Vasudha Bedi
Grey's Anatomy brings up the topic of mental health in an authentic, unglamorous way. It forces us to deal with the fact that, in the words of its protagonist Meredith Grey, "not everybody has to be happy all the time. That's not mental health. It's crap." The characters don't shy away from discussing their mental health as is evident from a conversation that takes place between Meredith and her friend, Christina about being in, what they call, the 'dark place.' The show's portrayal of the therapeutic setting draws attention to the fact that "people need and deserve support through their dark night of the soul. They need a psychologically meaningful method to confront their metaphorical devils and demons" (Diamond, 2008).
The depiction of psychotherapy in the show is a far cry from how therapy actually takes place. The constant probing and prodding done by the therapist not only go against the standards set for effective communication but also make Meredith want to quit therapy altogether. The therapy depicted is loosely oriented to the challenging trajectory where there is "discontinuation in intonation and rhythm between the client's and the therapist's turns, and the therapist [speaks] with [a] voice that is higher and louder than the client's" (Weiste & Peräkylä, 2014). It is therefore not surprising that clients usually "find these formulations as being somehow problematic and typically [reject] them" (Weiste & Peräkylä, 2014). The line of questioning adopted by the therapy relies heavily on Meredith's complicated childhood hinting at its psychodynamic nature. Keeping this in mind, one would be expected to adopt a subtle, gentle approach in bringing the patient's problematic behaviour to the fore. Dr. Wyatt, however, flips the tables and follows a path of direct, and on some occasions, hostile confrontation. This is evident in the opening scene of the episode where one can see Meredith accusing her therapist of calling her a coward and a quitter. Instead of handling her emotional outburst professionally, Dr. Wyatt chooses to break all professional boundaries. She reiterates Meredith's cowardice by weaving a narrative of incidents that depict her habit of quitting. She doesn't gloss over Meredith's suicide attempt which further proves her point and aggravates an already aggravated Meredith who then storms out of the room.
Having established the problems entwined with the challenging trajectory, the episode resounds of Meredith's denial in response to all the claims heaped upon her by the therapist. One would assume that denial is an apt response to the situation at hand, but a recent study has concluded that denial follows several theoretical models, so labelling it a defence mechanism would be erroneous. The kind of denial witnessed here follows the interactional model, which states that "denial is a predictable outcome of inappropriate aggressive confrontation. Reactance occurs when an individual feels like his or her freedom or autonomy is threatened" (Stoddard-Dare & DeRigne, 2009). In a therapeutic situation, "the therapist often attempts to communicate that the situation is a permissive one" (Mechanic, 1961). 'Permissive' implies that the client has the freedom to bring up and discuss topics in their own time. Dr. Wyatt's untimely mention of Meredith's complicated relationship with her mother or the way she chooses to live life effectively take away from Meredith the freedom to broach these sensitive issues. Adhering to the framework of discussion laid down by the therapist, therefore, provokes a strong reaction from her.
The most hard-hitting observations that dawned on me while watching the show, however, weren't the glaring discrepancies I had observed but something very rudimentary. While discussing Meredith's inability to commit, Dr. Wyatt points out that people, as part of being, in a relationship, are bound to make mistakes. She focuses on Meredith's habit of waiting for people to mess up only so that she can use it as a means to quit. However, despite the many flaws that mar their professional relationship, Meredith is willing to put in the effort required to work on and better herself. Thus, Meredith asking Dr. Wyatt to 'fix' her broken self becomes an inadvertent sign of improvement. Although the show's depiction of therapy isn't exactly accurate, it forces people to acknowledge the merits and demerits of portraying therapy on screen thereby stirring the melting pot of conversation which, at the end of the day, is enough.
References:
Diamond, S. A. (2008, August). Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evil-deeds/200808/denial-and-the-de-souling-psychotherapy-reply-is-psychotherapy-dying
Frawley, J. (Director). (2008, May 15). Losing My Mind. [Television series episode] In J. Bans (Producer), Grey’s Anatomy. Los Angeles, CA: American Broadcasting Company.
Mechanic, D. (1961). Role Expectations and Communication in the Therapist-Patient Relationship. Journal of Health and Human Behavior, 194.
Stoddard-Dare, P. A., & DeRigne, L. (2010). Denial in Alcohol and Other Drug Use Disorders: A Critique of Theory. Social Work Faculty Publications, 184-185.
Weiste, E., & Peräkylä, A. (2014). Prosody and empathic communication in psychotherapy interaction. Psychotherapy Research, 697-698.
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