Discussion

I was first introduced to Dr. Edelson's ideas about movies as a psychiatric resident in his seminar on interpretation. We were discussing the therapy of a 9 year-old girl, whose parents had divorced when she was 4. Her mother remarried and was recently divorced for a second time. The child had difficulty parting from her mother to go with the therapist. She was 15 minutes late to the session. The therapist made a comment. Patient: “Once you weren't here; we came on the wrong day.” Therapist: “You were disappointed.” The girl began to play with some stuffed animals: “Do you like my Pound Puppy?” Therapist: “It's very lovable.” Patient: “Do other kids use this? (Not waiting for the answer), “Can I play with Mousetrap? Oh, that's how it works!” She began to fiddle with the mousetrap assembly. The therapist said, “I understand your mom's been sick.” The patient did not answer. She played a game of cat-and-mouse. Patient (as Mouse): “Fat Cat almost ate me!” At one point she said to the therapist, “We're always late. Oh look! Six pieces of cheese!” Therapist: “You sound frustrated about being late.”

The next session found the patient twenty minutes late. The therapist was curious about the lateness. Patient: “We're always late, I don't know why.” She added, “Have you seen Gorillas in the Mist?” The therapist remarked that she was changing the subject. The patient turned again to the Pound Puppy. “I have one at home.” She played with a farmhouse, then with a doctor kit: speaking “hello” through the stethoscope, practicing with the syringe. “Needle. I don't like shots. I scream.” Therapist: “You let the doctor know it hurts.” Class discussion tackled the patient's lateness. We knew that lateness was a form of resistance. Nobody mentioned the movie, and we were surprised when Dr. Edelson asked us, had we seen Gorillas in the Mist? We had not. Perhaps we didn't watch popular movies, or didn't