n the psychological thriller movie known as Shutter Island, a U.S marshal investigates the mysterious disappearance of a murderer who killed his wife. However, it is soon revealed that the U.S Marshall was actually the one who was being investigated the whole entire time. It turns out that U.S Marshall, Edward Daniels (Laeddis) ___ has been a patient at shutter island for the last two years for killing his lunatic wife. Its through this discovery that we experience the various kinds of psychological therapies used on Edward throughout the movie. One of the unique therapies used on Edward during the movie was Psychoanalytic Therapy. Psychoanalytic Therapy explores how the unconscious mind can determine thoughts and behaviours in hopes …show more content…
When the therapist says a word, the patient is asked to say whatever first comes to his or her minds. Through this, the therapist is able to interpret patterns in the individual's response and determine the meaning of the patterns. This procedure also correlates with the dream analysis method, which is used to uncovers repressed emotions that might be hidden within the patients dreams. It is the therapist job to help the person uncover these symbolic meanings and to help him/her come to a clear understanding. Looking back at Edward, it has been shown that psychoanalytic therapy was used numerous of times throughout the movie. Constantly throughout the movie, Edward would have dreams of his dead wife. But what was so strange about these dreams was that his wife constantly told Edward to let her go. It turns out that there was a symbolic meaning of why the wife kept insisting Edward to let her go. Apparently, the wife kept saying this because she knew that the only way for Edward to be saved from his past was for him to let her go. She was the one who killed their children and put Edward in a position were he had to kill her. Another example of this therapy was at the end of the …show more content…
Instead of simply talking about past situations, the patients are encouraged to reenact and experience them. Through this process, the individual could learn to become more aware of how their own self denial and behaviors are blocking their self-awareness of the world around them. Basically, the goal of these various psychological methods is for the individual to learn to take responsibility for themselves and accept the consequences of the past. In the movie, Gestalt therapy has been the most effective type of therapy. Laeddis/Edward had already been a patient at Shutter Island for over two years. The horrific trauma that affected Laeddis was too overwhelming for anyone to treat through basic psychological means. Therefore Dr. Sheehan and the other lead therapist laid out a brilliant plan for Laeddis. They allowed Laeddis to believe that he was still a U.S marshall who was investigating a disappeared patient case on the island. By doing this, they hoped that Laeddis will be able to overcome the lies he’s made himself believe in. In addition, another example of this therapy was used at the end of the movie. Both therapist had put Edward in a position where he had to visually renanct the deaths of his kids and wife. By relaying words and names, the doctors/therapist were able to make Laeddis embark on the
Edward used 2nd person, which uses the word “you” a lot. He also had a very harsh and blunt tone about it. Using this point of view and style it makes it seem like the author was directing it towards the reader. he used real life situations to relate what was happening to the reader. “It gave him,to the very depth of his kind heart,to observe how the children fled from his approach.
Edward exercised in a way that was excessive, violent and on the verge of punishment, he also ate food sparingly, he was practically suffering from anorexia and worried excessively about the way he looked particularly about the thinness of his legs, he had slight OCD, an unusual manner of speaking, social insensitivity and often had nervous tics such as constant fiddling, this is why some believe Edward may have suffered from Autism or Asperger's Syndrome, some thought Edward may ha...
...ds his servant to seek out answers from town's people on the reputation of his son Laertes. The playwright may have been warning his audiences without subtlety, by showing us that no matter the reason for deception that in the end it will cause grief and dishonor.
Edward, not believing his father, ended up becoming so estranged from him that they did not talk to each other for three years. In this moment, William’s stories were harmful to Edward, they caused the relationship to fall apart. However, this was not always the case, as the stories had earlier created a sense of awe and wonder between them. In addition, the whole point of Edward’s stories were to teach life lessons to his son. All of the stories that Edward told were only hyped up versions of what really happened.
The doctor concerned with the treatment of Eve is depicted as often consulting with Dr. Day, who is a neurologist as he treats Eve. This practice is considerably unethical in psychoanalysis (Johnson et. al. 2004). Essentially, the ethics of psychoanalysis provides that the psychiatrist should converse freely with the patient rather than with a third party. Furthermore, the film depicts Dr. Luther as not using any organized psychotherapy technique in the treatment except when he hypnotizes Eve in a tactical attempt to access her repressed memory of presumed childhood
The second stage in the psychodynamic therapy process is, the transference stage. In this stage the development of treatment is set and now it is the patient’s time to let their feelings out. The patient expresses those feelings, emotions, fears, and desires to the therapist without having to worry about censorship. The feelings and behavior of the patient become more pronounced and become a vital part of the treatment itself. During this stage the therapist could experience and better understand of the patient’s past and how it impacted their behavior in the
Multiple people claimed they “know a doctor that might be able to help” fix his situation (Edward Scissorhands). At one point, Edward said, “I’d like to meet him” (Edward Scissorhands), knowing if he received prosthetic surgery, he would be accepted as normal and not special. Edward accidently cut Kim and Kevin with his scissorhands, though his intentions were to help them. The incidence leaves the neighbors with an evil impression causing them to chase Edward, though he only wanted Kim’s love. The physical features of Edward and the creature led others to conclude that they were malicious and therefore deemed outcasts, though their intentions were only to find
Laertes was one of my favorite characters in Hamlet. His action-orientated lifestyle is something I incorporate in my own life. I try to use my brain and harness how powerful it can be like Dickinson described in her poem though. Doing this allows me to not get killed by my own poison dagger. I found myself reading Dickinson’s poem through Laertes eyes, I didn’t do that before this assignment.
