History Main / TherapyBackfire

** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E20TheWarOfTheSimpsons "The War of the Simpsons"]]: Homer and Marge attend couples counseling with Reverend Lovejoy. After they state why they're having problems, Lovejoy admits it's the first time he's ever agreed completely with one side (that side being Marge).

** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E4TheresNoDisgraceLikeHome "There's No Disgrace Like Home"]]: The episode has Homer insist the family go to a therapy session. They all blame him (although this might have been annoyance at [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness him having sold their TV to pay for it]]).

* In the webcomic ''VenusEnvy'', Zoe's mother tries to find therapists to convince Zoe that she is indeed male. The therapists instead agree that Zoe has GID and a couple recommend therapy for her mother.

** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E11MargicalHistoryTour "Margical History Tour"]]: Margerine takes Henry to marriage counseling in the hopes of stopping the king from marrying someone else. However the therapist (Hibbert) is all for Henry kicking his wife to the curb. Having four men push axes against his neck threatening to kill him the second he tried to talk about saving the marriage might have something to do with it.
** One episode has Homer and Marge attend couples counseling with Reverend Lovejoy. After they state why they're having problems, Lovejoy admits it's the first time he's ever agreed completely with one side (that side being Marge).

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E11FearOfFlying Fear Of Flying]]": A RunningGag throughout the episode is Homer believing that the therapist will turn Marge against him by trying to put the blame of all of Marge's problems onto him ([[TechnicallyTrue not that he]] ''isn't'' to blame for a lot of Marge's problems, but he assumes that the therapist will somehow brainwash Marge into getting a divorce after apparently seeing it happen many times before with other men). After a pretty bad first impression and Marge getting her fear of flying fixed, the therapist ''[[BrickJoke do]]'' tries to talk to Marge about "the big problem" that is Homer... and Homer barges into the office to take Marge away.

** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E11MargicalHistoryTour "Margical History Tour"]]: Margerine takes Henry to marriage counseling in the hopes of stopping the king from marrying someone else. However the therapist (Hibbert) is all for Henry kicking his wife the the curb. Having four men push axes against his neck threatening to kill him the second he tried to talk about saving the marriage might have something to do with it.

** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E11FearOfFlying Fear Of Flying]]: A RunningGag throughout the episode is Homer believing that the therapist will turn Marge against him by trying to put the blame of all of Marge's problems onto him (not that he ''isn't'' to blame for a lot of Marge's problems, but he assumes that the therapist will somehow brainwash Marge into getting a divorce after seeing it many times before). After a pretty bad first impression and Marge getting her fear of flying fixed, the therapist ''[[BrickJoke do]]'' tries to talk to Marge about "the big problem" that is Homer... and Homer barges into the office to take Marge away.

** ''Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E11FearOfFlying'': A RunningGag throughout the episode is Homer believing that the therapist will turns Marge against him by trying to put the blame of all of Marge's problems onto him (not that he ''isn't'' to blame for a lot of Marge's problems, but he assumes that the therapist will brainwash Marge into getting a divorce). After a pretty bad first impression and Marge getting her fear of flying fixed, the therapist ''[[BrickJoke do]]'' tries to talk to Marge about "the big problem" that is Homer... and Homer barges into the office to take Marge away.

* ''Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E11FearOfFlying'': A RunningGag throughout the episode is Homer believing that the therapist will turns Marge against him by trying to put the blame of all of Marge's problems onto him (not that he ''isn't'' to blame for Marge's problems, but he assumes that the therapist will brainwash Marge into getting a divorce). After a pretty bad first impression and Marge getting her fear of flying fixed, the therapist ''[[BrickJoke do]]'' tries to talk to Marge about "the big problem" that is Homer... and Homer barges into the office to take Marge away.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In W.F. Miksch's ''Series/TheAddamsFamily Strikes Back'' the head of the school board calls in a psychiatrist to diagnose Uncle Fester as insane in an attempt to discredit Gomez, who's running as an opponent in the current school board election. Uncle Fester cheerfully convinces the psychiatrist to join in Fester's favorite hobby, only to be arrested for firing a crossbow in public. After being freed from jail, the irate psychiatrist pronounces Uncle Fester the sanest man in town.
[[/folder]]

* In the ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' "Marriage Counselor" sketch, a man brings his wife into a marriage counselor; the counselor then [[InstantSeduction seduces her right in front of him]].

* While not therapy-related, a similar situation happened with two girls in NancyDrew, [[TheFilmOfTheBook The Movie Of The Books]], when Inga takes Nancy into a clothes boutique to update her "retro" look:

* It happened in an episode of ''HomeImprovement'', during a group session. Of course, Jill is pissed that the whole group sided with Tim, and not her [[SarcasmMode (after all, she did graduate with a 4.0 average)]].

* An early episode of ''TheSimpsons'' has Homer insist the family go to a therapy session. They all blame him (although this might have been annoyance at [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness him having sold their TV to pay for it]]).

* Happened in Swedish sketch show ''GabbaGabba'', (though the details are a bit fuzzy). In short, The Siblings are recurring characters, trying to get their stuff back after a fire. Once, they went to therapy, and the therapist kept agreeing with The Brother, who was always [[TheFool the cheerful fool]] of the two, whereas The Sister was a bit more overbearing, yet with an angry streak. The therapist agreeing with The Brother caused The Sister to freak, which led to the therapist agreeing more with the Brother, and so on...

* In ''FanFic/TheStalkingZukoSeries'' Zuko and Smellerbee force Jet into therapy so he would stop being obsessed with Zuko. While the therapist Dr.Wang agrees with them that Jet has a problem, it's because of the therapy that Jet realizes that he [[RightForTheWrongReasons had evidence that he found a firebender.]]

