HBO is airing a new series this evening called In Treatment which follows 5 people through 45 sessions of psychotherapy and will run every day for 9 straight weeks. There seems to be three potential outcomes: one is that it will drive self awareness for viewers and be helpful in framing common mental health issues; two, it may increase public understanding of various treatment modalities; and three is a tepid reaction to so much tedious therapy... In Treatment follows the release of popular A & E reality show Intervention, which could hardly ever be called boring and is in its fourth season - you can read the New York Times review this last summer. Both shows tap into a growing zeitgeist on dealing with problems associated with the mind.
What can we expect from the new show? Guy Trebay gives it a thumbs up in his recent article this weekend:
Adapted from an Israeli television series that turned into a national obsession, “In Treatment” is a surprisingly compelling show, given that most of the action occurs in a single room, and is built around Dr. Paul Weston’s ongoing interactions with a pouty anesthesiologist with attachment issues, a Navy pilot suffering from post-Iraq war stress, an aspiring Olympic gymnast given to troublingly incestuous urges and a married couple who enjoy each other sexually, yet turn into the Bickersons the second they’re out of bed.It is also, as it happens, the latest instance of Hollywood’s century-old fascination with Freud and his descendants. Movies and television have both had a long and intimate relationship with a profession that has been alternately fetishized, sent up and rendered a cartoon.
