Not like the movies
If you've spent any substantial amount of time plopped in front of a television, you've probably seen some sort of media representation of therapy, mental illness, and mental health professionals. Fortunately, the increased visibility of the mental health field helps to diminish the stigma surrounding mental illness and seeking treatment. Unfortunately, therapists' are oftentimes portrayed as unprofessional and ethically flexible individuals who have compromising relationships with their clients. In this post, I will explore common tropes about mental health and mental health professionals that are portrayed in the media.
Sex with clients
Many therapists have personal friendships or even sexual relationships with their clients while they are treating them, or shortly after treatment is terminated. In the popular sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," one of the main characters is court mandated to attend therapy, and within a few months the two share a sexual relationship and later get engaged. In reality, the therapist would lose his license and face serious ethical and legal consequences. The therapeutic relationship is unique in that the therapist knows the client very intimately, but the client only knows what the therapist chooses to share. It is not even, and there is a strong power differential that makes sharing an intimate relationship incredibly irresponsible of the therapist and potentially extremely damaging for the client.
Therapists' jobs are to give advice
A common trope is a client coming to therapy for a short term to get some advice and figure out what to do. While some courses of treatment are short term and solution focused, advice giving is not in a therapist's job description. A therapist's job is to guide the client and assist them in exploring their thoughts and feelings so the client can find the appropriate course of action for them. Sometimes psycho-education, or sharing information to help the client understand, is involved, though no direct advice is given. Therapist's help the client read the road map, they don't steer the car.
Media representation of mental illness
TV and movies show both incredibly accurate and damagingly inaccurate and stereotyped portrayals of mental illness. Shows such as "13 Reasons Why" have come under fire for ignoring the input of mental health professionals and showing individuals coping with mental health conditions as a result of the actions of others and using suicide as a means of punishing and placing blame on others. The film "Silver Linings Playbook" shows a much more accurate depiction of mental illness, the complexities of both main characters' fluctuations in mood and mental status ring true and show that mental illness encompasses lifestyle, genetics, and brain chemistry. Other movies, like "Joker" show mental illness as the direct result of trauma which leads to violence and antisocial behavior, painting individuals coping with mental illness as bombs that are bound to detonate after being mistreated.
To sum it up...
It is worth clarifying that coping with a mental illness doesn't make you bad, complicated, or a comic book foe. The majority of the population will cope with a mental health condition at some point; be it situational such as a depressive episode following the loss of a loved one or an adjustment disorder during a significant life change, or something that is present for a longer period of time or potentially persists through a person's life, like obsessive-compulsive or bipolar disorder. The rays of hope are plentiful for those struggling with their mental health: therapy is now widely accessible and medication treatments are widely accepted. There are options and there is hope.
If you have questions, or need connected with resources, please feel free to get in touch via the "contact me" button on the home page.
What do you think about the way mental health is shown in the media? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
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