History Characters / Shrinking

* JerkassHasAPoint: Beginning in the pilot episode, Jimmy starts being brutally frank with his patients and inserting himself in their lives, in a way that can cross into "Jerkass" territory (such as barging in on a date or yelling at his clients). While this has wildly messy results, he does often make valid observations about his patients' situations, such as Grace's toxic relationship with Donny or Sean's PTSD and aggression.

* ParentsAsPeople: Discussed at length. He responded to losing his wife by essentially retreating into selfishness, and the first season is about him emerging into being a parent properly again.

* IntergenerationalFriendship: He's decades older than everyone he works with but is friends with them all the same. He also strikes up a friendship with Alice outside of work.

* ParentsAsPeople: He mentions that he divorced when his daughter was quite young, and to his regret now, he's never really managed to connect with her in all the years since.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Played with. He eventually reveals that he wasn't traumatized by violence inflicted, but by his own inflicting of violence on people whom he guesses probably weren't going to do anything to him.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Paul can be salty, snarky, and even a bit silly at times (singing along to the radio or making buzzing noises to annoy Jimmy), but he's the most experienced of the three main therapists and is genuinely good at reading and talking to people. A big example is when he finally gets Sean to talk about his time in Afghanistan at the end of "Woof." After Paul leaves, Sean and Jimmy both recognize how well he handled that conversation.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Paul can be salty, snarky, and even a bit silly at times (singing along to the radio or making buzzing noises to annoy Jimmy), but he's the most professional of the three main therapists and is genuinely good at reading and talking to people. A big example is when he finally gets Sean to talk about his time in Afghanistan at the end of "Woof." After Paul leaves, Sean and Jimmy both recognize how well he handled that conversation.

* SweetTooth: Tells Alice that he's always up for some ice cream.

* BigEater: Loves snacks and tells Alice that he's always up for some ice cream.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Beginning in the pilot episode, Jimmy starts being brutally frank with his patients and inserting himself in their lives, in a way that occasionally crosses into "Jerkass" territory (such as barging in on a date or yelling at his clients). While this has wildly messy results, he does often make valid observations about his patients' situations, such as Grace's toxic relationship with Donny or Sean's PTSD and aggression.

* PapaWolf: While he struggles to be there for Alice, it becomes clear that he's very protective of her (such as when he finds out that [[spoiler: Connor and Alice had sex]].

* CoolOldGuy: Being played by Harrison Ford qualifies him as this by default. Paul may be in his later years but has lost none of his skill, wit, charisma or kindness.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Paul can be snarky and even a bit silly at times, but he's the most professional of the three therapists and is shown to be genuinely good at getting people to open up to him, such as when he talks to Sean at the end of "Woof."

The wife of Jimmy and mother of Alice, who passed in a car accident a year ago.

* ParentsAsPeople: Discussed at length. He responded to losing his wife by essentially retreating into selfishnesss, and the first season is about him emerging into being a parent properly again.

->'''Played By''': Creator/TeMcGinley

* BigManOnCampus: Liked by everyone he meets and likes them in return. When mentioning a small retirement party for himself, he says it'll probably have a hundred or so people attending.
* KnightInSourArmor:

Jimmy's best friend whom he met in college, a gay real estate lawyer with a long-term boyfriend named Charlie. At series start, he and Jimmy finally start reconnecting after Jimmy starts moving on from his wife's passing.

* ComingOutStory: He calls himself "the only gay boy in Texas" and that he didn't come out until college or later.

* SpeakIllOfTheDead: It's revealed in the pilot that she and Jimmy were arguing a lot before she died, and that the relationship maybe wasn't doing great. However, this actually made Jimmy's mourning worse, since he's also tormented by all the ways he might've messed up their relationship before it ended.

* TotallyRadical: For a few episodes, he labors under the assumption that to "rawdog" someone means not to have sex without a condom, but to confront someone surprisingly, and uses it to several people without being corrected.

* PassionateSportsGirl: On her soccer team, and very passionate about it.

A co-worker at Jimmy's office, a close friend, and his wife's former best friend. At the start of the series, she is finally divorcing Nico, her husband of eight years, due to his pill addiction. As a close friend of the Lairds, she both lends her support and struggles with her own feelings about love and joy.

* SaltAndPepper: She and Jimmy form this.

* KnightInSourArmor: Perpetually swearing and grumpy, but also unhesitatingly supportive of Alice, in love with her husband, and content with the work of their three sons.

A middle-aged therapist, Jimmy is emerging from a period of extended mourning for his wife, who passed away a year ago in a car accident. Jaded and unstable, he decides to simply tell his clients directly what would be most helpful to them instead of helping them arrive at it themselves, sparking the conflict of the series. However, shrinking turns out to be a little more complicated than this straightforward approach suggests...

The therapist in charge of the practice Jimmy works at, Sean is older, grumpy, and estranged from his daughter, but still ultimately good-natured and altruistic. He serves as a mentor to Jimmy and Alice as they deal with their emotional problems.

[[folder:Gabby]]
A co-worker at Jimmy's office, and his wife's former best friend.

Jimmy's best friend whom he met in college, a gay real estate lawyer with a long-term boyfriend named Charlie. At series start, the two start finally reconnecting after Jimmy starts moving on from his wife's passing.