Most psychodynamic approaches are centered that something has happened early in life that eventually causes difficulties in day to day life. It is very evident in the movie that his psychiatrist, Dr. Davenport, uses this approach that there is underlining cause of his personality, feelings, and emotions, that relate to early experiences in his life. I categorized this type of therapy as Psychodynamic because the sessions are focused around questions and stories about times in his childhood that were troubling. The psychiatrist; Dr. Davenport starts by asking Antwone questions like, “where are you from?” and “where are your parents?” in hopes to lure Antwone into talking more about his personal life that could get down to the root of where all of his built-up anger has come from. As the questions continue, Antwone slowly begins to open up about how he was born in a correctional facility moved into an orphanage where his mother never came to claim him. He then was moved into a mentally, physically, and emotionally abusive foster home with two other foster brothers. With this foster home, also brought along molestation by the foster moms older daughter, and abandonment issues when later being kicked
Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is a frightening film full of twists and turns that presents a highly dramatized depiction of mental health and psychiatric treatment. It fulfills a checklist of the classic elements of Hollywood’s psychological horror genre: foreboding asylums, psychiatric experimentation, dangerous mental afflictions, multiple personalities, intense hallucinations, and even lobotomy. The media’s portrayal of psychiatric disorders and treatment is an important contributor to the continued stigmatization of mental illness in our society. This paper will analyze which aspects of Shutter Island portray
Sigmund Freud and Albert Ellis are widely recognized as two of the most influential psychotherapists of the twentieth century. “It is argued that the striking differences in their therapeutic systems, Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) and psychoanalysis, respectively, are rooted in more fundamental theoretical differences concerning the essential nature of client personality” (Ziegler 75). This paper will discuss in detail, both Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytical Therapy and Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Therapy, as well as compare and contrast both theories.
Freud graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Vienna, Austria. Soon after, he mapped the geography of the human psyche, and began working with severely disturbed patients. Through extremely intense self-analysis, Freud concurred that repressed desires were the source of emotional disturbances. He then developed psychoanalysis, a method of bringing these repressed desires to the conscious level. In order to evoke these hidden, unconscious desires, Freud used dream analysis and free association. He believed dreams were the royal road to the unconscious, and through the interpretation of its contents, repressed desires can be brought to surface. Free association was a therapeutic technique in which the patient would spontaneously verbalize thoughts in an atmosphere that was open and non-judgmental. It was Freud’s belief that the patient would begin to self-analyze, and ultimately ident...
The film Shutter Island follows Edward “Teddy” Daniels as he enters a mental institution to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Solando. As the investigation goes on, Teddy starts to turn his focus to finding Andrew Laeddis, the man responsible for the death of his wife. The truth is revealed towards the end, when we learn that Andrew Laeddis is actually the protagonist and 67th patient at Shutter Island. “Teddy” was simply an identity created by Andrew as a “defense mechanism” to cope with reality. Andrew’s dissociative identity disorder stems from trauma experienced through WWII and the killing of his wife following her murder of their three children. Through scenes of Andrew’s delusions and hallucinations, we find the disruptions in
He goes further with his interpretation. He compares dreams to psychopathological conditions since both refer to thoughts on a subconscious level, and thus decides to break down dreams through the process of psychotherapy. This process requires the dreamer to record the dream (on paper or to a therapist) “without self-criticism”, analyze the dream and draw a conclusion. To demonstrate this process, Freud records one of his dreams, which is given below:
After running into an old friend George, Teddy’s old war friend, teddy starts to realize something even more twisted than the brain surgeries. His paranoia starts to kick in. What did George mean by, “if you kill Laeddis you will never leave.” And, “you are Laeddis.” George was trying to warn Teddy, that the employees out at Shutter Island are now after him. When Teddy confronts Dr. Cawley , he begins to tell started to tell Teddy that he was actually a patient there at Shutter Island. Crazy, I know. I was not expecting that. anyways Dr. Cawley tells Teddy that he is a patient there at the hospital and that he was Andrew Laeddis. The reason he was there was because there was because his wife had killed their children and then he ended up killing her. And, that he had made up this whole other person up as part of his mental health, and this was an elaborate scheme to make him sane again. Seems to me that is an awful lot of work to try and help one patient. Teddy decided to listen to Rachel and not go against them. Teddy went along with what the doctors were saying. Just so he could get off the island. Teddy was not crazy he got caught up in an ego crazed experiment gone wrong out at Shutter