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Characters On The Couch

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

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self-sacrifice

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
The Wife Why Some Women Sell Their Souls Loving A Narcisist

THE WIFE
Why Do Some Women
Sell Their Souls Loving A Narcissist?

August 26, 2018 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

*Spoiler Alert: Don’t Read Until You’ve Seen This Film* The Wife slowly and disturbingly reveals many things about Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) and her marriage to 1992 Nobel Prize Winner, Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce). She’s lived a lie, loving a narcissist. Allowed it. She’s become merely “the wife.” But, when Joe asks her, as she …

Read moreTHE WIFE
Why Do Some Women
Sell Their Souls Loving A Narcissist?
Bridge of Spies A Standing Man How Integrity Triumphs Over Fear

BRIDGE OF SPIES
A Standing Man
How Integrity Triumphs Over Fear

February 26, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Steven Spielberg’s powerful film, Bridge of Spies, asks some compelling psychological questions. Could there be two more different men than a Brooklyn lawyer in 1957 at the height of the Cold War and an alleged Russian spy – or are they different at all? And, if they aren’t, what is it exactly that forms an unexpected …

Read moreBRIDGE OF SPIES
A Standing Man
How Integrity Triumphs Over Fear

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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