Paul Weston quotes from In Treatment

Gina

Easier to see patterns when they're not ours.

Paul

Or we see them but we can't avoid them. That's worse.

Gina

The way you took critique, it made you furious. You know, it was one professional assessment. And you took it personally. So personally, I had to wonder if it wasn't an echo of an earlier rejection.

Paul

Please, Gina. Not this again. I know exactly where you're going with this.

Gina

A son who feels he's disappointed his father. A son who feels he hasn't lived up to his father's expectations. It's something you would want to address.

Paul

Please don't minimize what you said to me. I wasn't reacting to something in my past in relation to my father.

Gina

One review drove you out of the institute.

Paul

That letter pissed on eight years of my work. Despite it, though, I did become an excellent therapist. Some people might say that... I became a better therapist than you.

Paul

No matter what you did, you are not responsible for your parents’ actions. The only actions we can control are our own. And the only power we have is how we treat other people and how we treat ourselves.

Sophie

So, you want me to forgive myself?

Paul

mm-mm

Sophie

[sigh] How?

Paul

Slowly. It’s going to take a while. It’s taken you a few years to fall into this and it’s probably going to take a while to get out of it. But you have to start trying now. Because you know something? You deserve to be happy.

Sophie

Qué vergüenza.

Paul

hmm?

Sophie

It’s a Spanish song and means What A Shame.

Paul

Mr. Prince, Alex's death is a tragedy. I can't even begin to imagine what you...

I don't want you to imagine, man! I want you to live it!

Paul

I understand your rage.

You understand nothing!

Paul

You did also tell me that until recently you've never lost sleep over anything. I guess what I'm trying to find out is...when...when you think that changed.

It's funny, I just can't remember. It must have been gradual, you know, you look in the mirror one morning and you say, "When did my hair turn white?" Or you get an email from your daughter halfway around the world and you think "When did my baby grow up?"

Paul

It seems like the people in your life are very committed to you.

I have good taste in people.

Paul

I think it's more than that. I think that you demand incredible loyalty. So the only people you allow to get close to you are the people you feel that can measure up. People you feel that can really go the distance.

Paul

The ability to play out whole scenarios in your head... that's... that's the mark of a highly intelligent person.

Really?

Paul

Yes. Yes, according to some studies.

And what do the other studies consider it a sign of?

Paul

Utter insanity.