The Characters On My Couch

Ever since I decided to become a therapist, I figured at some point I would write a book about great characters seen through the lens of therapy. The idea was gestating while I started and finished other projects over the course of years. Eventually it all clicked for me one night after I completed a rewatch of Mad Men.

I had forgotten how Mad Men existed at the peak of the Peak TV era, when they were making sophisticated, compelling shows that you would normally find on cable, but with production orders and budgets you would normally see from a network. Mad Men ran for seven seasons, with each of its first six seasons accounting for thirteen episodes each for a total of ninety-two episodes.

That rewatch took me a long time, and by the end of it, I felt like I really knew Don Draper. I had spent so much time with him, concentrated time, three, four episodes a day over the course of a month. He went through a lot, and I was right there with him for all of it. I felt like I really knew his voice, and then I realized that he would be the perfect character client for me to write about having a therapy session with. 

So I sat down and wrote it. And then picked another great character from another great show, and wrote that one. It was fun thinking of the characters from shows I had watched and rewatched, like The Wire, The Sopranos, and The Brady Bunch, as therapy clients of mine. 

Game of Thrones was one of these shows, and the only question was which character to feature. Cersei was the first that came to mind, and ultimately the one I chose to write. Specifically, this is Cersei between episodes nine and ten of Season 6, after she has been imprisoned by the High Sparrow, but before her trail at the Great Sept of Baelor (no spoilers!).

Intake Information: Client is a 40 year old female mandated to attend therapy as the result of a court order. Requirement for therapy has to do with recent events involving her work and family life, and what Client describes as “alleged crimes,” as numerated by an authority referred to as the High Sparrow. Client reports feelings of anxiety and frustration, as well as a lack of appetite. Client is a widow, has three children, and reports no previous therapy experience.

Cersei Lannister sits on the couch across from me, wearing a formless dirty brown dress, her hair shorn and sticking out at jagged angles. Her affect and posture are regal even as her clothes indicate otherwise. She looks around my office with a hint of disdain.

“This couch is uncomfortable. I’m not used to such formless furniture. I need something with more support. Do you have any chairs?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t,” I say. “I probably should have a chair, though, for clients who prefer one. I’ll make note of that for the future. So tell me, Cersei. Why are you here?”

She smirks. “Doesn’t it say why in those important looking papers of yours?”

I pick up her intake paperwork.

“It says here you’re mandated to attend therapy as a ‘requirement for your rehabilitation’ as ruled by the High Sparrow. Who’s that?”

Cersei scoffs. “Who is the High Sparrow? He’s a worm, a tiny little man hiding behind the shield of religion. He’s jealous of those with royal blood, and he wishes me ill.”

“So is he, like, a judge?”

“Yes, as well as jury and executioner.”

“And what is this rehabilitation he mentions?” I ask.

“I am to serve penance for my sins.”

“What are these sins?”

“Do you exist simply to ask questions?” she says, annoyed.

“That’s pretty much my job.”

“And if I refuse to answer them?”

“Then you refuse.”

“But I must remain here for the allotted time?”

“Fifty minutes. By ruling of the High Sparrow,” I remind her. “But I can’t force you to talk.”

Cersei smiles wistfully. “I miss forcing people to talk. It can be quite satisfying.”

She sighs, and sits back, seemingly happy to sit in silence, and I join her, waiting.

After a minute or so she appears restless, and leans back in. “What are my sins, you ask? What are anyone’s sins? They are simply actions one takes that are judged by others differently than how one judges them one’s self.”

“So, sins are subjective.”

“They can be. And they are in this case. As a queen, I would say my sins should not even be considered sins by my subjects. Although I suppose technically I’m no longer a queen. And that’s besides the point for the High Sparrow, whose entire worldview is shaped by disdain for royalty and aversion to the monarchy. That’s why he took such pleasure in my walk of shame.”

“Walk of shame?” I ask, as I write that down in my notes. “Tell me about that.”

“It is just as it is named. I was made to strip naked and walk the outskirts of the castle as the common people pelted me with rotten vegetables, all in an effort to force me to accept and acknowledge the actions I must feel shame for.”

“That sounds like it was difficult.”

“It was. It was intended to break me. To humiliate me. And in some sense it did, but I am too strong a person to ever lose faith in myself. Even if as part of the ruse I had to present myself as if I had. Accept my punishment, turn over a new leaf, all that. You see, I know from experience that if one is being tortured and wishes it to end, one must act as if the torture hurts. Defiance to torture only brings on more of the same.”

“Sounds like you have some experience with torture,” I observe.

“Oh, I do. Both as torturer and torturee.” She grins wickedly. “The former is preferable.”

“You know, shame is a tricky emotion. It can be relentless, and at the same time hidden. It can exist in the background of our lives, affecting everything we do and feel. But from what I’m hearing, you didn’t feel it in this situation.”

“I feel no shame, period. I am a queen,” says Cersei defiantly. “It is impossible for me to be wrong about anything. Why should I feel shame?”

I shrug and don’t respond. We sit there for a quiet moment. Then I think of a question.

“What did you do that this High Sparrow considered a sin?”

“I am accused of adultery.”

“I see. A classic sin,” I observe.

“Perhaps, but not worthy in my view of the punishment I have been assigned.”

“Any other sins you’ve been accused of?”

Cersei opens her mouth to speak, then thinks better of it. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“Anything you say here is held in complete confidence, and won’t be shared with anyone outside this room without your permission.”

“Anything?”

“Yes. With a few exceptions. I am a mandated reporter, so there are some things I am required to report if I hear them in session. These involve statements regarding harm to yourself, harm to others, and abuse of children or elders. Everything else is top secret.”

Cersei nods, considering this, eyeing me intently. “And I see from your paperwork that you’re a Stark. I am kin to some Starks, and I cannot say I trust them. Any relationship?”

“Not that I’m aware of. Also, no relation to Tony Stark.”

“Tony Stark? I know not of that one.”

“Iron Man. From the Avengers?”

Cersei looks at me quizzically, so I get back on track.

“My point is, anything you say here is in complete confidence, with a few exceptions that you’re now aware of. So, you should feel free to share whatever you want without fear of it leaving this room.”

“Very well. I have also been accused of regicide. This is related to the death of my first husband, Robert. He was such a boor. Ironically, he was killed by a boar.” She chuckles.

“I see.” I sit in silence and wait for her to continue. Cersei seems to be waiting for me to ask a follow up question, but I don’t. Now she seems uncomfortable, and after a moment speaks up again.

“There is another sin.”

I continue to sit in silence, looking at her, waiting.

“Do you wish to know it?” Cersei asks.

“Yes, if you’re willing to share,” I reply.

Cersei seems to consider what she’s about to say, becoming more emotional now, more vulnerable. Then it all comes out in one big burst.

“I have an incestuous relationship with my twin brother Jaime, and have borne three children with him, passing them off as offspring of King Robert and keeping this a secret, thus creating a fraudulent line of succession to the throne of Westeros, and in theory the entire Seven Kingdoms and the Iron Throne.”

I jot this information down in my notes. “The Iron Throne?”

Read the full therapy session with Cersei and more iconic characters in Phil's new book The Characters On My Couch: A Collection of Therapy Sessions with Your Favorite Film and TV Characters 

The Characters On My Couch takes you behind the closed door of a therapist’s office for a collection of therapy sessions with pop culture’s most famously troubled figures. From prestige dramas to classic comedies, The Characters On My Couch examines the psychological makeup, defense mechanisms, and internal conflicts of the characters we love to watch.

To learn more about what Phil Stark is up to, find his other books and more here.