Showtime series gets to the heart of ‘Couples Therapy’

Above : Orna Guralnik offers therapy to New York couples in the Showtime series “Couples Therapy.” (Photo/Showtime)

Miniseries review : “Couples Therapy,” featuring Orna Guralnik, Virginia Goldner. Streaming on Showtime .

Anyone who has ever gone through marriage counseling knows just how uncomfortable it can be. Most of us are so tied to our own version of reality that we get upset when that view conflicts with how others see the world.

I’m reminded of the scene in Noah Baumbach’s 2019 film “Marriage Story” in which Scarlett Johansson’s character storms out of her marriage-mediation session. Feeling that the male mediator is favoring her estranged husband (played by Adam Driver), she abruptly leaves. And on her way out, she tells them both that, for all she cares, they can get intimate with each other – though, of course, that’s a G-rated version of what she actually says.

Clearly, not every professional has the relevant skills necessary to convince both parties in a mediation – or counseling – session to trust the process.

The New York-based therapist Dr. Orna Guralnik has those skills in abundance. As the focal point of the Showtime series “Couples Therapy,” Guralnik works with a number of couples facing crises ranging from substance abuse to sexual incompatibility to troubled family histories. Above all, though, what Guralnik faces is the challenge of working with people who have let their individual grievances get in the way of their abilities to understand the wants and needs of their partners.

For those us of who have no training in handling such situations, the challenges can seem daunting. For example, a man named Mau (no surnames are used) claims that, he is “the easiest man to deal with.” By that, he means that he knows exactly what he wants. “Zero responsibility,” he says flatly, “[and] to have all the sex I want without any work on my part of any kind.” Furthermore, he adds, the sex “has to be both spectacular and enthusiastic, and genuine.”

Accustomed to such demands, his wife appears less shocked than merely exhausted, which … well, who wouldn’t be? “Says you,” she tells him in response.

Then there’s the woman who calls her husband 20 times a day and who throws a fit when he doesn’t immediately pick up the phone or respond to a text. There’s the couple – one born a woman who identifies as non-binary, the other who has transitioned from male to female – that have trouble agreeing on whether to have children of their own. And there’s the couple that only gradually realize how their respective birth-family trauma has so profoundly affected their abilities to have trust in anyone – even, and maybe especially, a spouse.

And this is all in just the first season, a full 10 episodes of which first aired in 2019. Season 2, which runs for nine episodes and began airing in early April, features another four couples who face just as many problems, all of which are equally varied and painful to witness.

Which, of course, is the point. Yet unlike other reality shows, which typically follow a script and have as much in common with actual “reality” as a veggie burger does with a Big Mac, “Couples Therapy” offers a frank look at real-life circumstances, how those circumstances make life seem unendurable and how – in the hands of a capable psychologist – those dedicated to changing things for the better can learn the skills they need to make such change possible.

This sounds like a script for a Dr. Phil session or even a Jerry Springer episode . But unlike those shows, which emphasize exploitation and explosive outbursts, “Couples Therapy” gets to the root of what honest psychological counseling entails.

And so we see Guralnik, struggling to keep her clients on point while dispensing the guidance they so desperately need. In one instance, she has to confront an angry woman over her inability to own her anger instead of perpetually projecting it on her husband. And, too, we see Guralnik consulting with her clinical adviser, striving to figure out whether she is making the right therapeutic choices.

There have been other therapy-related programs. The HBO series “In Treatment” featured Gabriel Byrne simulating therapy with various actors. A previous VH1 show, also called “Couples Therapy,” featured celebrity couples, including the ex-wife of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. That show’s gimmick was that the so-called “buzzed-about couples” had to spend 21 days together and participate in both individual and group therapy.

Though they’re less obvious, the Showtime series has its own gimmicks, too. The office in which the counseling takes place is actually a pleasantly furnished set. Those being counseled, dubbed by the producers as “participants,” were put through an extensive audition process. And as any therapist will tell you, real, effective therapy doesn’t take place in front of cameras – maybe even hidden ones.

That said, “Couples Therapy” does manage to capture the authentic feel of how, in the hands of a competent and compassionate therapist, average people can come to face the truth – both about themselves as couples, and as individuals.