The Allegory of Inception

It’s difficult to imagine that Christopher Nolan set out to create one of the most entertaining and now-beloved movies of all time simply to make an allegory to the therapeutic process, however that’s ironically just what happened. Think about it… We begin and end this life attempting to overcome the existential crisis—being born, living, and dying alone. Shared dreaming is, in one sense, what we all attempt in life but on a deeper and more dangerous level. We live to share our dreams with one another and avoid isolation. Inception captures that very basic human need and builds upon the experience of togetherness by allowing characters to not only, share dreams but also, share the entire experience of dreaming with other people (not to mention keep control over it). Joining subconscious is perhaps, the most intimate form of union a person could think of (despite Cobb using it for thieving and inception).

This complete disclosure of the mind to another and allowance of co-creation in a person’s own subconscious is a connection that eliminates the reality of loneliness where every part of a person, down to the very thought, can be exposed. Sharing ideas, creating worlds, spending a lifetime together… these are life goals, which Inception condensed into only a few hours. There’s little wonder then why Cobb could admit to his wife’s projection that they “had their time together,” albeit in a dream as though it allowed for a sense of peace. Mal and Cobb experienced what every couple in the world hopes to as part of their actual lives despite the cost. We attempt these things everyday within the constraints of reality but our lives especially are built upon our perceptions. All things that come to pass in life truly do begin with ideas—ideas which we ultimately hope to build upon and share with others.

Ariadne going into Cobb’s mind and sharing in the experience of his guilt is literally the action of the therapeutic process. Although it’s a bit of a flaw in the movie that no other character seems to have inner demons, the projection of Mal is an example of how our own emotions make us prone to self-sabotage if left unchecked. And what does this say of the power of emotions over our thoughts to begin with? It’s easy to think something—often so easy that we think without even knowing it. We can change our thinking and we can, over time, alter how we think—but how easy is it to change how you feel? Even Cobb, who would go into a dream state simply to lock his wife’s projection away, couldn’t contain the massive guilt he’d experienced. This is how all our emotions tend to unfold. The ramifications of emotional baggage are beyond serious and Inception shows perfectly that these feelings are often greater than our thoughts and more difficult to control.

But which emotions are the more powerful? Cobb, at one point, suggests “positive emotion trumps the negative every time.” How true is this? It’s proven that negativity is effortful. It takes more energy to frown than to smile—more energy to be angry than to be happy, however which then has the greater impact on us? Happiness, after all, doesn’t bring patients to the clinic. The trick to negativity is that we tend to push it aside or swallow it, rather than deal with it. Burying emotions by trying to “think them away” will inevitably lead to fulminating repercussions and possible inability to function, which is often what brings most patients into therapy. This is when each person loses the ability to serve as architect of his or her own dreams, not so different from Cobb’s inability to shape dream worlds because of Mal…

Freud had it figured that we may each become stuck at a stage of life when a significant upset harms our emotional experience. The situation Cobb went through could not have been more ideal for the space in which he was trapped. Ariadne—a character based from Greek mythology who once aided Theseus in escaping the Minotaur’s labyrinth—was a healthy, inquisitive mind serving as a sort of chorus for the movie. Not only did the audience learn the specifics of shared dreaming through her character, we also got to experience someone finally taking direct action on Cobb’s burning subconscious (without introducing the chaos of her own). This is the role of a therapist, taking the plunge into someone’s experience to guide the patient through the damage caused by unchecked emotional baggage. However, the work cannot be done unless the sufferer can confront the projections of that baggage—often real-life setbacks. Sounding familiar?

