Last Chance Harvey

No scene depicts psychotherapy or even alludes to the treatment, but in a pivotal scene, Kate, after she and Harvey have known each other for only a few hours, and with no professional training, recognizes one of many "last chances" and tells Harvey he must do something. With reluctance he follows her direction with the result that he reverses, not entirely on his own, an emotional cutoff, and everyone lives happily ever after. It occurs to me that such an intervention for many psychotherapists is to die for, and for others, notably psychoanalysts, is sacrilege.

If you are a psychotherapist, would you want to intervene like Kate? If not, what would you see as risks of intervening and potential benefits of refraining?

If you are a layperson, perhaps a Harvey or someone in his family, would you want a psychotherapist to act like Kate did or leave you to spend years understanding yourself?

emotional cutoff | psychotherapy