Hollywood may be a dream factory, but the machinery of show business looks like an unethical psychology experiment. A one-industry town full of gigantic egos, deep insecurities, and an abusive pecking order; the talented and passionate people making bitter compromises, or seeing their life’s work shelved in a studio vault. Not surprisingly, therapists are ubiquitous.
Phil Stutz and Barry Michels are Hollywood psychologists with a roster of A-list clients. “Especially among the actors, you have people where no one’s told them the truth ever for the last eight years, 12 years — literally never,” Stutz tells Kurt Andersen. “We tell them the truth about who they are, both the strong points and the weaknesses,” Michels explains. “And we’re pretty brutal about the weaknesses, because we want people to change.” Stutz and Michels have shared what they’ve learned with the stars in a book geared to the rest of us: The Tools.
Their tactics combine Jungian analysis with cognitive behavioral therapy. One chapter deals with what Jung called the Shadow. “Everybody has a piece of them that’s insecure — everybody,” Stutz tells Kurt. “It’s not particularly rational and you can’t get rid of it.” When, for example, a screenwriter sabotages his pitch at an important meeting, it may be because he or she is trying to hide the Shadow. Instead, Stutz and Michels say, the screenwriter needs to visualize this “shameful” persona, make friends with it, and enlist its aid in judgmental situations. “Although most people think of their Shadows as the source of their insecurity, if you can change your relationship with your Shadow, it becomes the source of your confidence,” Michels says.
The pair started their careers about as far from celebrity as you can get: Michels as a lawyer with political ambitions, Stutz as a prison psychiatrist at New York’s Rikers Island. In prison, Stutz explains, what you say is nowhere near as important as what you do and how you communicate non-verbally. “There’s a whole level of communication that, within psychotherapy, is not usually dealt with.”
Produced by:
Julia Barton
Featured Comments
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Fantastic interview. Love you, Alan! You were one of the main influences for me to get back into acting later ...
on Alan Cumming -
Really difficult to convey this as a "sound story" and it was done beautifully. Really compelling.
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Comments [5]
To Atman: "Enlightened" is Pascal, Kierkegaard, Aristotle etc. These two Viennese descendants are peddling the same old 100+ year old sham: nihilistic dribble...answers without meaning. Generally harmless, but wake up people.You don't need this. Amazing how any of us ever survived in a world without 1.2 million shrinks to tell us how it is.
Dr. Whom,
I think you're just jealous of these two enlightened therapists. You're probably very busy in your practice scribbling out prescriptions for anti-depressants to enrich the pharmaceutical companies. This is a wonderful book and full of value...not just for "Hollywoodies". Did you even read it? Your arrogance is astonishing.
In the process of living a hard, but productive life, I have come up with some of the same guidelines for living, and they are effective for me. Certainly not the definitive list of tools for living, these seem to overcome certain kinds of 'lifeblock' for me. YMMV. I contemplate relocating to LA and am glad to find like minded in LA who are appreciated.
Something, Something, Something.... Shadow Side!" (as in Family Guy film)....
Talk about Hollywood reality-creation! These Hollywood Jungians have changed the theory to suit their clients' vanity. That's Show Biz Marketing fer ya. Theese guys describe the shadow side as the part of you that you hate. They help Hollywoodies find their shadow by instructing them to imagine a hyper-critical audience! Who would have thought Woodies to fear critical audiences? Such shocking insight.
In reality, the shadow side is what you keep hidden from yourself, such as the cleric who dreams he is a thief, the Tea Party moralist who dreams he might be gay. The Shadow is UNCONSCIOUS, and revealed most clearly in dreams.
I am a psychiatrist in Massachusetts. I am often Dr. Whom online, because I am at least slightly more objective than Doctor Who.
Please, tell me that out treasured Kurt Andersen did not give air time to these charming con men.
I'll go do some laundry and pretend it didn't happen. Beware of what your producers sell you as relevant. This is unadulterated drivel and no matter how many "bold face" names follow these authors' nothingness, the segment does not belong in this show.
I was invited to one of their "seminars" and thought I had fallen into a Christopher Guest mockumentary and could not get up.
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