Help with the ins and outs of therapy

LaurenSamantha

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Hi,

I am starting a short novel which revolves around a therapist main character. The chapters will go through her sessions with various characters. I have never had therapy and wondered if there is anything I need to avoid or things I need to make sure I write into it. Basically advice on writing a therapist main character would be fantastic.

She has her own practice in London and has been doing it for years if that helps.

Thanks in advance.
 

cornflake

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I'd be very careful here. You've not been involved in therapy at all, but your whole book is therapy sessions?

That said, I don't even know where to begin. Therapy/therapist is meaningless. What is her job, education, model, what types of sessions, clients, etc., etc., etc., etc.
 

BenPanced

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There are also different kinds of mental health treatment, "therapy" being a bit of a catch-all umbrella term. Many people are, of course, more familiar with talk-based therapy, where the patient/client goes to the therapist's office and the two discuss the client's issues/concerns/thoughts and they try to uncover any possible treatment. Even then, you'll also have to consider psychology vs. psychiatry and the various sub-specialties so your MC really can't just be a "therapist" without you having a specific story you'd like to tell.
 

bombergirl69

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I'm with Cornflake on this--that's a tough topic to write about if you know nothing about it, particularly as a MC. i'm a psychologist and wouldn't know where to start. What kind of therapy? Evaluations? Consults? Occupational/industrial stuff? Forensics? There are a zillion kinds of therapy and different approaches for different issues. Most folks have good general knowledge, but also some specific populations/issues with which they are most comfortable. What's the story (what do you need)? This is the kind of thing that people who HAVE been in therapy (and there are so many, many who have) will immediately pick up on stuff that feels wrong. Are you envisioning a kind of Armistead Maupin-type collection of adorable therapy clients? Or...?

There are so many nuances to this that would be very hard to grasp if you have not had any experience and don't have access to an open and loquacious mental health provider. This came up in another forum where someone who obviously knew nothing about psychology or mental health decided it would be a neat plot point to have their MC (psychologist) reveal their own trauma history to a young client. We don't do that and it would be hard to make a credible story (unless the plot was about how a psychologist gradually decompensates, makes terrible decisions, eventually loses their license and so on.)

Of course, a lot of people get their information about psychologists from Hollywood, which is a terrible, terrible idea! While some of the movies are entertaining, we don't run off with our clients (Mrs. jones), or sleep with them/their families (Prince of Tides) or throw clients up against walls (Good Will Hunting) although all those thing are probably tempting at one time or another. As far as Hollywood goes, been a zillion years but I thought Judd Hirsh in Ordinary People did a really good job.

I don't know what drew you to this plot line, but I think you are going to have some serious research if you want to make this work, but I sure wish you the best with it!
 

Barbara R.

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Agree with Bombergirl. You need a friendly therapist source to answer your questions and vet your decisions. The goal should be that an actual therapist could read your story without stumbling over mistakes or unlikely behavior. You need to nail the lingo, figure out the tabus, absorb some therapist jokes...you have to get inside that world. Otherwise you're just making it up as you go along; and even though you're writing fiction, you can't write good fiction unless you do the necessary research.

Read stuff--books, blogs, etc.--by actual therapists. Educate yourself that way--then search for an actual person to help. Most people are more than happy to talk about their work to interested people. Go through your contacts list; if you don't know any therapists, I bet you know people who do.

If worst comes to worst, you could actually do a session or two. What could it hurt?
 

Bacchus

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One of my best friends retrained as a Therapist after twenty years in recruitment and is loving it.

As the others have said, there are many different flavours of "therapist" - my friend is a regular "sit on the couch and ask questions" therapist but years ago when I worked in the prison service I worked with music-therapists, art-therapists, speech-therapists... and another friend's partner is a educational psychotherapist.

If your MC is a "sit on the couch" type it seems to be all about asking questions and definitely not about providing answers; the clients need to find the answers. The training is largely therapy for yourself. They don't judge; it's ok if you are a racist mysogynist who hates left-handed people and the colour purple as long as you realise that and don't let it cloud your judgement!

The reasons people go to see a therapist are as many and varied as there are people. My friend has worked with people traumatised by near-death experiences, victims of crime, people suffering from depression, people who are unsure about their sexuality, all sorts, and he is contemplating a couples counselling course to help couples to stay together or separate more amicably.

I can see that there could be a wealth of material for you as a writer and I hope this helps a little but, whilst you aren't writing up your MC's cases as if they were real (presumably), there is a lot to learn before diving in if you want to make it vaguely realistic and believable.
 

KTC

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Your aim is too generic.
 

GeorgeK

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Psychological Therapy? Occupational? Speech? Physical?...