Private Practice Podcast

We’re back in the Private Practice with new episodes, new ways to listen, and new ideas of Irvin Yalom to regurgitate and pack into fudge boxes. As you’ll hear, we’ve bent time all over the place for this episode and Dan is not entirely happy about the situation. For those of you who like their synopsis a little more straight forward, this episode is a discussion of what’s to come in series 2 in the Private Practice.

Loneliness, death, a medium-sized sack, our Christmas Special has it all. Packing in jokes, games, and a whole fistful of festive fudge, this is therapy at its most something-or-other. This Christmas Dan(xious) and James offer you the gift of meaning in your otherwise pointless life.

Thanks to Mark, Jess, Dan’s mum and Mathieu for essential contributions to this episode.

Putting the arse into catharsis, James attempts to work out what conclusions he can draw so far, but can’t help going off on a number of tangents. For Dan this is the final straw. Next series he wants feelings, he wants tears.

What’s more, it’s not over when it ends. Outstaying its welcome, this episode piles up a load of bonus material at the end, even though rubbish collection is not until next Tuesday…

And just to reiterate something which may get lost in this episode, Private Practice is in no way sponsored by any brand of whiskey, because that would be totally inappropriate for such a serious programme about mental health issues.

This week we unearth the grotesque. The most sickening symptoms of celebrity culture come crawling out of the wounds of a lonely child so desperate to be liked. This episode might make you feel queasy, but therapy proves that things are better out than in. If you’ve ever dreamt of fame and fortune, it’s time to look at yourself from the other side of the mirror, and update your status.

Apologies for the subtle interference during this recording, but DAN KEPT HIS PHONE ON AND PROMISES HE WON’T DO IT AGAIN.

Something is up this week. Maybe it’s the humidity, maybe it’s the problematic consequence of James removing his trousers upon arrival at the Private Practice. We never set out to drop the A bomb so soon, this was meant to be an episode about vanity. But James’ internal conflict was such that an autistic clusterfudge erupted in the room and sat in the thick air, clouding any insight and commanding the agenda. What follows is a thorough assessment of James’ position on the autistic spectrum. We went through all 50 questions in the autism test, but for your sanity many of these have been edited out. However, James’ score is very much out of 50, so don’t go on a rampage if you’re keeping a tally while/whilst you listen and it doesn’t add up to the same figure you hear in the programme.

If you were thinking James seems sweet and innocent (“aah, he thinks he’s a megalomaniac but really he was just kind and lonely as a child”), it’s time you saw through to his darker side. Making cancer jokes, staring at men in the changing room… In this episode Dan asks some excellent questions about the feelings behind anxiety and confidence, which James spectacularly fails to answer. But don’t worry, we’ll come back to this subject by about episode 234, whereby you’ll definitely have all the answers you need. Please be prepared for lots of fun distorting strong language in ways which totally don’t conceal the words at all.

Having decided to “give Dan a go”, James arrives to his first proper session on the lips sofa with a burning question; was he a megalomaniac child? When it turns out this was meant to be a rhetorical question, the extent to which James will require many further sessions becomes all too clear.

Warning: Contains material about complex subjects which some listeners may find problematically simplistic.

Our inaugural, introductory episode of Private Practice gives you the chance to form ruthless first impressions of Daniel and James, within seconds. But for you, the special listener, this is the beginning of an incredibly intimate relationship. The Private Practice is open, in every sense conceivable.