We all flirt with the dream state—tempted by a reality in which we don’t have to confront our problems often at even greater emotional cost. Cobb needs that device to dream but more so to reshape his hurt and keep Mal alive like an addiction. But don’t we all, at some time or another, become addicted to behaviors and ideas meant to set our minds at ease? Therapy attempts to put an end to dependence upon that state providing a “kick” to draw patients out of a poorly-perceived reality and build a “totem” to reality-check when old ways of thinking resurface. And more often than not, clinicians spend their time trying to give patients a much-needed “reality check.” Inception makes a perfect allegory to therapy even at its ending with an idea so infectious it even causes the audience to wonder. Where is Cobb by the end of his journey? Is he healed of his guilt? Does he settle for simply another dream world or can he exist among the real? People face these questions every single day and therapists are left wondering. How often do patients relapse into perceptions that are unrealistic? How often do the projections and manifestations of their baggage return? Most clinicians never get to know the answer to these questions when a patient steps out of the office that final time. Is catharsis enough to assuage the subconscious or are our worst feelings powerful enough to override all our work? The story of Inception is literally the story of every human being on the planet negotiating within themselves for peace of mind—eventually faced with a choice to indulge in false perceptions or see reality for what it truly is.

The Fun of Being a Therapist

Friends, The Office, 30 Rock… what do they have in common? High quality, jaw dropping, “I can’t believe that just happened” antics. Not exactly the picture you’d get coming from a psych practice tucked away on 21^st and K. Although it might be hard to picture your therapist as anything other than the serene voice of reason, leaned back in a chair with legs folded, when the 9 to 5 ends, they have to go back to being “just regular people,” too. However during the 9 to 5 being a psychologist is like 3 parts doctor, 2 parts friend, and somehow 1 part secret espionage agent… (Yes, I’m actually serious).

A therapist can’t be late for appointments because he or she has to be completely reliable and 100% stable in the patient’s eyes. This means being in the office early with undivided attention focused expressly on the needs of the individual. But what you may not know is that it also means a complete shift of identity for the therapist as well. Many avoid wearing flip-flops and clothes that reveal too much of their skin. They have to duck in and out of cover in public when simply catching sight of a client out of the corner of an eye and wait until after a patient has left the building before moving the car (which by then might have a parking ticket) to keep their patients from seeing what kind of cars they drive or things like that. All of this goes to the anonymity necessary for the therapist-patient relationship. Yes, some therapists quite literally have to hide and wait for clients to come and go in order to live their lives as both citizens and care-givers. God forbid should you go to a club and end up seeing one of your patients there. That means diving behind couches and chairs avoiding eye contact until you reach the door and end what would’ve been a fun night a bit too early. Hard to imagine therapists even going to clubs right?

It’s called the Tabula Raza or “blank slate.” The people who rely on you for psychological care have to be people separated from the greater part their therapists’ social lives. They have to project their emotional difficulties onto the care-giver and, in turn, that giver must sometimes act as a surrogate voice for the patient. Being a psychologist then, becomes something like putting on a blank canvas and allowing the patient to paint you as whatever they need you to be. Obviously that means overexposing them to the rest of you and your own experience is kind of a “no no.” Some therapists watch showing their toes outright (sorry, the cute shoes might have to go). The feet are the roots of a person—the base and stable ground. Essentially, hideous feet are the mark of someone not too interested in personal care and either consciously or subconsciously gives the impression that your stability and self-care are not where they should be… Never a good impression for a mental health doctor.

And while presentation/espionage is a decent part of keeping the relationship between patient and doctor well established, there’s also the actual health of the therapist to keep in mind. Part of the idea behind therapy is giving of your own Ego to the patient. The therapeutic process is an act of sharing with the client and, at times, can prove taxing on the part of the giver. Hence, as much of the therapist’s life as possible must be nurturing and serving to mental health from relationships to home life to daily exercise and food. It’s like everything out of the Prestige—living your act and being your profession. It’s nearly impossible to be a functioning therapist and not practice what you preach. Giving another person the guidelines to maintaining their functionality implies that you, yourself, can remain functional—which is NOT to say that a therapist has all the answers and has everything figured out, but rather, the skills have to be put into practice. It’s an interesting side to the practice (never mind the business and years of schooling that go into it). But watching the doctors here at PGW hold up behind closed doors for a lighting fast wardrobe and scene change is like TV at its best—except I’d be that “normal” guy just standing in the corner, shaking my head at the comedy of it all because—at the end of the day people are always still people.

