A Character Analysis Of Nora From Watchers By Dean Koontz

Nora is a character from Watchers, a novel by Dean Koontz. She is very shy and skeptical of the world because she grew up with her aunt. While growing up, her aunt would constantly tell her things like “you are not pretty”, “the outside world will only let you down”, “men are dangerous and only want one thing”, “you are a ‘mouse’”, and lots of other things to bring her down. Because of what her aunt told her and how she was raised, Nora never left the house or let anyone in and grew up to be very nervous and shy. But, after her aunt died, Nora began trying to get outside more and met a man named Travis Cornell and his dog Einstein. Throughout their interactions in the book, Travis and Einstein unknowingly help Nora with her problems through many different identifiable methods of therapy.

Travis used many methods of therapy on Nora.

One method he used is client-centered therapy. This is a humanistic therapy in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients’ growth. He also uses exposure therapy. This is when you treat anxieties by exposing the client to the things they fear and avoid. Lastly, Travis uses cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting. You can see an example of client-centered therapy when Travis first meets Nora. He always genuine and accepting and actively listens to what she is saying. An example of when Travis uses exposure therapy is when he takes Nora out into town and slowly exposes her to the outside world. And and example of cognitive therapy would be when Travis reveals to Nora that her aunt had a husband at one point. After she found out, she gained a new perspective on the way she was

raised.
Einstein also unknowingly employ several different types of therapy with Nora. The first and most obvious method is AAT, or animal assisted therapy. This form of therapy uses animals as a form of treatment to improve a client’s social, emotional, and cognitive functioning. Einstein also uses client-centered therapy. You can see AAT at work in the book because Nora uses Einstein several time to comfort her when she begins to feel uncomfortable or nauseous. Einstein also uses client-centered therapy with Nora with every interaction with her. He is constantly genuine, accepting, and empathic with Nora.
Nora also employs her own therapy. She uses family therapy, which is a therapy that attempts to guide family members toward positive relationships and improved communication. This is seen when Nora develops a way for her and Travis to effectively communicate with Einstein, thus guiding the family toward positive relationships and improved communication.
It is evident that throughout this book, many types of psychological therapy are used. Travis and Einsteins’ combined uses of various methods of therapy help Nora to overcome her insecurities. At the same time Nora helped Travis and Einstein learn to communicate more effectively. The book uses great examples of these therapies and shows how they can help individuals in many aspects of their lives.