How are psychologists portrayed on screen?

An APA committee hopes to help Hollywood more accurately depict therapists.

By Scott Sleek
Monitor staff

It?s not that psychologist Harriet T. Schultz didn?t enjoy the movies Tin Cup' and 'The First Wives? Club.' In fact, she found both films entertaining. But there on the big screen, she was also seeing her profession being portrayed in the worst possible way. Therapists were becoming 'unethical boundary violators,' as she puts it, by getting romantically involved with their patients.

Schultz is among several psychologists who lament the negative stereotypes of therapists displayed on the big and small screens and who worry even more that the public views these depictions as normal therapist behavior.

In response, Schultz, a Houston practitioner, and other members of APA?s Div. 46 (Media) have joined a special panel called the Media Watch Committee to examine the way therapists are portrayed in movies, television shows and books.

The group, assembled and chaired by Baltimore practitioner Shirley Glass, PhD, hopes eventually to develop regular contacts with Hollywood producers, screenwriters and directors so that committee members can help those professionals foster more accurate depictions of therapists and the psychotherapy process.

The group is particularly concerned that many fictional on-screen therapists whose actions violate the APA Code of Ethics, are portrayed as brilliant and even noble, Glass says.

Examples include therapists played by Barbra Streisand in 'Prince of Tides' and Robin Williams in 'Good Will Hunting.' Both characters made great therapeutic inroads with their patients but crossed ethical boundaries in the process. Streisand?s character began an affair with her patient?s brother?who himself became her patient?while Williams discussed his own personal issues with his patient and at one point physically threatened him.

There?s more to come. Warner Bros. next July will release a film 'Eyes Wide Shut,' a story about two troubled psychologists who are also husband and wife. Details of the film are sketchy, but reportedly the therapists, played by Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, have extramarital affairs with their patients and shoot morphine.

Glass said she was inspired to inaugurate the committee because she was so distressed by the depictions of patient-therapist sexual relationships in film and television. (Glass was formerly chair of Maryland?s psychology board and a member of a statewide task force that is examining sexual exploitation by health providers.)

'I get very concerned with a lot of the messages conveyed to the public about what good therapy is,' says Glass. 'A lot of times it?s the therapist who oversteps the boundaries who is seen as the super-wonderful therapist.'

A ratings system

Media Watch plans initially to develop a rating system that ranks the different ways psychologists are portrayed. The rankings will gauge the overall imagery of therapists being presented in the media.

Schultz, who has been studying psychologists in the movies, has already developed several categories of therapist stereotypes on the screen. The first three were developed by psychiatrist Irving Schneider, MD, but others she labeled herself. They include:

? 'Dr. Dippy,' who is crazier or zanier than his patients. Examples are Mel Brooks in 'High Anxiety' or TV?s Frasier Crane.

? 'Dr. Evil,' usually a corrupt mind-controller or homicidal maniac like Hannibal Lecter in 'Silence of the Lambs.'

? 'Dr. Wonderful,' the warm, caring, competent therapist who has endless time to devote to patients and often cures them by uncovering a single traumatic event. Examples are the psychiatrists in 'Ordinary People' and 'Three Faces of Eve.'

? 'Dr. Rigid,' who stifles joy, fun and creativity. The spoilsport psychologist who tries to have Santa Claus committed as a lunatic in 'Miracle on 34th Street' is an illustration of this stereotype.

? 'Dr. Line-Crosser,' who becomes romantically involved with a patient, like Streisand in 'Prince of Tides.'

The public?s perceptions

The images may indeed be affecting public perceptions, Schultz says.

She and colleague Susan Dickson recently conducted a survey of 504 people?mostly college students?to see if they recognized certain therapist violations in the movies and to see if they hold stereotypes of therapists. Schultz and Dickson discovered that 90 percent of the respondents know romantic relationships between therapist and

patient are wrong, but about 70 percent thought it fine for therapists to have business or social relationships with patients once treatment has ended.

Males more than females held stereotypes of therapists, particularly the 'dippy' and 'rigid' stereotypes, they found. And males were more likely than females to view the line-crossing behaviors as acceptable.

The misperceptions also occur among film critics. Mary Banks Gregerson, PhD, a Media Watch member and Alexandria, Va., therapist, recently studied all the reviews of last year?s film 'Good Will Hunting.' She found that while critics had a variety of descriptions of the psychologist Sean McGuire?one described him as 'brilliant,' another as 'troubled'?only one of the more than 250 reviews she examined even questioned the 'professionalism' of his actions. Some even describe the scene in which McGuire (played by Williams) angrily chokes Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon) as only 'rocky' or 'abrasive.'

Media Watch wants to educate the public about ethical and competent therapist behaviors so that people can better identify inappropriate actions by therapists.

For serious films, the group hopes to advise Hollywood producers and screenwriters about how to portray a therapist as competent and ethical without sacrificing dramatic or comedic impact. Movies or films could, for example, depict a therapist struggling with strong feelings for a patient, but ultimately resisting temptation, Schultz suggests.

The committee is especially concerned about presentations of psychologists? sexual behavior. Several psychologists have had an Internet dialogue about the Fox sitcom 'Getting Personal.' The season premiere included a scene in which a psychologist initiates a sexual encounter with a client. (The show has since been cancelled due to low ratings.)

In response, Media Watch is collaborating with an America Online feature called 'Electra' (www.electra.com), a feature web page for women, to cast light on the program. Electra recently ran an article written by Amherst, Mass., psychologist Keri Heitner, PhD, criticizing the episode. And Glass, who serves as relationship columnist for the online feature, also helped Electra set up a poll to ask readers about their thoughts on the media?s portrayal of psychologists and psychotherapy.

Meanwhile, Gregerson?s writings on her 'Good Will Hunting' research recently appeared on the practitioner page of 'Psychwatch,' an online information service for psychologists at www.psych watch.com.

But Media Watch members also want to keep a sense of humor. They plan to recognize lampoon-ery as lampoonery, says Glass.

'We want to be careful not to get too critical of things that are obviously satire,' she says. 'Then we would come across as too self-centered and rigid. When the film is making fun of everybody, therapist included, we shouldn?t act overly offended.'