some things we don’t understand invoke …

Read moreTRUMBO & The Dynamics Of Fear
It’s Ravages, Ruins, & Undoing
UnREAL Bullying Woman & The Bully In Your Head

UnREAL
Bullying Women &
The Bully In Your Head

October 27, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

October 2015 is Bullying Prevention Month: Defeat The Bully In Your Head Lifetime TV UnREAL’s Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby) and Quinn King (Constance Zimmer) are the quintessential bullies. They use, torment, humiliate, tear down, and pit their reality show’s women contestants against each other for a chance at Everlasting love. Love is the key word here. …

Read moreUnREAL
Bullying Women &
The Bully In Your Head
Writers Need Help With A Character Get It A Therapist

WRITERS
NEED HELP WITH A CHARACTER?
Get It A Therapist

October 25, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

I’m a therapist and a writer. As a writer, one of the things I do is write this blog called Characters On The Couch where I play therapist to your favorite Film & TV characters. As a writer, I also know that some writing flows more easily than others. Developing psychologically complex characters can be particularly challenging. …

Read moreWRITERS
NEED HELP WITH A CHARACTER?
Get It A Therapist
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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.”

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