"Salt" Review

I’ll be honest; even I walked out of “Salt” muttering to myself that she must have really loved her husband to have gone through the kinds of hell it took avenging his death. The last thought on my mind was that she was an outright sociopath but rather an emotionally tormented woman with nothing to lose and everything to avenge. However, a dialogue spanning two plus hours and plenty of circulating ideas showed me that there is far more to Evelyn Salt than her on-screen slaughter.

The question “Who is Evelyn Salt?” is nowhere near as important as the question, “Who does she belong to?” Yes, this is a spoiler alert but Salt is presented as a benign CIA agent just two years out of North Korea where she was held as a prisoner until her love interest (whom she was using as a cover) raised hell to get her released. Moving on in the story, you learn that Salt was a Russian child, stolen from her parents and trained as a sleeper agent who replaced the real Evelyn Salt as a child. From the time of her birth, Salt was used, traumatized, and controlled by other people—an instrument of two opposing governments and never herself. The one act of genuine love in her entire life came from a German arachnologist, her faux lover, ignorant to her true occupations, who had rescued her from constant torture in North Korea. The tears gliding gently down her face at the start of the movie, walking along the road in prisoner exchange, is perhaps the one and only truthful reaction from that character. Without seeing the movie, you can’t quite understand our characterization of Salt, however, for those of you who have, check the signs: Failure to conform to social norms, consistent lying, reckless regard for personal safety and safety of others, lack of remorse, excessive aggression… sound familiar?

These are all diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder aka sociopathy. This is Salt in a nutshell. Though she genuinely loved her husband (and yes, sociopaths do love but in a covetous and self-serving sort of way), she had no true altruism for him. When given the chance to out herself as a Russian agent and not just a CIA operative who’d been using him for a cover, she remains silent. She willingly and knowingly places his life in danger despite her love for him. This love is self-serving and feeds into Salt’s self-proclaimed want to appear “normal” (look for this line as she says it outright as a reason for her marriage). Was this to compensate for the years of damage she suffers being tossed around from home to home? Reared away from her true parents and then separated from her Russian “family” of child soldiers, Salt experiences consistent and profound separations/false relationships. The only true display of love in her life was that shown by her husband—a man she would rather enjoy two years of lie-covered marriage with than keep distant for his own safety. Okay, so he chose to stay with her despite the dangers, but then why did she never tell him she was also a Russian spy? “By the way dear, someday, Russian agents are going to come for me and possibly kill you. Is marrying me worth all that?” There’s no doubt that Salt was in genuine love, but obviously not enough to let him go and keep him safe.

It’s easy to understand then why Salt goes off the deep end and literally blows up her “family” of brother-soldiers when they have her husband executed right in front of her. Salt chokes back remorse without even a hint of failure and then not even five minutes later executes the man who calls her “daughter.” The question then is what motivates her to continue? Why does she go on to try and avert the Russian plan to kill the President and use U.S. nukes to bomb the Middle East? Is it possible for a woman with no qualms about committing murder and no guilt over consistent lying to the person she loves most… to try and selflessly save the world? Of course not.

Salt’s motivating factor is revenge and seemingly not only for her husband but for her life entirely. “They’ve taken everything from me,” she says alluding to the Russian sleeper agents who’ve controlled her throughout her entire life. But it isn’t a look of bereavement on her face…She’s cold and detached. She’s calculated her vengeance and it’s thankfully in the best interests of the U.S. She mourns subtly and briefly but reacts quickly and without question. She betrays everyone she’s ever known at least once in this movie and does so without a second thought though she’s charming, convincing, and even disturbingly earnest. She spares Agent Peabody’s life only to win over his confidence and spares the Russian President only to foil the Russian plan to incite conflict. Either she’s truly a beacon of altruism, or she’s out for blood and her motivation is entirely self-serving. That’s not a hard thing to figure out but the real wonder is… can a monster also be a hero?

