Acting and therapy – Exploring psyches

Therapy can help more than acting class

“I’ve been going to therapy since I was twenty one. I think the more you know about your own psyche, the more you can know about other people’s, and can play them better.” Jennifer Jason Leigh ["Inside the Actors Studio" interview]

Many other talented actors have used therapy to explore their inner life. In our interview [a few years ago], Heather Graham said that in some ways therapy “helps more than acting class. You realize why you operate in certain ways.”

No shrink required

In the current issue of her column The Craft in BackStage titled “Using Psychology in Creating Characters” [Aug 10-16 2006] , Jean Schiffman notes, “But we don’t need a shrink to uncover the psyches of the characters we play; a working knowledge of psychology can help us understand who they are and why they do what they do.”

Some resources for actors

She refers to the book Tools and Techniques for Character Interpretation: A Handbook of Psychology for Actors, Writers, and Directors, by Robert Blumenfeld as a “historical overview of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy and their uses in creating believable, deeply human theatrical characters.”

And she notes that Doug Warhit, an acting teacher and psychotherapist, “recommends that actors read the Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria From DSM-IV-TR… it’s full of descriptions of the psychological traits that characterize every condition from obsessive-compulsive personality disorder to paranoia.”

While many actors point out they do not judge the characters they play, it may be very helpful to explore the emotionally complex inner depths of real people.

Jean Schiffman site www.jeanschiffman.com
book: The Working Actor’s Toolkit

Doug Warhit site www.dougwarhit.com
book: Book the Job: 143 Things Actors Need to Know to Make It Happen

related Talent Development Resources pages:
counseling/therapy
bipolar disorder
depth psychology
dysfunction / disorder
mental health
~~