Title:  MINDING THERAPY

Date: January 21, 2009

Author: Ros Johnson

Submitted to: Hollywoodscript.com

Format: SP

Pages: 99

Time: Present

Locale: Providence, Rhode Island

Genre: Drama

LOGLINE:
When a burnt-out lesbian therapist with girlfriend problems finally abandons her fruitless attempts at self-help and gets her own head shrunk, she unexpectedly traces the root of her commitment issues to shocking truths her closemouthed mom has hidden from her all her life.

Concept: Excellent

Characterization: Excellent

Dialogue: Excellent

Story Line: Excellent

Setting/Prod. Values: Very good

Freshness of Story: Excellent

SYNOPSIS:
It's spring, and Daryl Stone, a psychotherapist at a mental health clinic in
Providence, is MINDING THERAPY big-time: she feels burnt out in a job where it's
disheartening to see too many clients in too few sessions, and, rather than seek
her own much-needed headshrinking, she clings to talk shows and food for answers
and solace.

Moreover, on one fateful day, Daryl faces two new life-changing events. Her mom,
Nina, requests she come home to Louisville for the funeral of Daryl's
father-though Daryl never knew him-and Daryl meets and falls for a very
appealing woman, Angie. But Daryl's already solidly entrenched in a dead-end and
dysfunctional relationship with a woman who claims she's straight and lives with
her boyfriend.

Although not enthralled with the prospect of attending her deadbeat dad's
funeral, Daryl makes the long drive home in order to support her mom. But
tensions between mother and daughter quickly emerge. Daryl both falls prey to
subtle criticism regarding her weight and feels the effects of Nina's
homophobia.

 At the funeral, Daryl learns some of the harsher truths her closemouthed mom
has hidden from her all her life. Then if exposure to the hysterically grieving
widow, Eva, and her two grown sons isn't unsettling enough, the final straw
occurs at the reception, where Nina angrily accuses Eva: "You don't know what
anguish is until your best friend steals your husband and leaves you with an
unwanted baby!"

Daryl just wants to return to Providence and leave all of this behind her.  On
her way out Nina's door, she volleys her parting shot: "Ma, an abortion would've
been okay, you know."

Already shaky and now well on her way to a total meltdown, Daryl finally puts
herself in therapy, hoping for the kind of quick fix her boss expects her to
give her own clients. To a certain extent it works, in that she ditches the old
girlfriend and starts a promising romance with Angie and even seriously
considers developing her own private therapy practice.

Unfortunately, however, she effectively skirts the deeper issues, such as the
origins of her food issues, the specter of Nina's lies, and growing fears of
Angie's dependency on her. Daryl is frustrated with having to be a
therapist-who-is-also-a-client, preferring to take things into her own hands.
She proceeds to create her own "treatment plan," proudly declaring to her
colleague, "I'm my own new, best client!" Her goals are to eat better, exercise,
and make room in her schedule to start seeing private clients.

Although avoidant of Nina, Daryl, now freshly reconnected to her past, keeps in
touch with her uncle, Jack (the brother of her father), whom Daryl has long
presumed to be Nina's boyfriend. In an attempt at resolution and closeness, Nina
proposes that she and Jack come to Providence for a week in August, a visit that
will sorely test Nina's homophobia and will lead to a momentous revelation of
yet another secret she's unfairly kept from Daryl.

It's a good thing that Daryl has hung on in therapy this long as she prepares
for a confrontation that will not only bring her past into clearer focus but
also unexpectedly pave the way for a brighter future with Angie.

COMMENTS: Minding Therapy is a spunky but deep “little story” that keeps you fully engaged from start to finish. It’s brave, absorbing and ever so honest. In some circles the lesbian aspect of things may make it seem narrow and niche. But it’s anything but.  The beauty herein is that it’s simply a very rich human experience resonating all the realities and verities of existence in a diversified fashion, touching on such things as loneliness, obsession, addiction, passion, career issues, unfinished family business and of course love and sexuality.  The protagonist is very relatable, deeply sympathetic, sharp-witted, funny, tragic and as normal as apple pie.  Situations and difficulties never stop their entertaining progression, all within a very compelling story. Hip and relevant, with a Bridget Jones's Diary kind of flavor (because Daryl is funny and is on a similar kind of quest). Would make a terrific film.

RECOMMENDED!!!

TO CONTACT WRITER DIRECTLY:
Roscjohnson@aol.com

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