THE UNMOVABLE DR. PIERCE

I have to say it was fun (and fairly easy) writing the part of Dr. Sonya Pierce, as Julia's therapist. Being a therapist myself, I often wonder how my clients perceive me and they sometimes tell me of their frustrations with me as I sit and listen and allow for the long silences. I wanted to write about Dr. Pierce in an authentic way -- unmovable, professional, unassuming and challenging. But I also knew from the beginning that Julia would pull the wool over her eyes because that is often the reality of therapy. I know for a fact that many of my clients don't tell me what is really going on because they are so insecure, so desperate, and so wanting me to like them, that the truth seems to threaten our relationship. Even though I might say (several times) that the reason you pay a therapist is so that they can be the manager of the "laboratory" we are creating together in the room -- and that it is my job to assess our relationship in a way that informs me about their outside relationships -- they still try to manage me and us (which is also informative, by the way:). If things go well, they will begin to tell me the truth several sessions in, but it often seems that by the time we get close, they have been scared away, and sometimes they come back after several weeks or months when they are braver. Regardless of how it happens, therapy is a difficult process for anyone and therapists can only respond to what is brought to them -- we can't make change happen without permission. In that way, I love Sonya Pierce because she reflects my frustrations as well as a clear understanding of my limitations. And I love how Julia resists her and even believes she's got her fooled, even though any therapist who reads it will understand the difficult dance.
.