While some in industry feel empowered by shifting attitudes, others grapple with painful memories or face guilt over having kept quiet about what they knew

In Hollywood, Johnny Carson used to joke, if you don’t have a shrink people think you’re crazy.



It is an enduring caricature that actors, producers and other film industry types interrupt auditions, rehearsals, yoga sessions or kale salads to phone their therapists.

In reality there is still stigma around therapy, even in Los Angeles, and if people seek treatment they tend not to advertise the fact.

The explosion of sexual misconduct revelations, however, has given a sombre twist to the stereotype: now actors and others in the entertainment industry really are calling therapists, day and night.

“We’re much busier and on-call, visiting people on set, or seeing them in the office. It’s morphed into this almost 24-7 availability,” said Charles Sophy, a prominent Beverly Hills psychiatrist who has celebrities among his patients.

The torrent of #MeToo and #TimesUp testimonies of alleged abuse and harassment by Harvey Weinstein and other Hollywood figures has triggered powerful emotions and memories across the industry, he said.

“I treat some of the people that are in the middle of all this, people that are speaking out and being spoken out about. A lot of substance abuse has been stirred up over it. People have relapsed. I had one person who had to go to the hospital.”

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Sophy, who in addition to running a private practice is medical director for LA County’s department of children and family services, said the new openness about sexual misconduct was having a positive impact by empowering victims.

But some of those with trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder, were having painful memories triggered, he said, while others who were not abused but knew about abuse were wrestling with guilt. “They feel bad that they didn’t do anything.”

Of five other therapists contacted for this article, all said heightened awareness about sexual misconduct – this week saw the sentencing of the disgraced USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar and the publication of Rose McGowan’s whistleblowing book Brave – had seeped into their sessions.

“The issue has come up across the board,” said Gila Shapiro, an LA-based marriage and family therapist. Hollywood retained some secrets, she said. “It seems as though there are a number of stories that have not yet made the headlines and may never – the stakes still feel too high for people.”

Lorien Haynes, a writer and film-maker, said the volume of media reports and social media posts about sexual misconduct was for some people creating an unhealthy information loop. “There’s no escaping it. It’s like the wound being opened again and again. My own therapist has had to go on set because people were struggling to manage it.”

Haynes said she was abused as a child and this drove her to write An Open Secret, a documentary about child abuse in Hollywood, and A Man and a Woman, a play about the repercussions of abuse.

People outside the entertainment industry are also feeling affected.

Lynn Bufka, the American Psychological Association’s associate executive director for practice, research and policy, said there was no hard data but that colleagues across the US were reporting a surge in conversations about sexual abuse and consent.

“Absolutely patients are talking about this. For those already in treatment, it’s probably a good thing this is happening at national level. But it can be pretty challenging if you’re not connected to a therapist or psychologist or support network.”

Suzanne Phillips, co-chair of community outreach for the American Group Psychotherapy Association, said her members were also fielding a surge. “It’s coming up because what people bring is often what has hit them in the media … and that’s usually an avenue for unhealed trauma.”

The volume of media coverage was eroding the stigma around therapy, said Phillips: “Shame drops and the possibility of seeking help is increased.”

Linda Curran, a trauma specialist, said the cascading revelations were cathartic for some but not those who had suffered childhood abuse. “Their worldview is fairly stable: those in power will continue to use power capriciously and abusively … he will always be believed, therefore who cares who you tell or how many times.”

Several alleged serial predators are in therapy.

Successful treatment depends on the person wishing to understand and change their behaviour rather than use rehab as public relations fig leaf, said Sophy. “If you don’t go in for the right reasons, it won’t work.”

Weinstein, who is at a high-end rehab centre in Arizona, is facing dozens of accusations. He has denied non-consensual sex. This week his lawyer issued a statement calling McGowan a liar for her book’s depiction of an alleged rape.

Nora Baladerian, an LA-based clinical psychologist, doubted the former producer would emerge a changed man. “Weinstein is still denying that anything bad really happened. I don’t think he gets it.”