In Treatment s01e15 Episode Script

Previously on In Treatment.
Are you saying that I pushed Kate into this situation? That I created this environment at home, so that Kate could go fuck an insurance agent, because really I'm in love with Laura? I think we should just discuss the possibility that Laura's better off with a different therapist.
I am not sending Laura to another therapist.
End of story.
If I remember correctly, you were faced with the same scenario yourself.
Don't forget, I was the one who referred Charlie to you.
You know that he never, ever got over you? You failed the same test yourself, Gina, but you abandoned a patient.
- Hi, Paul.
- Hi, Gina.
- How are you, Paul? - I'm fine.
Yes? Why, do I not seem fine? You seem antsy.
I just keep needing to go to the bathroom.
Oh, you remember where it is, the door on No, I mean all the time.
It's a - a urinary thing.
- Oh, I see.
- Have you seen a doctor? - Yeah.
Getting better, but it's still a terrible sensation.
You go to the bathroom, you stand there, you will it to happen.
Nothing, not a drop.
It's so uncomfortable.
This and the stress you're under.
What? Jesus.
You think it's psychosomatic.
- No, not at all.
- A symbolic urinary infection.
- Symbolic how? - My head's telling me one thing, my body's telling me another.
My precise issue manifesting itself as a physical malfunction of - Yes? - Shit.
Did you say it was on the right? - Yeah.
- Excuse me for a moment.
- There's no soap in there.
- Really? I thought I saw soap.
Are you angry? It feels like you're angry tonight.
- I'd say that's a fairly accurate assessment.
- You wanna tell me why? Actually, I'm angry at myself for taking your advice, even though I knew better.
- My advice? - Taking your advice like a novice, like a naive intern, ignoring every cell in my body and listening to you instead, Gina.
What happened? I met with Laura and, um, we talked about ending our sessions.
A total disaster.
Did the opposite of what you predicted.
It was just destructive.
- It sabotaged a year of therapy.
- How? Because it undermined her faith in me and in the work that we'd done together.
She asked me if I was ending our sessions because I'm in love with her.
Well, that's what she heard me say.
What she heard was, "I'm in love with you, so I can't see you any more.
" - How did you put it exactly? - Are you suggesting that I handled it badly? No, I just wanna hear what you said.
Well, I said we should discuss the option of .
.
of ending therapy.
- You didn't just drop it on her out of the blue? - Of course I didn't.
I built up to it.
She came in late.
I thought that was important.
Like it was her way of telling me something.
- I'm not following.
- I said I thought that her being late was her way of saying that she was angry at me, that she was, um ambivalent about her therapy.
Of course, she threw it back and she asked if and she does have a point she asked if she wasn't the first person ever to fall in love with her therapist, and then she told me to deal with it.
Meaning, you know, this is my job.
She's right.
She said, "You are an experienced therapist, just deal with it.
" Are you surprised at her reaction? You put it on her and she threw it back.
How was I supposed Gina, you hammered me about this last week.
You went on and on and on about I knew it was a bad idea.
And now I'm coming to you with this mess Paul, you're not an intern.
Far from it.
Don't play the intern.
If you think something's a bad idea, you don't do it because I suggested it.
I said we should talk about it.
You were furious, like I was trying to take Laura away from you.
Two days later, you abruptly try to stop her treatment.
You said that ending the therapy was the best good solution.
I said it might be necessary for her sake.
When you say "good solution", I think you mean a solution to your problems.
Is that what I mean? I'm assuming you acted hastily because you thought it was necessary, that it had to be dealt with quickly.
What do you want, Gina? What do you want to hear? Do you want me to talk about Laura, do you want us to have a Laura session? What do you want me to say, that I sit opposite her and say, "Oh, what if?" Well, I do.
You think I'm in denial about it.
I'm not.
Laura's She's attractive.
Anybody who's a therapist knows that Look, I know all the ways in with her, all the doors I could open if I wanted.
- Do you imagine opening those doors? - Yes, I do.
Yep, I, uh I fantasise about Laura.
Look, it's like a gynaecologist.
It's easier for women to believe that their male gynaecologist doesn't have any sexual desire for them.
