Hi Sea,
No, you got it just right! For me, the play addresses, in part, the issue of what is helpful in therapy, and why after all my psychoanalytic (and other) training (Harvard Medical/ Mass General Hospital post doc, etc.) in the end I rejected it viewing it more as religion than science. Of course, as a naďve 23 year old, I expected to find the brightest people in the world at Mass General, and instead I found myself on a self-built lifeboat floating in a sea of narcissism and politics. But I did what Timothy, the protagonist in my play does: I fired Mass General, learned from the “bad” things and shaped my career, in part, around the horrors I found there.
Concerning my father, until the past decade he had little interest in my career. (My mother wanted me to be a classics professor, so she never had any interest either.) Neither went to any of my graduations my entire life. I adapted to that very early—and I was always extremely independent (genetics from my mother—which I have passed on, for better and for worse, to my daughter). So, their lack of interest never bothered me—I have always been my own best and worst judge. Anyway, during the past decade, my father not only apologized to me for his lack of interest, but has told me he is very impressed/proud of what I have done in life, and certainly sees it as very unusual. (Of course, when you are paying college tuition when you are in your 20’s—and it’s not for yourself, but for your kids, I suppose that is unusual!) So, that’s a long (and partial) explanation as to why my father enjoyed the play and why he wanted others to read it.
Thanks so much for the read and all the thought that went into it,
Richard
