Photo courtesy of the themovieb.
org
“The Patient” and My Patients
By Dennis Palumbo, M.A., MFT*
After seventeen years as a Hollywood
screenwriter (the film MY FAVORITE YEAR; the
sitcom WELCOME BACK, KOTTER, etc.), I retired
from show business and have since been a
licensed psychotherapist in private practice for
over thirty years. During this time, my writing
has been confined to articles and reviews,
as well as a series of mystery novels whose
protagonist is a psychologist.
My point is, it’s been so long since I was a dues-
paying member of the Hollywood industry that
I was quite surprised to hear from the team
of Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, writers of the
award-winning TV series THE AMERICANS. They
reached out to me to act as advisor on a new
show they were developing called THE PATIENT.
It was about a serial killer who kidnaps and holds
hostage a well-known therapist, in the hope that
he can “cure” the killer of his homicidal urges.
Apparently, my former career as a script writer
and my current one as a therapist prompted
them to see me as a reasonable person to act as
consultant on the new series. Essentially, what
they wanted was for me to vet each episode’s
scripts for clinical accuracy and to “make sure
the therapist sounded like a therapist” - or as
much like one as possible given the bizarre
circumstances of the show’s premise.
Over the following months, I did my best to keep
the narrative within the range of plausibility,
including suggesting an occasional line of
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 The few others who’d stayed with the show
all the way to the end were angry at both the
A couple of my patients series’ writers and at me. Their reactions ranged
from disbelief (“How could they end a show like
revealed that they’d that? How come the killer gets away with it?”)
to frustration (“That’s not fair to the viewers.
cried at the end, one We deserved a better ending.”) to simple
creative criticism (“I hate ambiguous endings.”).
of them pointing an As difficult as the sessions were with these

accusing finger at me
patients over the course of the series’ run
(including my own guilt at having put them

and saying, “You better

through it), some of the clinical work that arose
from our discussions was quite beneficial.

not fucking die!” Again,

A greater understanding of the contextual
nature of our therapist/patient relationship

said half-jokingly. And

undoubtably occurred. Moreover, we often
reached a deeper understanding of the

yet, not.
dependency/resentment dynamic at work in the
therapeutic dyad. And, in one or two cases, the
discussion regarding the show was a springboard
to a more energized, proactive engagement on
(SPOILER ALERT: I’m going to discuss the series’ the patient’s part.
final episode) Still, I have somewhat mixed feelings about
For a select few of my patients, as I had my participation in the series. It was often an
expected, it was the series’ final episode that exhilarating experience, due primarily to the
elicited the strongest reaction. Not only does the talent, receptivity and warmth of both Joel
therapist fail to escape, but he’s also strangled Fields and Joe Weisberg. And while I regret the
to death on-screen by the serial killer patient. distress that the lead character’s words and
This horrible murder is hardly ameliorated by looks evoked in a few of my patients, I also felt
the killer’s decision to send an anonymous letter this similarity led to real forward progress in our
to the therapist’s family, telling them where work together: a potential disjunction becoming
they can find the body so it can have a proper a fruitful conjunction.
funeral. The last time we see the serial killer, That said, if I’m ever asked to consult on another
he’s the one chained to the bed with his mother series, my only hope is that the lead character
holding the key to the chain’s lock. Since she’s looks like someone else.
known all along about her son’s activities, we’re
left to wonder if/when she’ll release him to
potentially kill again.
*Dennis Palumbo, M.A., MFT is a licensed
A couple of my patients revealed that they’d psychotherapist and author in Los Angeles.
cried at the end, one of them pointing an His email address for correspondence is
accusing finger at me and saying, “You better dpalumbo181@aol.com.
not fucking die!” Again, said half-jokingly. And
yet, not.

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