Psychotherapy in the Entertainment Spotlight

Posted by Heather Pyle, PsyD

Considering the recent success of HBO's acclaimed series, "In Treatment", it would seem that a refreshingly different spotlight is being cast on the field by the entertainment industry. While not a new release, "What Do You Make of These Sounds", Dar Williams' (known for her music on the New England Folk scene) poignant song about psychotherapy has been receiving renewed interest on psychology internet listservs recently. It's good to see the benefits of therapy are in the public eye despite the current healthcare climate and seductive appeal of the ever-present "quick fixes."

If you haven't yet heard this song, the video is available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5_DvbMLJk . It is well worth a listen.


Lyrics (Courtesy of Lyricsmode.com)

I don't go to therapy to find out if I'm a freak.
I go and I find the one and only answer every week.
And it's just me and all the memories to follow.
Down any course that fits within a fifty minute hour
And we fathom all the mysteries, explicit and inherent
When I hit a rut, she says to try the other parent
And she's so kind, I think she wants to tell me something,
But she knows that it's much better if I get it for myself...
And she says

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, what do you hear in these sounds?
And... oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds? ? ? ? ?

I say I hear a doubt, with the voice of true believing
And the promises to stay, and the footsteps that are leaving
And she says "oh", I say "what? "...she says "exactly",
I say"what, you think I'm angry
Does that mean you think I'm angry?"
She says "look, you come here every week
With jigsaw pieces of your past
Its all on little soundbytes and voices out of photographs
And that's all yours, that's the guide, that's the map
So tell me, where does the arrow point to?
Who invented roses? "

And.......Oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds?
And...oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds? ? ? ? ?


And when I talk about therapy, I know what people think
That it only makes you selfish and in love with your shrink
But oh how I loved everybody else
When I finally got to talk so much about myself............

And I wake up and I ask myself what state I'm in
And I say well I'm lucky, cause I am like east berlin
I had this wall and what I knew of the free world
Was that I could see their fireworks
And I could hear their radio
And I thought that if we met, I would only start confessing
And they'd know that I was scared
They'd would know that I was guessing
But the wall came down and there they stood before me
With their stumbling and their mumbling
And their calling out just like me...and...

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, the stories that nobody hears...and...
Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, and I collect these sounds in my ears...and
Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, that's what I hear in these sounds...and...
Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, that's what I hear in these......
That's what I hear in these souu ouuun nnnds!

Words and Music by Dar Williams