Film can be used as a strong psychoanalytical tool in psychotherapy, both individual and group. Similar to dreams. A direct portal to the unconscious realm of the psyche and a fertile soil to our unconscious projections. What we feel while watching a particular movie is never a coincidence and that's what makes it kinda different every time we see it, according to our inner state and to the substance of our unconscious merging to the surface. Catalyzed by this powerful medium.

We have used this movie in our last group analytical setting to facilitate the move of unconscious conflicts in our patients to their conscious level. And boy was it helpful. This movie is not just a mere masterpiece of the seventh art, but extremely powerful portal to the deeper layers of our beings.

KRAMER VS KRAMER

Robert Benton's movie about young married couple with seven year old boy, struggling with their day day to day life while going through a divorce is as realistic as one can be. A timeless jewel, if not even an alchemic substance, as it can really transform our reality (or our perception of it).

Kramer vs Kramer is evenly intriguing from both sociological and psychological point of view. It clearly has a feminist premise in it, even though the director doesn't take a stand on any part. He is objective and non biased while bringing up the story to the audience. You won't see many movies, if any (at least these days), opening the subject of female emancipation to this extent. Portraying a family where a mother of a seven year old discards her motherhood for her sake (and her child).

The focal point of the movie is a dynamic triangular form that breaks into pieces when Joanna leaves her family in order to fulfill her own need for individuation. From the moment we engage in Kramer's lives we don't know much about their former dynamics as a couple (and a family in whole), we only get some slight clues of what could have gone wrong. I remember the first time seeing this movie when I wasn't much older than Billy (son of Joanna and Ted). It struck me so hard even though I was too young to even read the subtitles. I remember the feelings of betrayal and sadness as I watched the first scene of the movie when Joanna says goodbye to her son, who was so securely tucked in his bed, seemingly safe from any misfortunes that life can bring.

JOANNA VS TED

Watching this movie we can make an impression of a „normal, usual“ couple, formed by the individuals without any serious mental problems. We don't see how these two interact before the split and we don't know if Joanna's depression had any clinically significant features by that point since Ted (seemingly) didn't have a single clue what was boiling in Joanna for years. We know that she was (possibly) borderline suicidal (as she told to Ted that she would've kill her self if she stayed) and that her whole being was fading away in the neglect of her husband.

JOANNA

It's clear that Joanna suffered from certain „self“ disturbances as she was wallowing in mud of the identity crisis. Even though she (supposedly) tried to talk to Ted on numerous occasions prior the break, I'd say she was more of a „container“. Silently boiling, avoiding the conflict till the very end. To the mere point of braking. That many tension can only be stacked slowly and constantly over time, without any delivery valve reducing the pressure.

TED

Ted on the other hand clearly had some strong narcissistic features, maybe not in a pathological way, but in a sense that he didn't have an ear for Joanna's cries, blindly grasping his career highs, justifying his actions with the well being of his family. Both of them taking the victim-role in this unfortunate event, as it is so often when there is significant schism between the two. We can also see lots of benefits from his narcissistic traits (positive, physiological narcissism) in a way of coping with his countless challenges through out the movie, fighting till the very end for the good of his boy. His ego seems very strong as it only get's shattered at first, but finely adapts to the 180 percent swing he was so suddenly exposed to. It's also obvious that he didn't incorporate the role of father to the full extent until the life events has made him do so.

BILLY

A child suffering the pain of his parents separating can cope with his scar in many ways later in life. To be left in a way that little Billy was in this story could settle a seed for some attachment issues later in life, either leading to the pattern of insecure, anxious, or either to the avoidant type. Even though he had already introjected object of mother and separated from it till the age of seven, it's hard to say if he will interact with women in life the same way he would if he was spared of the pain of felling that is left alone and helpless. Deprived for his mother's love in his tender years. Still, seems like a healthy child, with justified „acting out“ reactions as some sort of rebellion to the whole course of events, while defying his somewhat impatient father. After all, he was brought to the final act, nobody asked him what he thinks or feels. It's common that a child, in a great confusion of the situation, sees himself as a possible cause of the family splitting, and by thus gets overwhelmed by the guilt. These are emotions that an infant psyche can not process on a conscious level and that can easily lead to psychological disturbances later in life, depending on the structure of the personality.

Can we justify her actions (and do we have to)?

Well, it depends on you. It must be a horrifying thing for a mother to leave a child behind. What if she didn't leave? Would she be emotionally fit to keep fulfilling it's needs while she was suffering the way she was. Would she project her pain and anxiety onto it. Probably. Would he form such a strong bond to his father if the story didn't go this path. Hardly. Let's just take a second and try to imagine what the world looks like through the eyes of those we can easily convict. Not an easy thing. Alchemy.

DIAGNOSIS?

Diagnosis according to ICD (International Statistical Classification of Diseases ) - 10th revision

Joanna

F60 Personality disorder, unspeciffied (not enogh info to be more specific)

F32 depressive episode (we can't determine the level cause the lack on info)

Ted

F43.2 Adjustment disorders

THERAPEUTIC APPROACH/ TREATMENT

It's obvius Joanna needed some psychological help. As she later mentioned the therapy helped her to get to know who she is. I assume she was engaged in a individual psychoanalytical treatment, that helped her consolidate the shattered ego and to firmed it's adaption capacities while introjecting a „healthier“ object she was possibly denied for in her early days. As for Ted, some supportive therapeutic approach would be helpful dealing the chaos of adapting to the unforeseen circumstances. It's possible I'd offer them some psychopharmacological agents. Probably an SSRI (selective serotonin re uptake inhibitor) like escitalopram for Joanna, and a drug from the group of benzodiazepines for Ted (or both) to prevent (or mild down) his acting out. A family psychotherapy would be helpful only if both parties were intrinsically motivated for it.

Again, hands down to the director Robert Benton for letting the actors do their thing and giving them the liberty to improvise, making this characters and their relations so authentic and almost palpable. Both Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman, at the time filming the movie, were going through their own personal dramas (Meryl was still mourning her departed boyfriend Jon Cazale, while Dustin was dealing with the divorce).