Adolescence: a film review

Those of us in the profession of therapy know that we practice an art, yet live with the fact that our art is practiced in private and so is rarely if ever displayed to the public. This is not pleasant as artists have a natural tendency to want to share their work. Yet, if one views the third episode in the series, 'Adolescence,' one will be a fly on the wall, watching two actors create a very genuine and deep portrayal of what a good therapeutic session is like. The setup to this episode is that Erin Doherty, the psychologist is conducting a forensic evaluation of a 13 year old boy who is accused of brutally stabbing a female classmate.

In order to simulate a good therapeutic encounter you first must have actors and writing that seamlessly creates the presence of two human beings. Good acting entertains but the audience is aware that actors are between themselves and the reality they are trying to convey. Great acting, on the other hand, allows the audience to experience what Harold Bloom would call, the invention of the human; we experience the characters as real with no sense of a filter between us and them.

Let's outline some of the aspects of what makes the third episode of the series such a great example of a real therapeutic encounter.

First, Doherty, playing the role of Dr. Ariston, is warm, but not at the expense of surrendering discipline. The doctor's warmth is a function of her allowing herself to experience her patient not as an abstraction but rather as a separate and powerful component of a human interaction. There is no hint of her being professionally stilted; at times, when useful, she doesn't mask her sense of humor, compassion, and vulnerability. The latter conveys to her young patient a deep sense of respect.

Next, we realize that the therapist doesn't pretend that the reality of her patient will be answered by questions alone. In fact, the reality goes beyond questions to an actuality that is three dimensional in a way that is ultimately ineffable. As the doctor tells her young patient, 'you are more complex than straighforward questions.' When the encounter is over the psychologist knows she has captured something that she can contain enough for it to be useful, but is complex enough to never exhaust one's sense of wonder.

There are important elements in the interview that bear notice, one is the therapist's sense of timing. She knows when to give space with moments of silence, and when to close space and move the conversation along. It would not be an exaggeration to say that timing is perhaps the most important element of therapeutic discipline and skill. The words of the therapist also convey her respect for language. There is an element of poetry in her speech, as there is in the boy's.

Before I close, and hopefully having lead my readers to watch the series, I would also like to mention the feeling tone of the episode. The atmosphere of feeling waxes and wanes. It becomes clear that feelings are like a compass telling us what matters in the psychology of the boy. One senses the boy's confusion and sadness when he says, 'I don't deserve the hot chocolate,' the therapist might have brought to the session. At the conclusion the viewer appreciates the degree of attachment that has been formed between patient and therapist. Attachment is a force that drives treatment forward. At the end of the scene the viewer will feel as if (s)he has been through an emotional hurricane and will notice a quiet once the storm has passed. It is a quiet that will invite reflection.

I have only praise for this series. It is rare to see a portrayal of psychotherapy that is not hackneyed and full of cliches or stereotypes. Therapists who see the third episode of 'Adolescence' will be watching an interaction of such quality that it might almost serve as a master class, reminding us of how we should behave; prospective patients and those who are curious will have more than a glimpse of the possibilities of therapeutic encounters.

-- Adolescence (Netflix, 2025), third episode, created by Jack Thorne featuring Erin Doherty and Owen Cooper.