Laugh and Learn

 I love counseling.  That is why I am completing my master's
degree in school counseling.  I also enjoy a good mystery.  In some ways
counseling is like solving a mystery.  You help your client solve the "mystery" of whatever conflicts he or she is facing.  You help the client to make sense of what is happening and find a way to resolve problems. 

When, in a counseling theories class, a professor referenced the 1945 Alfred Hitchcock film Spellbound, I knew I had to watch it.  Not only is it a classic suspense movie, it deals with psychoanalysis.             

In the film, the character, Dr. Alex Brulov quips, "Women make the best psychoanalysts until they fall in love. After that they make the best patients”.  With one line, it could be argued today that, the female character was seemingly put in her place and the audience was reminded of female weakness and a lack of equality. First, what a novelty it must have been to see a woman portrayed as a doctor at that time.  One might consider how far we’ve come, since
it is now commonplace for women to hold such positions.  But have we shaken these stereotypes?  We still get a chuckle out of it, so on some
level we relate, but has the reason for our laughter evolved since 1945?

In honor of women’s history month it is important to point out the strides women have made not only with regard to gaining a foothold in today’s workforce, but with regard to women’s identity as separate from male identity. Equality among the sexes often times, in reality, meant how well one could adapt to the male identity. In essence it is most likely why we find Dr. Brulov’s comment humorous.  Here is a woman in a male role, yet she has still not learned to behave like a “man”. Not without good intentions, attitudes and efforts toward equality may have been misguided in the past because to be equal was to behave similarly to the dominant role.

About finding Dr. Brulov's line funny?  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
there were 450,000 women working in the counseling field in 2012.  Would they laugh at this line?  The reason for laughing probably has evolved slightly as we have grown to understand ourselves in greater depth and as individuals. But let’s be sure that we never lose our ability to laugh at ourselves.  It’s a definite sign of
growth!

Judy Harrington a master's degree candidate in the School Counseling program at LIU Hudson's Rockland Campus wrote this blog.