Of course, they want him to find their bodies attractive as well.
- Paul.
- Don't they? Don't break down the relationship between a woman and her gynaecologist.
- That's the deep end.
- Hm.
Anyway, last week, I, um I got this sharp kind of pain, so I went to the urologist on Monday, and I thought wow, this is this is really scary.
And then this random thought comes into my head because it's so cold in the room and I think my dick is shrinking and I don't want the doctor to think that, you know, that's the real size of it.
It was just Yeah.
Paul.
You know, there is no connection between a gynaecologist's office and the intimacy between therapist and patient.
- I'm curious what you think the connection is.
- All I'm saying, Gina, is that, as a male therapist sitting across from a beautiful patient, I I know exactly how to engage her.
I know exactly what it would take to to turn her on.
- You know what turns her on? - Yes, I do.
- But? - Any number of things.
But I could manipulate her to do anything I wanted.
I know that.
And I doubt if it's only male therapists who have those thoughts.
I think you know what I'm talking about.
For example, if a male doctor performs an examination on a female patient, there'd be a nurse present, right? - I mean, that's for a reason.
- Am I the nurse? I keep you from crossing the line.
Is that why you came to me? Let me tell you what worries me.
You have boundaries too and, just like you, this woman knows how to cross them.
All I'm saying is that the temptation is there for any therapist.
I know what I'm doing.
I mean, if I were a gynaecologist, and I were performing an examination, - I mean, I wouldn't accidentally start - Oh, Paul, listen to yourself.
You know, you say you have no problem discussing Laura and then I bring her up and suddenly it's it's all about genitals, gynaecologists and urologists and You know, it seems to me that you're taking all of this to an extremely intimate realm, and you're saying to me, "I'm extremely vulnerable here.
"Help me here, where it hurts.
" You know what? What gets me is that I I lay it out for you.
All I want is for you to give me the Gina treatment, to get in there with your cold, analytical scalpel and get some perspective.
Say, "Try this, Paul.
" "Try that.
" What I didn't expect was that that you'd give up on me, that you'd tell me to find her a new therapist.
- Give up on you? - You suggest a course of action.
When that fails, you say to me, "Hey, you did it, don't come blaming me.
" Do you really believe I convinced you to do something destructive? Let's talk about that.
It seems like a distraction from talking about your feelings about her, but OK, let's start by looking at how you're conducting her therapy, which seems to me impulsive, unorganised, and, if I'm honest, very problematic.
- Oh, really, does it now? - Whenever I try to talk about this, you unleash all this aggression to show me this area is off-limits.
"Touch this, I'll burn it down.
" All right, well, deal with it.
Right.
Right.
Remember Alex, the fighter pilot guy? - Oh, God, Paul, listen to yourself.
- What? You say, "Let's talk about Laura," and then you bring up Alex or anything you can think of, so long as it's not Laura! This is about Laura.
Alex, the fighter pilot - met Laura.
- How? After a session we had this talk about stopping therapy.
The session ended and she wouldn't leave.
She wanted extra time.
I told her I couldn't, that I had an appointment with a urologist.
- You didn't tell her that? - No.
I said I had an appointment.
Anyway, she stormed out, and, lo and behold, who does she meet? Alex.
He was there and you had a conflicting appointment? He was a day early by mistake, which is weird, because because this guy is such a military perfectionist machine, he can probably tell the time by triangulating the stars or something.
Anyway, he forgot what day it was.
So, he comes back the next afternoon, tells me that they met and now and now they're dating.
You think it's funny? Because I don't.
No, it's not funny.
It's curious, I guess.
What's so What's so curiously funny about it? I I don't know.
Just give me a minute, let me figure out what I'm thinking.
I It made me smile, I don't know why.
Mm.
They're dating.
- Dating? - She went out with him to get back at me.
I pushed her into it.
You don't see that? I reject her unequivocally and, and the next minute she's hitting on the nearest guy.
I mean, a guy literally on my own doorstep.
- That's not a reaction to me? - Why would it be? Because she knew Alex would tell me.
