You take so much on as a therapist: you just sit there and listen to people talk with you, and you're trying to help people, and it can be draining.
'Gypsy' follows a New York therapist, played by Naomi Watts. It explores the boundaries between patient and doctor - she kind of starts to play puppeteer with her clients.
I think if I took therapy, the doctor would quit. He'd just pick up the couch and walk out of the room.
I quit therapy because my analyst was trying to help me behind my back.
I'm a therapist and that fascinates people because they think I carry secrets.
Therapists need to have a long experience in personal therapy to see what it's like to be on the other side of the couch and see what they find helpful or not helpful.
Whenever you see shrinks on television, they're so clearly written by patients. They're either idealized or they're demonized or they love their patients. All they ever think about is their patients.
Years ago, I met once a week, 9 A.M. sharp, with a therapist whom I will call Dr. Mason. We would settle in well-worn chairs, Dr. Mason, a slender, balding middle-ager in blazer and striped tie, and me, an anxious academic in Levi's and tweeds.
The journalist cannot create his subjects any more than the analyst can create his patients.