What is a hero to begin with? Is the desire to save the world enough to be called hero or is her act of averting nuclear war a bi-product of vengeance and still worthy of the label heroism? You could argue noble intentions and a simple selfish mistake with her husband but strictly speaking, she has no remorse for the massive loss of life she causes. Salt isn’t above using a U.S. agent as a human silencer and has no problem blowing “family members” (and her husband’s corpse) to bits with way too many grenades. And by the end of her story, Salt is given a free pass to kill the remaining Russian agents out there—her first taste of actual freedom. It’s more arguable that, as a product of her own disorder, until Day X, Salt is never allowed control over her own life and by the end of her story, now has the chance to murder mercilessly and suit her own needs. She’s not a villain, but she’s no altruistic hero of the U.S. Who is Evelyn Salt? She’s a tortured woman who lives multiple lies, endangered the one man who ever loved her, and isn’t above betrayal, vengeance, and manipulation for personal gain. And whom does she belong to? By the end of the movie—not a single person in the world.

Fun With The Bills

Here’s a topic I’ve been waiting to write about for the last week or so… Let’s pause from the psychology for a moment and look at the bittersweet reality of (insert ominous chord here) insurance billing.

As the newest intern at PGW, I had the pleasure of sorting through the mountainous piles of billing that comes along with treating patients and providing the services necessary for good mental health—services which I will soon need because of said billing. Insurance is a Godsend when the medical bills roll in. Not everyone can walk through the front door and pay out of pocket an hour later. However, it’s no easy task keeping up with the invoices and unpaid balances left over when the age-old problem, lack of communication, joins the party.

One month, you could have every balance paid on every client by their steadfast insurance providers and the next you’re raking in little to no money at all with question marks circling your forehead and dollar signs on the brain. Of course mistakes are going to happen but, as an intern, I really have to say… I’ve never sifted through a box of check stubs from an insurance company with so many zeros on them. Had there been actual numbers where there hopefully should’ve been, maybe I’d be getting paid for my paper cuts and soon-to-be psychotherapy.

You see, sometimes, insurance providers don’t cover the patients or sessions they’re supposed to and busy practitioners have little time to spend tracking down money in between clients. Naturally, the task falls to whomever can get it done—usually a trained professional. People need to be kept under watch when it comes to paying you and what is an insurance company but people who really like to keep their money? It’s a simple practice of the trade that in order to stay on top of things, you’re going to need someone to bug insurance providers into making payments like any bill collector would because it’s all too easy to “forget” about that nasty balance collecting dust on the table corner.

It’s a lesson well learned and a job not easily done but thankfully there are people to do it and ways to keep the business running smoothly. Just something to bear in mind the next time you’re walking through the door to any doctor’s office—everyone enjoys their payday.

Speed Therapy

Most people probably know the Sidwell Friends School as that prestigious institution the president’s daughters attend to receive the education of a lifetime. However, for the Psychological Group of Washington, the school is ground zero for the birth of a new and innovative approach to the world of therapy.

Surrounded by only four other practices, the school had rounded together teams of professionals to offer services for special needs testing. And as parents and students alike meandered across the gym floor, pulling therapists aside to pour question after question about their prodigy-hopefuls, Dr. Maia Coleman-King and Dr. Katherine Marshall sat at their table in between entertaining clients and brainstormed the newest wave to hit psychology since Prozac.

“What if we could do this for the public?” one would ask the other, referring to the gym-full of professionals marketing themselves at each table. “Why can’t we put this on for everyone else?” And in the next few minutes, the Dynamic Duo of mental health outlined their brainchild, Speed Therapy—the Mona Lisa to their practice The Psychological Group of Washington.

For PGW, it was far too common to pack up a few chairs, a rug, and a couple pillows, make their way down to the Black Family Reunion Celebration on the National Mall only to end up in mini therapy sessions with inquiring faces. After seeing so many people grabbing for even a brief moment of advice, the need for a gathering of patients and therapists alike became all the more obvious.