Well, first of all, isn't it a reaction against her boyfriend, the man she's going to marry? Why are you the betrayed man here? Which would be the worse situation if you realised that you were the centre of Laura's life and that she was dating another man to get at you or, if the transference simply faded, and she was back to viewing you as a therapist, she thought about you during sessions, that's it? Mm.
You think I'm an egomaniac? No, I'm asking which would be the worse situation.
Look, I don't get off on being worshipped by my patients, if that's what you mean.
It's not like I'm in some kind of some kind of a cult.
If her feelings were to change, you wouldn't have a sense of loss? Mm.
Pretty clear how you want me to answer this, Gina.
No.
Do you not get that I'm concerned about the right and the wrong of this, - as it affects all my patients? - You're very concerned, I can tell that, but you know, sometimes, helping a patient view the world differently, it's a powerful experience, it's a little addictive.
It's a powerful experience because it contributes to somebody's wellbeing.
It's not about an inflated sense of power.
Do you think I'm addicted to power? OK.
How How does Laura see you? - What do you mean? - When she looks at you, what does she see? - Why? - Bear with me.
What does she see? Mm.
She sees a man, obviously, a lot older than she is, um, an authoritative, strong man.
She thinks if she could get close to him, that she could maybe take on some of his strength.
At the same time, she's waiting for him to disappoint her because somewhere down the line, inevitably, that's that's her story with men.
- What else? - She thinks that I won't be interested in her unless she offers herself sexually.
She associates concern for her as a woman with sex.
For her, sex is a currency that she uses to pay for emotional protection from men.
Don't analyse, just describe.
- Where's this going, Gina? - Just stay with it.
OK.
Um She thinks I'm a coward, which is a bit of a turn-off.
She believes that I'm totally in love with her, that I think all the rest of my patients are a drag and that I can't wait for her session.
I assume she, uh, I assume she finds me attractive, otherwise why would she Isn't this enough? Now you describe her how you see her.
I would say - an hysterical disorder of some - Don't analyse, describe.
Did you mean what does she look like? - Yes.
- OK.
- If one had to pick her out of a crowd, I'd say - No, no, if you had to pick her out of a crowd.
God, you are such a stickler.
OK, she's 30.
She's She's beautiful.
Mm.
Great smile.
Inquisitive look in her eye, really sharp.
Very smart.
She's got this great laugh that just just bubbles up out of her.
It comes from nowhere, like quicksilver.
She's childish, I'd say.
No, not childish, childlike.
Vulnerable.
Makes you want to hold her.
She's fascinated with sex, well, with the power of sex, as if she were a teenager who's just discovered it.
Always Always makes reference to it.
Vivid sexual experiences that, gotta say, are very poetic sometimes.
Mm.
She told me about a summer after her mother died.
She was 15 and she went to live with this couple in San Diego, friends of her father.
And, uh, she fell in love with this guy much older than her.
It was an escape, I think, from her father, who was really depressed and sad after the death of his wife.
That can be pretty horrible, you know.
A child taking care of a parent.
Like you did after your mother's breakdown? Mm.
Nothing worse than a kid playing parent to a father or mother.
It's unnatural, it reverses the order of things.
It's like a kind of death, I suppose.
For you, it was after your father ran off with his patient.
Oh, you keep coming back to that all the time.
I'm trying to find the roots of your connection to Laura.
It's got nothing to do with my father.
Laura's the one re-enacting, not me.
Laura's re-enacting this escape, because that's what I am to her.
Escape from what, her boyfriend, her wedding? I've tried to explain it to her that she's really making me into another David.
Not your David but the older guy from that couple that took her in.
She wants me to be that guy again.
- You sure? - Well, God forbid I should say anything that you agree with, Gina, no matter how clearly I lay it out.
Her attraction to me, her wanting to run away with me, there's something bigger that's, that's driving that impulse.
- Maybe you wanna run away.
- What? Escape from Kate, from your work.
God, you're so fixated on your pet theories.
Everything has to Did I tell you that, um .
.
that Kate is going to Rome next week with her insurance agent boyfriend? She's the one that's running, not me.
I told her, "Fine".
You know, "Just get the hell out.
" "I don't wanna I "I don't wanna look at you.
