Psychologized issue 2 Volume 2 | Page 6

Although we cannot accuse the film or book industry for many incidences of boundary violations between psychotherapists and their clients, it is quite plausible that such depictions serve to maintain popular beliefs regarding the inappropriate client–therapist relationships. Although movies and books are under no obligation to follow reality, themes that potentially disrupt the public’s confidence in psychotherapy are very common. Nevertheless, our real concern should be to seek the reasons why movies and novels continue to depict psycho-therapists in such a distorted way.

First of all, we should underline the fact that these portrayals may be partly based on real events. It is true that there are many therapists who violate ethical boundaries. The degree of distortion, of course, can be very extravagant in a movie, but the point still remains the same. Another thing we should take into consideration is the commercial factor; film industries tend to create stories that have impact on the audience. Apparently, stories about crazy or mentally unstable therapists, or stories about love/ sexual affairs seem to appeal more in the audience than the real nature of the therapist- patient relationship.

Psychologized / June 2014