Couch Fiction-A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy
Story by Philippa Perry.
Art by Junko Graat ( Palgrave MacMillan,2010)
James is a young successful lawyer who harbours a compulsion that overwhelms his better nature and threatens his career. He is driven to seek out the servives of Pat, an experienced psychotherapist who takes him on as a patient. "Couch Fiction" is a recently published graphic novel where Junko Graat's minimalist, sketchy comic-book art illustrates Philippa Perry's tale of the unfolding relationship between a therapist and her patient.
We are handed a fly-on-wall perspective with which to view their sessions, the graphic art deftly transmitting the character's internal and external worlds-their outward expressions of feeling and silent,inner thoughts. What I found most interesting was how we are made privy to the sleights of hand,measured suggestions and disciplined technique (as well as personal doubts and insecurities) of the professional therapist on one hand contrasted with the confessional soul-searching and emotional struggle experienced by the patient on the other.
Initially reticent,James slowly begins to reveal himself to his therapist, stirring up hitherto repressed memories, feelings and frustrations that fuel the fires of his compulsion. By way of their continued exchange, the inner world of the therapist Pat is also revealed via the clever illustrarion of her private reflections and both emerge transformed by their shared experience.
"Couch Fiction" is a touching,informative and spirited look at the journey of one man's personal rehabilitation and contains some trully fascinating insights on psychoanalytic procedure along the way. Additionally, it's a lucid and great-looking curio to read in one sitting.
Graham Montgomery.
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