" We don't live together anyway.
- What do you mean? - I sleep in the office.
Huh.
During the day we act like everything is fine but, at night, I'm, uh .
.
I'm on the couch.
- Since when? - The last four nights.
I brought in my blankets and my clothes.
How are the kids taking this? Rosie didn't come home on Tuesday.
Said she'd be back late, but in the morning she wasn't there.
She claimed that she slept over at some friend's.
I mean, who knows? lan had a week off from college.
He didn't even call, didn't come back.
Got back after work yesterday and Kate announced that "Hey, I'm going out.
" I said, "Fine, do whatever you want.
" So I went to make dinner and .
.
there was no food in the kitchen.
Went to the fridge, I look in, nothing, not even an egg.
Anyway, Max and I ordered pizzas, then I put him to bed.
I was gonna sleep in the office and then I thought, "What if something happens?" He's up there by himself, he's all alone.
I couldn't bring myself to sleep in that bedroom.
Not even for his sake.
I find that bedroom kind of .
.
repulsive.
I was asleep for a while, I don't know what time it was, and I I wake up and hear this voice saying "Daddy".
And Max is there, just standing at the door.
He asked me if I could sleep with him and I said, "Sure.
" He hasn't done that since he was five years old.
I guess that's the answer to your question is the kids know everything.
Anyway, she's, um, she's leaving in three days and, uh I think it's probably for the best, really.
- How is it for the best? - It's not for the best.
It's a nightmare.
It's painful but, in a way, you're free to go through whatever it is with Laura.
I wanted my wife to leave me for a salesman? Maybe not but it's convenient.
Convenient? She's flying to Rome to fuck an insurance salesman, for Christ's sake.
- Is that really what he is? - I don't know what he is.
He runs an employment agency or something.
What am I supposed to do, chain her to the bed? Track every move she makes like that guy I have in therapy, Jake? Or Alex, whose wife grinds her teeth in her sleep and wakes up the next day and says, "The marriage is over, I'm leaving.
" You keep bringing patients into this.
My wife is running off but apparently it's not my wife, really, it's me, according to you.
Since I'm my father, it must be me.
I've been trying to understand since our first session why you came to me, me specifically.
I remember on our first visit you said that you felt like you were cutting corners, you have no patience for your patients, that's what you said.
And that, if they knew what you really thought about them, they'd stop coming.
I'm wondering if that's what you want, for them to stop coming.
- Why would I want that, Gina? - Not literally.
On an unconscious level.
Oh, unconscious.
Maybe you wanna transfer your patients to me.
- Where did that come from? - It's not a real option.
It's a wish.
You could dump your patients on me, your problems.
When I suggested that we find another therapist for Laura, you immediately assumed that I would treat her.
And then you went down the list, you described each patient.
But isn't that what these sessions are for? It felt like you were preparing me metaphorically for the day when you hand them over, when you say, "Here, their problems are not my problems.
I have to leave.
" Oh, yeah, I'm gonna run off to the Caribbean and I'm gonna be sipping cocktails with Laura and, uh, scuba diving.
I mean, what on earth are you on about? I've just took on three more new patients.
You said you did that to prove to yourself that everything's OK.
That couple, you said you don't care if they ever come back.
You don't like the navy pilot.
And sometimes it seems you're not that upset about Kate.
- What? - Not always.
Sometimes.
Maybe all these things that should be bad are really OK? And then there's me.
You're using me as your accomplice.
Not in a practical way, but emotionally, to help you move on from them.
That way, you're free to be with Laura.
You know, I don't even know what to say to that.
I mean What, what are you doing? Is this what you call help? Cos that's why I came here, Gina, I came here for you to help me.
I keep saying this but, through some misguided line of reasoning, through some narcissistic need of yours to save the day, to put yourself at the front and the centre, we've ended up here, in this same place, just to confirm that you, Gina, are right, as always.
Maybe I misjudged you, I don't know.
I thought you were better than this.
You know, I gotta say, you really sometimes are so infuriating, the way you keep coming back to your pet theories, you know, my father, Kate.
Guess I'd better go.
- Have a good week, Paul.
- You too.
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