Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The doctor is in
This is not your average couples’ reality TV show, and it definitely isn’t a repeat of the VH1 celebrity show. There’s no drama-filled brawling or suspenseful paternity test reveals. No, Showtime’s “Couples Therapy” is a whole other ball game. The series premiered in September 2019, and, while the new season won’t return until 2021, the upcoming special will bridge the gap until then. You can catch “Couples Therapy: The COVID Special” on Sunday, Dec. 13, on the network.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out on something that’s never really been done before. The characters in this special aren’t just actors playing roles — they’re real-life couples. And the psychologist at the helm of it all, Dr. Orna Guralnik, is a respected therapist who specializes in psychoanalysis and gender and sexuality.
“Couples Therapy” is an intimate look at what really goes on beneath the surface of a couple’s relationship — and couples of different backgrounds at that! Showtime has made a point to make the show inclusive, filming and releasing episodes that feature people of color, a same-sex couple, a trans/ cis couple and a heterosexual couple. Neither the couple nor the doctor has a script, and the therapy outcome is not precontrived.
The upcoming COVID-19 special is an hour-long episode that will include therapy sessions with couples as usual, only this time the sessions between Guralnik and her clients will be conducted entirely via Zoom. As many couples could personally attest to this year, the couples in this special have been essentially trapped together due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s causing some unexpected problems.
As a result of this uniquely 2020 situation, Guralnik and the couples will be discussing some deep-rooted issues attached to the stresses each couple is experiencing. Expect a “warts and all” kind of experience.
According to an interview on Indiewire, Guralnik assured fans of the show that it is not just the TV couples who need advice right now. The New York-based clinical psychologist explained that many are facing relationship issues due to the close and constant confinement during the pandemic. She went on to offer some advice and urged: “Keep returning to this idea of being gentle, and keep reminding yourself that what we’re in the middle of is not normal life. Find artificial ways to make up for the kind of boundaries that we’ve lost because of this quarantine; boundaries of space and time and location.”
Critics and viewers alike have heaped praise on the first season of the show, calling it “riveting” and claiming that it can actually help couples who are struggling with their relationships.
Initially, Guralnik was just going to be a consultant for the “Couples Therapy” show. Instead, filmmakers Eli B. Despres, Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, who all worked together
on “Weiner” (2016), decided to recruit her to be the central figure in the show rather than just advise.
Over 1,000 couples applied to be a part of the upcoming special — a telling number with regard to the stress that 2020 has brought upon us all — and, while the couples that were chosen were obviously aware they were to be filmed, a great deal of effort was made to keep the production staff and film crew out of view from the couples as much as possible during their sessions. The hope was that these measures would make the couples feel more comfortable and give them an experience that was as close as possible to a typical therapy session.
“Couples Therapy” goes beyond the normal “reality TV” charade to examine the true nature of human reactions and emotions, offering insights and glimpses into the challenges faced by many partners. By showing a side of their lives that’s almost never seen by an audience, you can tell that many couples are not as honest with each other as they should be. Guralnik even says at one point in the show, “people do better with the truth than without it.” It’s a straightforward theory, but for many couples complete honesty is not always that simple.
When thinking of therapy, most people only look at it from the patient’s perspective; this show is challenging that paradigm too. Guralnik’s consultant, Virginia Goldner, PhD, also takes part in the series, and together they discuss both what the couples are experiencing, as well as Guralnik’s methods of intervention.
Any good therapy session is an exercise in vulnerability, so it isn’t entirely possible to have a successful therapy experience without allowing yourself to be open. “Couples Therapy” has also shown that it’s possible to incorporate that sense of vulnerability into your marriage (especially now that we all know people like Guralnik really do exist). A qualified therapist can do wonders for a couple across even the deepest chasms of their relationship.
If nothing else, this show is proving to its viewers that, even on television — and outside the confidentiality of real-life — therapy can help a struggling couple to rekindle their lost love. Let’s hope it also helps to chip away at the stigma that so often overshadows the effectiveness of counseling.
Another perk of the series is that it has helped viewers to see therapists in a new light as well (as they, after all, are human, too). They struggle with the realities of everyday life just like the rest of us and, in the new COVID-19 special’s trailer, Guralnik talks about the frustration that comes from not having her daily ritual of going to the office and sitting down to work with her clients in the way she always has — a change, to which many of us can relate, that has proven to be more difficult than expected.
So, grab your spot on the couch and don’t miss the therapist’s wise words to couples coping and connecting during the pandemic. You can catch “Couples Therapy: The COVID Special” Sunday, Dec. 13, on Showtime.