In Treatment: HBO
After watching a few episodes of HBO’s new drama series "In Treatment," you have to wonder if the pay-cable giant has recently changed its way of doing things. Is it now using its programming as an instrument of torture designed to drive away as many viewers as possible? (San Jose Mercury-News)
But if you were a fan of [Tell Me You Love Me], or if you are currently riveted by the messy life stories unspooling on A&E’s Intervention (or its freaky VH1 cousin Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew), this show’s emotional cliffhangers could have you glued to the peephole. (San Diego Tribune)
Sometimes, however, a series is just a series. “In Treatment” is not a sign of network post-traumatic stress disorder but of HBO’s inner resilience. This show is smart and rigorous, with a concentration that bores deep without growing dull. Particularly after the lackluster performance of “Tell Me You Love Me,” it is commendable that HBO chose a show that is entirely wrapped around the practice of psychotherapy; the camera rarely leaves Paul’s office, and when it does, it is to record his sessions in Gina’s office. (NY Times)
It isn’t high literature nor even perhaps high television, but "In Treatment" does have a welcome, and occasionally riveting, pulpy streak, perhaps inevitable with its promise of peeks behind doors that usually remain closed. Wednesday’s child is full of woe, but that goes for Monday’s, Tuesday’s, Thursday’s and Friday’s, too. (Washington Post)
That said, I watched all seven weeks that HBO sent me (that’s 35 episodes, people), one after the other, as fast as I could clear the room of my young children. I stayed up past midnight, grew hollow-eyed and pale, missed meals and refused to answer my cellphone or check my e-mail just so I could squeeze in another episode. It wasn’t pretty, but it sure was fun. (LA Times)
A daily 30-minute session is a big commitment for viewers. But I can’t wait to make a nightly appointment with "In Treatment." (Salt Lake Tribune)
It’s boring. It’s fraudulent rather than Freudian. At least the pain in "Tell Me You Love Me" seemed honest. "In Treatment" takes the gravitas out of actors being emotionally naked and replaces it with the empty sheen of actors trying desperately to will drama from artificial angst. At its worst, "In Treatment" feels like an "Oprah" show without the commercials. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Unfortunately, even at its sporadic best, In Treatment comes across as no more than an actor’s exercise, one likely to be best remembered for providing future acting students with a large supply of two-character scenes for class projects. (USA Today)
That said, the first episode of this show will probably make you roll your eyes and beg the gods for mercy. Don’t give up, though, because "In Treatment" is sharp and unique and worth the effort. And in this impoverished TV era, well, let’s just say you have the time. (Salon.com)
The show, like therapy itself, takes some work and is often unpleasant. It also has some rewards. The acting is impeccable – believable and riveting at every turn – and the writing is clean, swift and muscular. Overall, the show is a deep look at being human. (Sacramento Bee)
Check out a preview clip of In Treatment below.
DPD commented:
I am also a psychotherapist and my only complaint is that you will find that all the clients portrayed are there to do anything but therapy. So they all test, confront, corner, and accuse. I feel we must be getting the most challenging of his clients. I also find it interesting that the therapist becomes somewhat like his clients when he meets with his own peer counselor as he often becomes abrasive with her (in fact too abrasive making me what what she gets out of the experience). The fact that the therapist has problems does not bother me. He is human after all. People need to stop seeing therapists as either perfect saviors or completely screwed up individuals. They are human beings who are there to provide a service while they leave (for the most part) their personal lives outside of the sessions. The problems you see in clients and therapist are intensified for entertainment value. Also what is missing is the informed consent form on the first session where confidentialty is addressed and expectations set. This would have also addressed any mandated reporting in cases of child abuse.
Theresa commented:
I have 8 more sessions of In Treatment 1 to watch and I am addicted. (1) Blair Underwood is a revelation. (2) I have been in therapy with psychiatrists for the past 22 years, and I'm talking New York, as I have Bipolar Disorder, and I also have a talk therapist whom I respect greatly. DRJW's comments were so right - this show needs a professional consultant. The days of digging up the past and analyzing every single thing are over. It takes too long and it's too expensive. Cognitive/behavioral therapy is more effective and current. That's not to say that Daddy and Mommy issues don't come up, but the overanalyzing that Paul does is tedious.
