Tanvi Bansal Have we ever wondered if a clown can act as a catalyst to heal pain, suffering or anxiety? When we think of going to a doctor for treatment of illnesses, we can think of a typical setting where a doctor examines a patient, prescribes medicines or operates if required. What if we add a touch of treating emotional and mental health? To build on this idea, the movie; Patch Adam states    “You treat a disease: you win, you lose. You treat a person; I guarantee you win- no matter the outcome”(Shadyac 1998) Hence, this paper aims to understand the importance of treating psychological health of patients suffering from various biological ailments.     This will be apprehended by analysing the use of “humor and laughter” used by Doctor Patch Adam in the movie.   In this true to life movie, Doctor Adam is a suicidal man who admits himself to a psychiatric hospital. There he gets treated, by not the help of doctors but by the bond he create...

Kashish Janiani Typically, when we hear the word ‘therapy,’ we imagine the patient sitting on a couch in front  of the therapist for about an hour every week, for months or even years. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a present-oriented form of psychotherapy based on the cognitive model and on an average requires 10-20 weekly sessions. Even Psychodynamic therapy, which focuses on uncovering the unconscious consists of weekly sessions typically running up to 37 weeks. What we do not imagine, however, is a quick fix. So, does the efficacy of therapy depend on its duration? Does it have to stretch out over months and years?  Although most forms of psychotherapy are rooted in the practice of weekly sessions over an extended time period, clinicians have started exploring the possibility of brief, but intensive therapies. These therapies - some lasting for hours, some for a few days, have specifically been targeting anxiety disorders such as Obsessive Compulsive Di...

Isha Nagpal Diagnosis is a process of determining the nature and extent of a psychological disorder. In other words, it means assigning the label of a psychological disorder to a case on the basis of observable symptoms and various assessment techniques. Given the nature of psychological disorders, it is a fairly complex process to assign a name to some problem that a person is going through. Unlike medical diagnosis, psychological diagnosis involves understanding not only the tangible causes but also looking for certain intangible triggers that can affect a person’s mental health.  When it comes to diagnosing a patient with a mental illness there are a number of problems that can arise. Susan Heitler in her article titled ‘Psychological Diagnosis: Dangerous, Desirable, or Both?’ talks about some of these problems. One problem that she highlights here is that of the emergence of a self-fulfilling prophecy when a patient is diagnosed with a psychological disorder. For exam...

Svasti Dutta While HBO’s Big Little Lies has received literal awards for its cinematography and acting, its portrayal of therapy has also earned metaphorical laurels from real-life therapists (Dahl, 2017). The character of Dr. Amanda Reisman is one of its kind in popular culture, and realistically approaches the ways in which a therapist can support a victim of domestic abuse. This blog post will analyse Dr. Reisman’s as a therapist, and will sometimes draw away from what she got right in order to point out where she went woefully wrong. Dr. Reisman’s therapeutic approach seems eclectic; she does provide a non-judgemental space, but her questions are often directive and probing. In the first season, she is a lot more gentle with Celeste, and her approach does have aspects of client-centred therapy. However, her guidance in the second season doesn’t fit any particular approach, and borders on being unethical, in my opinion. Her role begins as that of a couples’ therapist for Celes...

Bhavya Dixit If this question has ever crossed your mind, a few findings mentioned below will propel your thoughts further. Psychologists, by virtue of their position, are more likely to experience psychological distress. They may have above average sensitivity to people and the environment along with a sense of isolation. During their training, trainees often have a supervisor and a therapist (Bearse, 2014). Is starting off under supervision but then having to contain everything ideal? As practitioners, having a positive support system and ongoing self-care are important but knowing when to seek professional help is crucial. After all, to what extent can one be a wounded healer? Especially, if the healing is not pursued. This blog will touch upon the factors that tell us whether or not psychologists should get psychological help along with a few factors that might limit them from doing so. During the course of their job, professionals are, more often than not, directly in contact...

Akanksha Mete Rap music, which traces its roots to African immigrants in the 1970s, is often used to lend a voice to members of these marginalised communities, usually with sociopolitical connotations (Crossley, 2005). Rapper Dave’s album, Psychodrama, is similar - what is exceptional is its format, wherein the album reflects his journey through a year of therapy, and individual songs constitute an individual therapy session. The album is inspired by Dave's incarcerated brother’s experiences with psychodramatic therapy (Savage, 2019), a form of experiential therapy wherein the client roleplays real-life situations to externalise their feelings regarding past events, and contextualise them in the present (Casey, 2001). Dave’s therapist, who remains unnamed, appears on the songs “Psycho”, “Purple Heart”, “Environment”, and “Lesley”, and can be heard asking Dave questions, as well as detailing the progress Dave makes towards recovery. This posts examines the actions taken by Da...

 Disha Sheth  ‘Dear Zindagi’ is a movie centred around the life of the protagonist, Kaira and how by focusing on her mental health. Through the process of therapy she is able to overcome her obstacles and start living a happier life. However there are many factual inaccuracies in the relationship between Kaira and her therapist.  The aim of this blog post would be to highlight the accurate and inaccurate perceptions of the client-therapist relationship that have been portrayed in the movie. An objective of a good therapist is to ensure that the client is comfortable. This aids the diagnosis and treatment process. The therapist in this film achieves this by building a good rapport with the client when she first came in through the use of humour which caused her tensed demeanour to immediately relax. He told her that she could stand or sit as long as it suited her during the session, which further increased her comfort levels and helped strengthen the rapport betw...

Payal Somani For years, Psychotherapy and related mental health treatments have been something of a stigma in India, where people who seek such treatment are considered nothing short of ‘mad’. With time, this mentality has gradually started to change, although seeking a therapist is still not close to being seen as entirely normal by most people. There is little portrayal of mental health treatment in Indian mainstream media as well, but it seems like that it also starting to change. Dear Zindagi, a 2016 film by Gauri Shinde, explores psychotherapy in India and in this paper, I will look at the methods adopted in the psychotherapy sessions shown in the movie and analyze their effectiveness. The movie revolves around the life of Kaira, a cinematographer who shifts to Goa to stay at her parents’ house after being asked to vacate her apartment in Mumbai. She decides to seek a therapist, Dr. Jehangir Khan AKA Jug, after a bad break-up that leaves her suffering from ins...