Geetika Sharma  The process of therapy can be slow and boring. It involves hours of talking, homework, introspection, and the frustration of dealing with non-linear recovery. This, obviously, can be hard to convey as an interesting part of one’s story, especially in a medium focused on entertainment, such as a television show. The solution reached, more often than not, is misrepresenting therapy and the client-therapist relationship to make it more ‘interesting’( Furlonger et al., 2015). A great example of this is the streaming platform Netflix’s hit show Lucifer .  In Lucifer, a drama/comedy that explores the concept of how the biblical devil would conduct himself in the human world, the titular character, Lucifer, visits a therapist to understand his emotions better. However, being an angel of desire, he seduces his therapist, Dr. Linda, and pursues a sexual relationship with her that spans over multiple episodes. Further, in the show, Dr. Linda proceeds to befriend he...

Shubhi Pal When to conclude therapy is ideally a decision that is based upon mutual discussion and agreement of both parties involved in therapy: the therapist and the client. However, in several cases this decision is made solely by the client, in opposition to the advice of the therapist and original agreement by both individuals. This is termed as premature termination of therapy (Ogrodniczuk et al., 2005). Estimates on the extent of this phenomenon are reported to be as high as 47% by several studies (Barrett et al., 2008). More recent studies estimate that one out of every five clients drop out of therapy before it is completed (Swift & Greenberg, 2012, as cited in Swift et al., 2018) 1 . Additionally, this phenomenon is observed across therapy settings and therapy types (Anderson, 2015). Dropping out of treatment before its successful resolution poses a major barrier to the efficacy of therapeutic approaches. Clients who terminate therapy early are more likely to experience d...

 Mehek Kataria                Good Will Hunting is a 1997 psychological drama film, directed by Gus Van Sant, that revolves around the lives of the protagonist Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon) and his therapist Sean Maguire (played by Robin Williams). Will is a 20-year-old mathematical prodigy who works as a janitor at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), while Sean is a psychology professor at a Community College. The film, which is a depiction of Will’s journey of self-realisation and personal growth, is anchored by the multiple scenes of psychotherapy between Sean and Will. This article aims to analyse these scenes from a conceptual view of psychotherapy. After solving two highly challenging, graduate-level mathematical problems on a blackboard at MIT, Will comes under the radar of Professor Gerald Lambeau. Shortly after, Will is arrested for striking a police officer while in the middle of a street fight. L...

  Pranaya Prakash The focus of Consumer and Marketing Psychology has been different from that of Clinical Psychology; the former takes a psychosocial and business-oriented approach (Rick et al., 2013; Lee, 2015) while the latter takes a mental health and psychopathological approach. A subject that has always been of interest in popular culture (“Shopping: Pros and Cons,” 2010) is the understanding and functionality of “retail therapy”. Moreover, whether retail therapy falls under the ambit of Consumer Psychology or Clinical psychology is a matter of concern. Typically, consumerism and consumption in Economics is studied from hedonistic and capitalistic principles (Lee, 2015) but one research study (Rick et al., 2013) observes retail therapy from a mental health viewpoint. This particular study is interesting because the researchers (Rick et al., 2013) hold that retail therapy, also known as “compensatory consumption” (Yurchisin et al., 2006), is viewed negatively. They (Garg ...

  Aditi Sridhar While Euphoria , directed by Sam Levinson, has gained popularity for its glamorous portrayal of adolescent problems, there is truth underlying each of its narratives. As an integral character of the show, Rue Bennet's story is no different. In episode five of the second season, viewers are privy to a turbulent battle between Rue and her loved ones as they confront her relapse with oxycontin, an opioid. At the height of her withdrawal, there is a vulnerable scene that features the seventeen-year-old girl attempting to intimidate her mother, Leslie, after being caught for using drugs. Although the entire encounter is agonising, a specific accusation from Leslie to Rue is arguably the most excruciating: "You're not a good person, Rue" (Levison S., 2022). This statement sets the stage for an important debate concerning the extent of individuals' control over their addiction; is it a result of a series of selfish choices or a vicious inescapable cycle o...

Vivan Sharma      When one talks about psychology in the context of aiding justice in the court, several names come to mind. Be it either through the highly sensationalized cases of infamous murderers and sex-offenders like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, or fictional felons in hit TV shows like ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ or ‘Criminal Minds’, forensic psychology has definitely made its mark. Defined as a “specialty in professional psychology characterized by activities primarily intended to provide professional psychological expertise within the judicial and legal systems” (APA), forensic psychology aims to disseminate the subtleties of the human mind to provide a clearer picture of the case in question. Not only does it shed light on how criminals think and act, the behaviors of witnesses, victims and first responders also fall within its ambit. However, while the field itself is very well known, lesser so are the tools it uses for psychological assessments. Neal et al. (2...