Couch Fiction: A Graphic Novel

Couch Fiction What theory or theories do you see Pat using? Give at least 5 explicit examples. First and foremost, the primary therapy that Pat deploys is psychodynamic theory, or Freudian analysis. Pat tries to discover James' unconscious motivations for stealing: this probing of the unconscious reflects the Freudian notion that motivations are often hidden to the actor.

Pat also uses the Freudian theory of free associations revealing unconscious meanings when she notes that the fact he recently became engaged to a Spanish girlfriend seemed to prompt his urge to steal Spanish olive oil. Freudian theory also suggests that we act in ways to satisfy desires we might not be aware of such as the possible desire to get caught and become publically disgraced in James' case.

Finally, the Freudian concept of 'transference,' in which the patient transfers sexual or negative emotions onto the therapist is seen in the scene in which James admits the sexually violent fantasies he has felt towards Pat. However, Pat does not only use one, dogmatic approach to therapy. For example, she uses the concepts of self-esteem and attachment therapy when discussing James' insecure and emotionally-repressed upbringing, in which he never received validation for his emotions.

She also gives James' homework, which reflects CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)'s emphasis on changing behaviors as a way of changing one's interior state. Psychodynamic therapy, in contrast to behavioral therapy, tends to work from the inside out. There are also traces of humanistic and existential therapy in Pat's approach when Pat encourages James to find larger meaning in his life, beyond his surface existence.

Finding greater significance in his life and liberation from his constricting assumptions of how he should be allows James to find more fulfilling outlets than kleptomania. The knowledge that if he were caught would 'release' him from the prison of middle-class respectability he inhabits is not just a Freudian notion but also symptomatic of an existential longing for meaning. What signs of empathy did you see? Give at least 5 explicit examples.

Pat is a professional, trained therapist and part of her training includes the ability to show empathy or understanding of James' perspective. When James announces he is a thief she is not shocked: rather, she allows James to elaborate upon what he means. Pat is also tolerant rather than horrified by James' sexual fantasizing, given that she knows that transference and counter-transference is part of the therapeutic process. She also admits that she finds James attractive to herself.

Pat understands James' need to be trusted and the fact that he sometimes 'tests' her, such as when he does not have the money to pay for his first session and she tells him to pay her the.