Phychodynamic Therapy In The Movie Antwone Fisher

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I chose to write my paper on the award-winning movie Antwone Fisher, directed by Denzel Washington. As this movie unfolds, the majority of it shows the therapy sessions between Antwone and his psychiatrist; Dr. Davenport. The movie starts out by showing a young Navy man who has issues with cooperating and living with his fellow shipmates. It is very evident in the beginning of the movie that he has anger issues and that it is hard for him to control them, because of underlining issues that have happened to him as a child. After getting in a physical fight on the ship, his commander orders that he goes to see a psychiatrist to evaluate him and his possible issues. At first, Antwone refused to speak to the psychiatrist but as time went on, he …show more content…

Most psychodynamic approaches are centered that something has happened early in life that eventually causes difficulties in day to day life. It is very evident in the movie that his psychiatrist, Dr. Davenport, uses this approach that there is underlining cause of his personality, feelings, and emotions, that relate to early experiences in his life. I categorized this type of therapy as Psychodynamic because the sessions are focused around questions and stories about times in his childhood that were troubling. The psychiatrist; Dr. Davenport starts by asking Antwone questions like, “where are you from?” and “where are your parents?” in hopes to lure Antwone into talking more about his personal life that could get down to the root of where all of his built-up anger has come from. As the questions continue, Antwone slowly begins to open up about how he was born in a correctional facility moved into an orphanage where his mother never came to claim him. He then was moved into a mentally, physically, and emotionally abusive foster home with two other foster brothers. With this foster home, also brought along molestation by the foster moms older daughter, and abandonment issues when later being kicked …show more content…

Out of the two, I believe that the Psychodynamic Approach was the most successful out of the two because Dr. Davenport credits a lot of his childhood experiences to his behavior and feelings in his adult life. Dr. Davenport links him being molested as a young child, to the reason that at the age of 25 he still has not been with a woman sexually, and never been that open to relationships until he meets a girl on the ship that he falls in love with during the sessions. As well as his abandonment issues to his mother never coming back for him, his foster care family finally kicking him out when he stood up for himself, and finally his best friend Jesse who was the only one always there for him, putting himself in a position to get shot and killed in front of him. At the end of the movie, the viewer can clearly see a huge difference in Antwone’s personality and the way that he copes with certain difficult situations, as well as just being an overall happier person; showing that the therapy was effective for Antwone

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