I watch for Blair Underwood and I can't wait to see his mythological father (Glynn Turman)
he has been referred to in sessions, in the episode that won him Mr. Turman his Guest Star Emmy.
Blair Underwood is a better actor than Gabriel Byrne, Kate (Michelle Forbes) and Dianne Wiest all appear more with-it than the character Paul, who is supposed to be the insightful, aware and guiding agent. A psychiatrist who sits on the couch with his patient? Patients who just get up and walk around? A psychiatrist who physically attacks his patient during a session? And best yet, a psychiatrist who tells a patient he is in love with her? Get some professional guidance, but it is a great soap opera.
GBR commented:
i have really enjoyed this series. I don't know how accurately it depicts what happens in psychotherapy. But it was very believable. I really liked the story lines. And the acting was absolutely first rate.
In Treatment commented:
I WANT MORE, MORE, MORE!
Paula commented:
Superb acting, great writing, can't wait to watch. Thank you, HBO. Oh, and Dr. JW, me thinks thou dost protest too much!
Mike V commented:
Fortunately or unfortunately I am not a therapist and I see this series as a story. It is the story of a therapist and his struggles which are real and very possible. If I happened to be a psychotherapist maybe I would be threatened by it because it exposes how vulnerable we can be whether we have training or not. I would also dread my patients thinking less of me because of it. The stories are wonderful, characters superb, the technical writing may be wanting but it holds the attention of a broad spectrum of viewers either liking or disliking it.
DRJW commented:
WHEN I FIRST STARTED SEEING THE HBO SERIES 'IN TREATMENT' I WAS DELIGHTED AND MOST HOPEFUL THAT FINALLY A THERAPIST WOULD BE DEPICTED IN THE MEDIA AS BEING AN EFFECTIVE PRACTITIONER. I
I AM AN AVID VIEWER..AND HAVE WATCHED EACH EPISODE SINCE ITS INCEPTION AT LEAST 3 TIMES AND AS A SENIOR PSYCHOLOGIST WHO HAS BEEN PRACTICING FOR OVER 40 YEARS..I AM SO DISAPPOINTED...WHILE EACH MEMBER OF THE CAST IS OUTSTANDING,THE PROGRAM'S WRITING...SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PSYCHOLOGIST, HOW HE IS PORTRAYED..AS BASICALLY BEING EVEN MORE TROUBLED AND DISTURBED THAN ANY OR ALL OF HIS PATIENTS....!
BILLY CRYSTAL IN THE FEATURE 'ANALYZE THIS' WAS MORE BELIEVABLE...BOTH THERAPIST, INCL DIANE WIESS, ARE DEPICTED AS BEING SIGNIFICANTLY DISTURBED INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE NO BOUNDARIES OF THEIR OWN AND HAVE SO MANY PERSONAL ISSUES THAT CLEARLY ENTER AND INTERFERE IN EACH AND EVERY SESSION....MY OWN PATIENTS ASK ME AFTER SEEING SOME OF OF YOUR EPISODES: "ARE SHRINKS THAT DISTURBED.??.' THEY FEEL THAT THIS IS LIKE 'THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND...'
WHILE IT IS OK TO SHOW THAT WE HAVE A 'HUMAN SIDE'....THE PROGRAM'S WRITERS TRULY NEED A PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT, AS MOST MEDICAL PROGRAMS HAVE, TO GET THEM BACK ON TRACK AND SHOW IT'S VIEWERS THAT THERE CAN BE PROS AND CONS TO A THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP...THUS FAR, AND INCREASINGLY MORE SO...I ONLY SEE 'CONS'...THIS COULD BE AN AMAZING SERIES..I WAS HOPING THAT IT WOULD BE...IT IS NOT..ONCE AGAIN NOT DUE TO THE CAST BUT DUE TO THE SCRIPTS...NOT AT ALL A VALID DEPICTION AT ALL OF WHAT THERAPY CAN AND SHOULD BE LIKE...'PAUL' LOOKS INCREASINGLY PAINED WITH EACH SUBSEQUENT EPISODE...BOTTOM LINE..HE SHOULD TAKE A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM HIS PRACTICE AND GET HIS LIFE TOGETHER PRIOR TO TREATING ANY ONE ELSE.
THANKS FOR 'LISTENING'!