* While not therapy-related, a similar situation happened with two girls in NancyDrew, [[TheMovieOfTheBook The Movie Of The Books]], when Inga takes Nancy into a clothes boutique to update her "retro" look:

* A bizarre variation, In ''{{Community}}'', the BigBad has a fake psychologist attempt to convince [[TrueCompanions the study group]] that they are insane, in order to prevent them from discovering his plots. It's because of the therapy that they even realize that GenreSavvy Abed was right and the Dean was replaced with an imposter.

In ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', Lindsay and Tobias attempt counseling after Tobias quits his job to become an actor. A simple role-playing exercise leads to Tobias and the therapist nearly kissing and the therapist not only siding with Tobias, but also quitting ''his'' job to become an actor as well. This is something of a subversion as it's the therapist and Tobias who are portrayed as crazy.

Alice has convinced Bob to attend a therapy session with her for some reason or another (whether it's a group session, Bob seeing the shrink on his own, or with Alice varies). She's doing this because, in her mind, Alice believes the doctor will tell Bob that he's wrong, and Alice is right.

Some of the possible results that could occur:

* Group Session: The rest of the group sides with Bob, pointing out that Bob's a brave man for putting up with Alice for so long.
* Bob and Alice together: Alice will go on a MotiveRant, usually along the lines of "How dare you side with Bob, you quack? Did you get your degree out of a cereal box? You were supposed to say ''It's not Alice's fault; you're wrong, Bob, so do whatever she says''?!"
* Bob solo: Similar to the Together example, except it'll be revealed (often by the door swinging open) that Alice has been listening in on the session via door leaning, and the same type of rant as above.

In other words, Alice's attempt to railroad Bob into a [[SarcasmMode better man]] has crashed and burned.

!!Examples:

* While not therapy-related, a similar situation happened with two girls in NancyDrew, [[TheMovieOfTheBook The Movie Of The Books]], when Inga takes Nancy into a clothes boutique to update her "retro" look:
--> '''Inga:''' Hi? Obviously, someone here needs a little help with their look.
--> '''Boutique Clerk:''' Oh. It's not that bad.
--> '''Inga:''' Oh, please. It's a fashion teardown.
--> '''Boutique Clerk:''' You have some nice pieces. They're just not really working together.
--> '''Inga:''' Me? I was talking about her! (points to Nancy)
--> '''Boutique Clerk:''' (to Inga) Oh, sorry. (to Nancy) Wow! Where did you get that dress?

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* It happened in an episode of ''HomeImprovement'', during a group session. Of course, Jill is pissed that the whole group sided with Tim, and not her [[SarcasmMode (after all, she did graduate with a 4.0 average)]].
* In the ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' "Marriage Counselor" sketch, a man brings his wife into a marriage counselor; the counselor then [[InstantSeduction seduces her right in front of him]].

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* An early episode of ''TheSimpsons'' has Homer insist the family go to a therapy session. They all blame him (although this might have been annoyance at [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness him having sold their TV to pay for it]]).

* An early episode of ''TheSimpsons'' has Homer insist the family go to a therapy session. They all blame him (although this might have been annoyance at him having sold their TV to pay for it).

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:Webcomics]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* Happened in Swedish sketch show ''GabbaGabba'', (though the details are a bit fuzzy). In short, The Siblings are recurring characters, trying to get their stuff back after a fire. Once, they went to therapy, and the therapist kept agreeing with The Brother, who was always [[TheFool the cheerful fool]] of the two, whereas The Sister was a bit more overbearing, yet with an angry streak. The therapist agreeing with The Brother caused The Sister to freak, which led to the therapist agreeing more with the Brother, and so on...

* '''GROUP SESSION:''' The rest of the group sides with Bob, pointing out that Bob's a brave man for putting up with Alice for so long.
* '''BOB & ALICE TOGETHER:''' Alice will go on a MotiveRant, usually along the lines of "How dare you side with Bob, you quack? Did you get your degree out of a cereal box? You were supposed to say ''It's not Alice's fault; you're wrong, Bob, so do whatever she says''?!"
* '''BOB SOLO:''' Similar to the Together example, except it'll be revealed (often by the door swinging open) that Alice has been listening in on the session via door leaning, and the same type of rant as above.

* It happened in an episode of ''HomeImprovement'', during a group session. Of course, Jill is pissed that the whole group sided with Tim, and not her [[SarcasmMode (after all, she did graduate with a 4.0 average)]].

* Happened in Swedish sketch show ''GabbaGabba'', (though the details are a bit fuzzy). In short, The Siblings are recurring characters, trying to get their stuff back after a fire. Once, they went to therapy, and the therapist kept agreeing with The Brother, who was always [[TheFool the cheerful fool]] of the two, whereas The Sister was a bit more overbearing, yet with an angry streak. The therapist agreeing with The Brother caused The Sister to freak, which led to the therapist agreeing more with the Brother, and so on...
* An early episode of ''TheSimpsons'' has Homer insist the family go to a therapy session. They all blame him (although this might have been annoyance at him having sold their TV to pay for it).
* In the webcomic ''VenusEnvy'', Zoe's mother tries to find therapists to convince Zoe that she is indeed male. The therapists instead agree that Zoe has GID and a couple recommend therapy for her mother.

* In the ''MontyPython'' "Marriage Counselor" sketch, a man brings his wife into a marriage counselor; the counselor then [[InstantSeduction seduces her right in front of him]].