In Session with “In Treatment: Eladio” (S4E1)

July 29, 2021

Dr. Sam and Dr. Fran return with a full session discussing fellow therapist, Dr. Brooke Taylor.

This week, Dr. Sam and Dr. Fran examine episode 1 of the latest season of HBO’s In Treatment. In this episode, Dr. Taylor meets with Eladio via telehealth. We’ve all become more accustomed to meeting over screens, but how does telehealth work for therapy and is it helpful?

The doctors also break down the relationship between Dr. Taylor and Eladio. Do psychologists typically use pet names or take late-night phone calls? Finally, we briefly discuss Eladio’s sleep troubles and potential treatments. Did Dr. Taylor make any helpful recommendations and what else could she have suggested?

While the performance was Emmy-nominated, how will the portrayal fare on the more coveted 5-star review on Dr. Sam and & Dr. Fran’s DSM-5 ratings.

Glossary of Terms

Telehealth/telemedicine – providing psychological services remotely, via telephone, email or video

Therapeutic alliance – the relationship between the therapist and their client

Transference – when a client expresses feelings toward the therapist that appear to be based on the client’s past feelings about someone else (e.g., parents)

Countertransference – a therapist’s reactions to a client, including a therapist’s emotional responses to a client’s feelings

Self-disclosure – when a therapist shares something personal about themselves in therapy

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) – treatment that involves exploring identify thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are contributing to the symptoms of insomnia

Alliance rupture – instances in therapy when there is a strain or breakdown in the therapeutic alliance

Unconditional positive regard –acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person does

References

We finally got a chance to discuss the use of telehealth to conduct virtual therapy in the context of Eladio’s treatment. Learn more about the research on and benefits of virtually-delivered therapy.

Take a listen to the cast discuss the relationship between Dr. Taylor and Eladio.

We briefly discuss what effective treatment for insomnia would look like. Learn more about the gold standard treatment for insomnia, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) here. We also recommend checking out our previous episode, Fight Club, where we discuss insomnia in more detail.