Their answer to the call?—Speed Therapy

If a person can sit down at 6 different tables in a single night browsing like rapid fire through potential paramours, then why not give it a try with your doctor as well? Of course speed dating isn’t as simple as planting yourself at a table, giving a person the look down and moving on—but naturally, neither is Speed Therapy. Clients are given the chance to spend about ten minutes basically “trying out” a would-be clinician, no strings attached. This allows people to really get a feel for their therapist without committing to a single, or even multiple preliminary sessions. And how do you know what you like until you give it a try right? That’s the point of Speed Therapy—patients need more than just another doctor. They need an atmosphere of trust, of comfort, of stability and each person has their own mental snapshot of what that looks like in a person.

It’s important to realize though, that a ten minute interview isn’t a therapy session. Speed Therapy is more about uniting future client with therapist in a setting that makes the process easier than calling around, regurgitating payments, and scheduling appointments weeks in advance. You get to ask the practical questions about insurance carriers, fees, and the like. Though it would be ideal to fit in a good ten minutes of life-fixing into the meeting, what’s most important is that people find what they’re looking for in a doctor, life coach, counselor and so on and the space for that meeting is what Speed Therapy brings to the table.

It’s no secret that life knocks people down far more often than anyone needs and no matter how well-off or not you are, there’s bound to be a monster or two in your closet at some point. A lot of people shy away from therapy because of stigmas that hardly meet reality and The Psychology Group of Washington wants to give the community a chance to demystify the world of mental health and make therapy a real option for those who need it. And what doctor wouldn’t want the chance to expand his or her practice by getting to meet a handful of new clients in the span of an hour? Networking between health-seekers and care-givers is the easiest and simplest way to make lasting relationships happen both inside and outside of the clinic.

So this is where Speed Therapy takes off and all it needs is you. What you talk about, how much you share, the questions you bring to the table—they’re all up to you. It’s your space and it’s your time to really look for the help you need and there’s no time like the present to get started.

Multi-Faceted Psychology

There's an office down on 21st and K, tucked away behind wooden doors with pale yellow walls and dim lighting--walls that have, by now, heard many a problem and played host to many a personal demon. Behind closed doors, in the solace of a cozy room with a crooked lamp, a couch, and the promise of security, clients visit their therapists in the hopes of reaching comfort with their inner troubles.

The Psychological Group of Washington set out to revolutionize that aim. PGW is a privately owned mental health group providing psychological services to children, adolescents, adults, groups and couples through psychological treatment to promote a greater sense of well-being. Its encompassing endeavors have made way into the media, schools, and the improving lives of clients in need.

There's a sigh of relief stepping through the front door into a waiting room where patients simply breathe and begin to let the tension slide from their shoulders. A lamp overlooks a stack of surprisingly new magazines. A copy of "The Runaway Bunny" rests beside a stack of business cards and the sighing waft of cool air echoes into every room. A grandfather clock perched in the corner towers over the grey, cushioned chairs where clients patiently await moments of escape from taxing lives.

But the group isn't all rooms and couches. Far from it. The helping hands of The Psychological Group of Washington continue to reach out across miles to charter schools at all corners of the DC area. Sitting down with children and administrators alike, the group's professionals evaluate special needs and tailor their services to the school system.

They've been heard on radio, seen on tv, called in for expert opinions on the latest and greatest topics of the mental health profession and they're looking to start a new trend in psychology with their brainchild, Speed Therapy. A meeting of the minds between clients and clinicians alike, Speed Therapy offers a new approach for patients seeking help. Sort of like speed dating but of course, more professional, potential clients get to browse a collection of therapists to find the one that fits their needs, falls into a good price range, or simply feels right without the commitment of follow up appointments and added costs.

The group's endeavors promise an assortment of opportunities for people across all backgrounds and look to provide a fresh face to the world of therapy.

http://www.psychgroupdc.com/index.ht