Web Therapy

The T.V. show I viewed was “Web Therapy.” I heard about the show from my daughter who saw Lisa Kudrow being interviewed on the “The View” sometime ago. Therefore, this is not a show I would normally watch. The show was Season 1 Episode 1. As the show began, the therapist, Dr. Fiona Wallace, played by Lisa Kudrow, tried to adjust her webcam for a session. There was someone in the background with whom she seemed frustrated as she tried to get his attention to what she was doing but he kept focusing his attention on various things in her office. She also seemed to be testing the computer as it seemed she would be conducting her therapy sessions via video chat.

The “someone” in the background that she, Dr. Fiona kept on directing, turned out to be Kip Wallace who seemed to be her first test client. Because they were seated next to each other with their respective computers/laptops, he tended to look to his left when speaking to her rather than at his webcam. They seem to be friends/and or business partners. As the show progressed, the therapist had three other characters, Richard Pratt, Jerome Sokollof and Gina Spinks. These three characters I assumed were her clients. Towards the end of the show Kip called back, this time from home it seemed with a glass of wine in his hand.

The feelings and expressions based on the non –verbal behavior I was observing ranged from shock to bewilderment, confidence, embarrassment, frustration and even blushing. For example at the beginning, Kip seemed to be expressing issues he needed to work out. As the conversation became intense, (i.e. when something that seemed heavy came up) he turned to his left instead of looking straight at the camera.  Richard’s expression of confusion (jaw dropping stares and blank expressions, knitted brow) by the advice given to him by the therapist, had me wondering what was the advice he was being given as he fidgeted with a stress ball, while she, the therapist, seemed very confident, relaxed, with right arm /elbow on the back of her chair, (smiling, gesticulating, and nodding). Gina seemed shocked and confused as she played with a “slinky” during her session.  Smiling a lot while talking and looking doe -eyed at times, she seemed eager to follow the prescribed ideas as she wrote them down. Jerome, however, seemed to be an amateur at using the computer as he was not able to be seen for a while. He was not directly in front of the webcam.  Jerome seemed to frustrate the therapist as his rapid head movements suggested that he was not in agreement with her advice.

 Based on the interpretations of the non-verbal communications that I have observed, I was wrong about who was the owner of the business. I could never tell that Fiona and Kip was actually a married couple for 17 years and that Fiona was using Kip as a test client for her business as a therapist. I never knew that Gina was not a client but a former co-worker and an inside informer on the others. It was an eye-opener that Fiona was actually flirting with Richard and was experiencing pangs of jealousy when she heard that he was going to propose to his girlfriend. Her blushing and hand gesture (showing her ring) was misinterpreted by me that it was Richard who was flirting with her. Personally, if I was watching a show that I knew well, I would have been more accurate with my assumptions. Why?  I would have been more familiar with the plot and the characters and would have known more about how they relate to each other over a period of time to judge or predict more accurately.

I have learnt from this blog assignment that I cannot hastily judge others based only on their non-verbal cues and as O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012, p.130) states, “that just because we tend to place more stock in non-verbal communication, doesn’t mean that we are always right” (2012, p. 130).This was indeed my “aha” moment when I watched the film, “Web Therapy.”

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Web Therapy, http://www.sockshare.com/file/E2D9DE50B3D852B0#