In Treatment

Michael Mcandrew

doi:10.7565/landp.v8i1.1592

Abstract

The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan famously remarked in his Seminar VIII, Transference, that “Love is giving something you do not have to someone who does not want it”. These themes of love, and the frustration of giving something to someone who does not want it, resonate throughout the HBO original series, In Treatment, produced and directed by Rodrigo Garcia. In Treatment (which ran three seasons from 2008-2010), turns its gaze towards the psychoanalytic practice of psychologist Dr. Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne). Each episode centres on a particular session of Paul’s many patients over the “week”. The series originally aired as a five night a week series on HBO, Monday through Friday, with a total of 43 episodes in the first season. We see Paul in his sessions with his patients, and then, generally, on Friday’s episode, we see Paul in a kind of supervision, or control analysis, so to speak.

Highlights

The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan famously remarked in his Seminar VIII, Transference, that “Love is giving something you do not have to someone who does not want it”
Paul and Gina’s relationship remains undefined throughout much of the show. Is he seeking a friend? A confidant? A mentor? Or to be in treatment himself? There is transference from Paul to Gina, from the moment he comes to her seeking knowledge he himself does not believe he is in possession of
The cases Paul brings to Gina concern abstinence; what he feels are his own mistakes in the treatment, some of which he begins control analysis quite in the dark about-exhibiting the powerful neurotic desire not to know