Photo credit, property of Apple TV+, fair use
Yesterday, I was asked if I’ve watched the comedy drama series Shrinking, which I have. Aside from the typical racially and ethnically foolish remarks common in many films and series these days (i.e., deriding white people for simply being white), I’ve enjoyed the show thus far.
Describing the premise of the series, one source states, “A therapist, Jimmy Laird, dealing with severe grief after his wife’s death, begins to breach ethical barriers by telling his patients what he really thinks, resulting in massive changes to his and their lives.”
Regarding Jimmy’s approach to helping “patients,” which I call “clients,” I think about his rupturing of occupational norms. For example, when I began the informal practice of life coaching as a child, in 1991, I knew nothing about professional morals and ethics.
A moral is defined as of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior. Based on a moral foundation, ethics are principles of conduct governing an individual or a group.
For instance, in 1991, my moral principle when helping people was that if the adults and children who I tried to help expressed that their lives were improved by my assistance, then my behavior was righteous. Ergo, my ethical code was to continue doing that which was reportedly helpful.
Then, when I became a psychotherapist upon completing graduate school for counseling in 2011, I learned the difference between personal and professional morals and ethics. In specific, I was bound to the ethical codes of conduct regarding the American Counseling Association (ACA).
For example, the 2005 ACA Code of Ethics to which I was bound stated of informed consent, “Clients have the freedom to choose whether to enter into or remain in a counseling relationship and need adequate information about the counseling process and the counselor.”
Because it was ethical to allow clients the freedom of choice, I considered it morally wrong for the agency at which I worked to accept court-mandated clients who were involuntarily enrolled in treatment and management services while expressly stating that they didn’t want services.
Further codes of ethics applied after completing graduate school for social work in 2014, as I was also subject to ethical codes of conduct regarding the National Association of Social Workers. One remains uncertain about the codes of ethics which apply to Jimmy in Shirking.
What does remain clear is that the protagonist develops his own ethically questionable approach to care for mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “mental health”). Before too long, Jimmy begins to promote the term “Jimmying” in regard to his unorthodox style.
As an example, Jimmy’s boss, “Paul,” is unable to drive due to a medical condition. While Paul is subject to Jimmy’s influence when driving around town, Jimmy essentially manipulates his boss into performing social behavior in which Paul expressly doesn’t desire to engage.
Realizing his limited options (walk or submit), Paul reluctantly yells, “Okay, let’s Jimmy this motherfucker!” One may argue that rather than the empowering process of psychotherapeutic change, Jimmying in this case relates to coercion—the process of compelling an act.
Of course, not all instances of Jimmying are represented as blatantly ethical violations akin to that scene. Still, other forms of Jimmying remain open to critical analysis nonetheless. For instance, one source states:
The central conceit, that Jimmy tells his clients the truth, is clearly not only professionally unacceptable, it isn’t even true within the logic of the show. Jimmy does not “tell them the truth”, he tells them what he is assuming, what he’s fantasising about, what he wants to say, without filtering those thoughts to meet the needs of his clients.
I appreciate this assessment, as I advocate use of the scientific method when practicing Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) in my personal and professional life. Using this approach to mental health, I form hypotheses rather than assuming that what I think or believe is true.
Broadly speaking, the scientific method involves observation and formulating a question, researching a topic, proposing a hypothesis, testing with experimentation, analyzing data, reporting conclusions, and applying the information to the original observational question.
One REBT homework example used to test a hypothesis is a shame attack exercise. Instead of Jimmying a client by proposing what I assume is true, the client and I negotiate homework so that the individual can conduct a real-life exercise to determine what is actually correct.
All the same, I appreciate Shrinking for the elements one source describes when expressing about psychotherapists, “we don’t have all the answers. We don’t say and do everything perfectly. We make mistakes. We say too much or too little. We get overly involved.”
Jimmy is merely a fallible human being who, from my interpretation of Shrinking, genuinely cares for his clients and tries to help them achieve a higher level of functioning and improved quality of life. It’s a little too easy to sit back and cast proverbial stones at the act of Jimmying.
