Shrinking

[Mr Sausage]

Blus, as a therapist, exactly how much of a fit do you think Shrinking will send you into?

[therewillbeblus]

Blus, as a therapist, exactly how much of a fit do you think Shrinking will send you into?

I watched the trailer yesterday and think it looks terrible, though not just because of how misguided it is about how therapy works. But to answer you in character: Unless the concept (that will apparently sustain the series past.. five minutes?) that giving direct advice is the correct intervention and will prompt immediate change for clients is actually a long con to reveal its fallacy, the show is not only completely regressive regarding our client-centered evolution of practice, but offensive to people struggling with acute problems and seeking help in response to the unmanageability of their lives. So are the creators saying that if one is suffering, all they need is to be told to shape up and that’ll fix things? So they’re just weak or dumb, skills and perspective available that readily? I could appreciate it as a satire (could anyone give them this readily-accessible advice, or would they only accept it from someone in the role of a 'professional', thereby diluting the value of the profession and poking fun at our societal preoccupation with status simultaneously; or how about documenting the irritation and perceived inertia from clients at receiving a typical "How does that make you feel?" reply, as well as highlighting our comfort with binary actions- therapists and clients alike -to either swing the pendulum towards rote apathy/submission or enthusiastic engagement in resolving problems, high on that power differential or concrete markers of progress, rather than exist in a middle space of uncertainty and discomfort) but, at first glance, it seems very sincere with the focus pitched on the therapist and not in an ironic way. My reaction wasn't one of surprise or frustration (at this point, it's par for the course, oddly as more people gain experience with therapy, which has become a part of ordinary routine for many) but foreboding. I look forward to the significant percentage of clients who enter treatment conflating my profession with a magician to make this show a topic of conversation, in defense of the warped ideal of being spoonfed results that they rigidly cling to as they seek services with compromised willingness to take action themselves. This internal conflict is part of the work for every client and person even outside of therapy, of course, but it's difficult to help someone who isn’t just struggling to get out of their own way, but is unable to see this as a significant barrier and first step to treatment. I do think sending messages like these are harmful, as many client expect to be told what to do and to become 'fixed', and it takes a lot of work to undo this, but whatever - maybe this kind of show gets greenlit in the first place because it validates our desire as not only providers but people to tangibly better the lives of others in our network, as well as those seeking help to receive it in tangible form. So it may be successful as wish fulfillment, but I don't trust the general public to ingest it as a farce.

[Penti Mento]

Blus, as a therapist, exactly how much of a fit do you think Shrinking will send you into?

I watched the trailer yesterday and think it looks terrible, though not just because of how misguided it is about how therapy works.

[therewillbeblus]

Blus, as a therapist, exactly how much of a fit do you think Shrinking will send you into?

I've only just started Shrinking, and it could totally fall apart into what I initiated feared, but for now I think it's some kind of brilliant. The trailer feels deceptively sincere in hindsight, since this is a show clearly self-aware about the flaws and benefits to radical social/professional intervention. It's candidly non-prescriptive about whether Segel is doing more harm or good, as he appropriately shrugs off the promise of results his clients are seeking from him, and invites objective destruction from his own disorganized chaos acting without foresight. The show seems to be getting compared to Ted Lasso, but while I have no idea how it materializes in that direction throughout the season, the connection that comes to mind isn't one of inspiration - it's the undercurrent to how Ted's directive behaviors defensively masks his own nebulous work to do, and that all the positive intention and action in the world can still cause anguish for those we're trying to help if we're not seeing peripherally and checking ourselves. Here it's reflected as a more brutally-earnest logic where traumatized, depressed people can exist in self-obsessed delusion, and even if it's a win for them to taking things slow and celebrate their perceived successes in emerging from that pit of despair, it doesn't mean they're evolving or helping where it counts most, or recognizing the people who are most ignored. The contradiction of Segel seeking space from someone who wouldn't let him 'bottom-out' while also over-correcting and preaching positivity to his clients is a nice touch.

