Unrealistic and painfull to watch...

I agree with you. I am watching this series for the second time because I love the acting, and I know some of the story lines are good. But during my first viewing of In Treatment, it didn't take me long to decide that Paul is a pretty bad therapist. His lack of self-awareness is laughable. He seems disorganized and doesn't seem to know how to communicate with his patients how therapy can work for them. Granted, most of his patients did not come in for the kind of therapy it appears that they need, or for therapy period. But perhaps especially during the early appointments, a therapist should offer some sort of mature clarity, share intents and, for lack of a better word, ground rules.

I would like to hear what others think of Paul's, and even Gina's, therapeutic methods.

Oh, yes, I'm still re-watching. I do love the acting.

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I've watched the entire serie and I must admit I think (or maybe hope) it was very unrealistic. It's a possibly genuine cliché that people that chose to become therapists are seeking help themselves. This is obviously the case with Paul. I just can't believe that a man of this age and training could possible have so little insight or selv awareness about his own condition. It seems ridiculous and unnecessary in the making of a series about therapy. The series would be just as interesting if not more so, if it had concentrated more on the patients then this sickening, unrealistic, emotional pingpong between the two ...

I agree. He is often portrayed as "crazier" than any of his own patients. And he blames HIS therapist more than his patients blame him! A therapist himself who should recognize his own behavior for what it is. I often thought both Gina and Adele were unreal in what they put up with from him, and didn't for a moment believe a real therapist would tolerate that kind of behavior, especially from a patient who should know better.

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He definitely has issues like most therapists. Most people are in denial of their own problems and therapists aren't that different. Of course all American therapists aren't terrible like him. You have your good and bad with every profession. One of his worse mistakes was letting Alex fly when he knew that he wasn't ready. And when he brought emotions into his therapy like with Laura. He should have ended it. He was using her as an escape from his shrew of a wife.





Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

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Have you ever personally known a therapist? I've known four, all from vastly different backgrounds, ethnicity, gender etc. I've also known social workers and nurses and they all have personal flaws that that antithetical to their professional lives. So for the most part I think this series is a pretty accurate portrayal of a therapist. Also a lot of patients become therapists and the mentor relationships they build can last a lifetime.

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I agree with SoylentGreenScreenPodcast 100%.
Therapists are only human, but some of his patients put him on a pedestal, the same way kids do with their teachers.

It's entertainment, so yeah it has to be peppered here and there,

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I've always had an interest in psychology. Never pursued it, but I've had people coming to me with problems since I can remember. So, when I saw the title of the series while scrolling through Amazon Prime offerings, I stopped to try it. I've seen maybe over 2 dozen so far, but don't know if I'll finish the series because as much as the theme intrigues me, the characters wear me out - every sentence from a patient was dramatic, constantly ladened with a kind of menace waiting to erupt in Paul's direction.

When I saw that the opening episode was a case of erotic transference, I knew it was just to hook viewers from the get-go, so, it felt cheap. Although I watched most of the Laura episodes, and that I thought Melissa George was right for the part, I found her character unendurable. She was just plain creepy. I almost felt trapped in the room with her, but maybe the producers were after that kind of claustrophobic feeling.

I couldn't watch Sophie more than a few episodes - she was too bratty, too precocious. Oliver lost me at the first one. Alex's volatility was unsettling.

My favorite patient was April. I began to skip over others to watch hers. I watched most of Mia's and Walter's. But, my favorite character was Kate, Paul's wife. I felt her acting was the best of all of them, for example, her handling of Sophie was among the best small scenes of season 1. I was disappointed she didn't have a larger role. Although I like Dianne Weist, her character was hard to take, so I began to skip her episodes. However I enjoyed the one with the "Imago" session (S1/ep.35) she facilitated between Paul and Kate.

As for Paul, I thought Mr Byrne did a good job. I found his pronunciation of words with "er" or "ur" odd. I also didn't like that he usually looked at patients from a 3/4 view instead of full face - something, oddly, no patient complained of. I don't know how real therapists operate, but I suspect there was a large dose of caricature written into his part for drama's sake.

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I watched most of season one, and yeah, the Laura storyline and the sessions with Diane Wiest really ground on my nerves. Paul does nothing but whine and point fingers in his own therapy. I lost interest a little over halfway through.

I'm rewatching the Sophie episodes, though, to see how that story wraps up. When I first watched them they made me a lifelong Mia Wasikowska fan. I think her character is very well-written. She obviously has a lot of hostility, and the way she directs it at Paul so often can be very bratty and obnoxious. But she has just enough charm to keep me rooting for her healing. She reminds me of a lot of girls I have known.

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I am a therapist (Masters level, not commanding the big bucks like Paul) and I assure you this is unrealistic in some ways, especially all of the ethical boundaries he crosses and yes, his own screwed-up life and head. Sure none of us are perfect, but we have standards we must uphold or lose our licenses, and we need to already be done with our own counseling, not still need it while working with patients.
The style of psychotherapy Paul engages in, based on the Freudian model, does encourage a patient to become dependent on the therapist, to even transfer their anger/pain/other emotions onto him. So in that sense, it is realistic, and the reason why many of us do NOT follow that model. I watch this show and see hour after hour of patients verbally and emotionally abusing Paul, and his stone-faced, patient and tolerant reaction, and know that I could never be that kind of therapist.
At any rate, it's a TV show and therefore the temptations and titillations are mandatory. But at the same time, I am inclined to believe that part of the premise of this show is that Paul is more f-ed up than those he seeks to assist.

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