Admittedly, though nowhere near as significant as Jimmy’s erroneous behavior, I once experimented with my own form of Jimmying. First, I formed a hypothesis. I figured that if I provided clients with extra opportunities for self-improvement, they’d have better outcomes.
Then, I tested this premise through experiments. I provided up-to two-hour sessions for the price of one; made myself available through calls, texts, and emails; sent motivational texts and emails between sessions; and utilized personally-tailored blog entries to improve client outcomes.
This experimentation was done using a control group (individuals not receiving the treatment or management being tested). As well, my clients were informed of the experiment, as to remain consistent with applicable codes of ethics.
Noteworthy, the key to using the scientific method is to allow data to speak for itself. What I realized is that my clients who received the added intervention strategy didn’t show improvement beyond that of the control group. Thus, my hypothesis was rejected.
Definitively, my form of Jimmying was conducted in accordance with the principles of REBT which is a scientific approach to mental health. In actuality, this approach is scantly comparable to Jimmy’s methodology. Regarding this matter, one source states:
The show appears to intend for Jimmy’s ethical violations to exemplify his flaws. Flawed heroes, after all, are satisfying to root for because they map onto our view of ourselves. But the ethical guidelines that undergird the practice of psychotherapy serve a crucial function: to protect the client, therapist, and the therapy process from harm. Violating these ethical guidelines—the provisions against dual relationships, boundary violations, and using clients for the therapist’s own gratification—does not render Jimmy morally flawed, but rather morally corrupt.
Ultimately, I’ve enjoyed Shrinking as a flawed show that depicts a fallible human being with whom a number of mental health practitioners take issue. Nonetheless, if prospective clients watch the series and expect for me to perform similar Jimmying antics, I have news for you.
You may self-disturb with unhelpful beliefs about my refusal to cross ethical codes of conduct which are represented in Shrinking. Therefore, I’ll leave the highly questionable Jimmying to Jimmy Laird. If this matter of informed consent is of interest to you, then I look forward to hearing from you.
If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
ACA. (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. American Counseling Association. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/archived-code-of-ethics/codeethics05.pdf?sfvrsn=b6b31580_2
Apple TV. (2024, November 18). In the end, everyone comes around to Jimmying. #Shrinking [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/EfUr4QEtW2o?si=CcwDS03krStb-QlZ
Cahak, R. M. (2023, February 12). Meet Jimmy Laird: The renegade TV therapist. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/vitalogy/202302/meet-jimmy-laird-the-renegade-tv-therapist
Hollings, D. (2024, May 24). A scientific approach to mental health. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/a-scientific-approach-to-mental-health
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Hollings, D. (2024, March 4). Mental, emotional, and behavioral health. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/mental-emotional-and-behavioral-health
Hollings, D. (2024, October 14). Mistakes. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/mistakes
Hollings, D. (2023, October 2). Morals and ethics. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/morals-and-ethics
Hollings, D. (2024, May 30). Nobody’s perfect. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/nobody-s-perfect
Hollings, D. (2023, September 3). On feelings. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-feelings
Hollings, D. (2023, April 24). On truth. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-truth
Hollings, D. (2024, May 26). Principles. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/principles
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Hollings, D. (2022, November 1). Self-disturbance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-disturbance
Hollings, D. (2022, September 8). Shame attacking. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/shame-attacking
Hollings, D. (2023, August 6). The science. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-science
Hollings, D. (2024, June 19). Treatment vs. management. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/treatment-vs-management
IMDb. (n.d.). Shrinking [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15677150/
Kinderman, P. (2023, February 3). Shrinking: a psychiatrist doesn’t know the ‘truth’ and other issues with the show’s depiction of therapy, according to a clinical psychologist. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/shrinking-a-psychiatrist-doesnt-know-the-truth-and-other-issues-with-the-shows-depiction-of-therapy-according-to-a-clinical-psychologist-199054
Shpancer, N. (2023, February 9). What’s wrong with the show “Shrinking”? Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/202302/whats-wrong-with-the-show-shrinking
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Shrinking (TV series). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinking_(TV_series)
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