Anyways, there's a lot to like here, and as someone who believes in intervening 'outside the box' (maybe not quite this radical!) and the importance of one's authentic brand to accomplish the number-one key to therapy for any meaningful work to be done - the alliance of the relationship - I cosign its underlying ethos. Plus I'm always happy to see someone working at a rigid CBT clinic say fuck this and do more abstract therapy, and don't think Segel's general demeanor is automatically problematic since lowering the power differential is a crucial strategy rarely considered so actively (and certainly not at those clinics!) I also appreciated the depiction of the selfish motivation in providers seeking tangible results, the grey area of 'use of self' in developing the therapeutic relationship, and whether we do it for the benefit of the client or ourselves. I actually think this show can do a fair amount of 'good' for clients expecting their providers to be robotic fixers, since it pitches them as imperfect messes themselves that still doesn't inhibit their potential to help externally. The show is basically the "Oh miracle of these empty hands!" bit from Diary of a Country Priest with a big fat question-mark at the end of that sentence instead of an explanation point. At least for now. Hopefully I don't eat these words by the season's end, but this is a lot of fun and doesn't pretend to be realistic or moral in its absurdities.

A few more observations: Christa Miller's character is fascinating, a keen observance of how we get something out of every relationship dynamic (just as the female client who's a victim of her boyfriend's emotional abuse does, crazy as that sounds) as she slides into the role of a surrogate mother in order to fulfill her own sense of purpose and identity as well as help - the show never shaming the selfish side of things, even if it does evaluate them and all their warts in a confrontational manner (hmm, kinda like therapy? The show is creating a safe space for its audience? How wonderfully self-reflexive!) Harrison Ford's character is also getting primed to be a rich one - really looking forward to his role in this system. The show reveals itself to really be about how we’re all going through acute life transitions and need objective safe parties to support us in order to grow, and coming out of the last three years, it’s something mass audiences will relate to easily.

[Roger Ryan]

Blus, as a therapist, exactly how much of a fit do you think Shrinking will send you into?

I've only just started Shrinking, and it could totally fall apart into what I initiated feared, but for now I think it's some kind of brilliant...

I'm really enjoying this show as well. While it's "from the creators of 'Ted Lasso'", Shrinking is far less upbeat than the Jason Sudeikis-led series; I'm also finding it funnier and more emotionally engaging. The casting is excellent with lead Jason Segel tasked with portraying a comedic persona weighed down by past tragedy and self-doubt (Segel pulls off this balancing act adeptly). But the real revelation is Harrison Ford in his first TV comedy series role; his dry delivery is often hilarious, but what's even more surprising is how real he makes his character. This has got to be among Ford's best performances... or, perhaps, we just needed to see him play the same part every week to appreciate how fully he could bring a character to life.

[therewillbeblus]

I had no idea it was from the same creators. Makes sense, but I agree with you - also, I feel like Ted Lasso disappointingly postures in its peripheries at what this show is addressing more directly. I don't think this is intentional, but each show is appropriately self-reflexive in how they engage with their themes and audience: Lasso occasionally allows himself to touch on vulnerability in between retreats into defense mechanisms of jovial goodnaturedness and silly humor (with incredibly tired Family Guy pop culture references, at this point) to match his non-confrontational approach, while Segel baldly confronts complexity, as a therapist does - interestingly, the two shows emulate these respective strategies in divergent modes.

[swo17]

Well so it's from Bill Lawrence, who also created Scrubs and Cougar Town?

[therewillbeblus]

Finished Shrinking, thought it was absolutely wonderful. Miles better than Ted Lasso. Yes, there are issues with the portrayals of therapy that aren't necessarily critiqued (i.e. therapist-focused praise with "I'm proud of you"s; taking credit for the work of the client) in addition to the ones that are, but it hardly matters, especially when there are so many wonderful esoteric nuggets peppered throughout - some accessibly packaged and some not so much (I absolutely loved Segel's joke about using the "downturn" in his Motivational Interviewing with Sean, after accidentally pitching a reflective statement as a closed-ended question rather than an inviting statement - I kid you not, it takes an intensive course to begin to perfect that technique). Harrison Ford's arc was the best part as expected, genuinely bringing tears to my eyes. If he doesn't win an Emmy or whatever TV awards matter for this, it'll be criminal. I agree with Roger Ryan, but I'll go further and say this is handily Ford's best ever acting work, and I'm still baffled by how honest and raw his performance is

[therewillbeblus]

I grew up watching a lot of Harrison Ford movies - my dad was a big fan, so we caught everything from the classics to B-movie fluff as it came out in theatres, and I've always admired him as a dramatic actor even in movies that themselves weren't to be taken seriously. But it's hard to think of a role that required this much depth, vulnerability, and range, which are not the only markers of a 'best perf ever', but he manages to pull off sincere drama alongside deadpan humor in a manner that's realistically-understated in both areas. And by that I mean, yes, his performance feels closer to what we might get in real life, emphasized by coexisting in a pool of performative set of characters.