History Main / EpiphanyTherapy

* PlayedForLaughs in the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Crystals Have Power". Jake swears off violence after having a flash-back to a childhood trauma where he accidentally hurt his brother Jerome, only for his dad to tell him "You're going to hurt ''everybody''!" This hampers Jake's attempts to save Finn from some extra-dimensional crystal monsters until Jake receives a vision of his father explaining what he meant:

* In ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'', the villain uses Epiphany Therapy as a [[PsychicPowers psychic power]] to gain control of people.

** There is an episode where we see how agonizing it is for the evil Angelus to be trapped inside the brooding but heroic Angel - he screams in horror when forced to relive a night when Angel saved a puppy. He quickly gets over this problem when he remembers that he can still torment ''Angel'', no matter what happens in the outside world.

** In the first season, she overcame her fear of the Master, by getting killed by him. Killing him in return certainly helped.

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Sinon has a severe phobia of guns in general (and the Type-54 "Blackstar" in particular) due to being a victim of armed robbery when she was eleven. She tries to conquer this phobia by playing a gun-based MMO, but it's only partially effective: she doesn't suffer from her phobia in-game, but it does little to counteract it in real life. By the end of the story, she gets some emotional catharsis that helps her a bit, and she's able to hold it together when faced with a real-life gun for a couple of minutes, but she still freaks out in private afterward.

After a while, writers may feel that the character has to lose this flaw. In RealLife, deep-seated psychological traumas take years to deal with and cure even in the best-case scenario, and most require a lifetime of treatment — [[ScarsAreForever mental scars are]] ''[[ScarsAreForever also]]'' [[ScarsAreForever forever]], after all. In fictionland, however, ThereAreNoTherapists; fortunately, FreudianExcuse, MyGreatestFailure, the HeroicBSOD, InTheBlood, and DysfunctionJunction, can be cured with a simple WhoopiEpiphanySpeech, growing BoredWithInsanity, a friend telling them to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan cop on]], confiding in someone about your BadDreams, the [[ThePowerOfLove strength]] or [[LoveRedeems redemption]] offered by love, or {{sidekick}}s or TrueCompanions showing them that ThePowerOfFriendship cures all wounds. The writers thus resolve the issue over the course of a single episode (or movie) and call it CharacterDevelopment, often at a cost of WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. (On the plus side, this trope saves the audience a lot of time.)

Writers sometimes try to add depth to their characters by giving them some sort of psychological problem — [[SingleIssuePsychology always exactly one, neatly-explainable problem]]. Maybe they [[DoesNotLikeMen hate men]] due to a previous abusive relationship. Maybe the [[DarkAndTroubledPast memory of their dead little sister]] keeps getting them down. Or perhaps [[CartwrightCurse constantly having their girlfriend]] [[Website/WomenInRefrigerators locked in a refrigerator]] causes them to drive potential [[LoveInterests lovers]] away due to [[ItsNotYouItsMe fear for their safety.]]

After a while, writers may feel that the character has to lose this flaw. In RealLife, deep-seated psychological traumas take years to deal with and cure even in the best case scenario, and most require a lifetime of treatment — [[ScarsAreForever mental scars are]] ''[[ScarsAreForever also]]'' [[ScarsAreForever forever]], after all. In fictionland, however, ThereAreNoTherapists; fortunately, FreudianExcuse, MyGreatestFailure, the HeroicBSOD, InTheBlood, and DysfunctionJunction, can be cured with a simple WhoopiEpiphanySpeech, growing BoredWithInsanity, a friend telling them to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan cop on]], confiding in someone about your BadDreams, the [[ThePowerOfLove strength]] or [[LoveRedeems redemption]] offered by love, or {{sidekick}}s or TrueCompanions showing them that ThePowerOfFriendship cures all wounds. The writers thus resolve the issue over the course of a single episode (or movie) and call it CharacterDevelopment, often at a cost of WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. (On the plus side, this trope saves the audience a lot of time.)

See also ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere, CompressedVice, NotHimself, ResetButton, SnapBack, ArmorPiercingQuestion and WeWantOurJerkBack. Definitely not to be confused with either PercussiveTherapy or 'wall to wall therapy', though they both are known for resolving the situation pretty quickly, too (for very different reasons). Contrast with MentalHealthRecoveryArc.

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Sinon has a severe phobia of guns in general (and the Type-54 "Blackstar" in particular) due to being a victim of armed robbery when she was eleven. She tries to conquer this phobia by playing a gun-based MMO, but it's only partially effective: she doesn't suffer from her phobia in-game, but it does little to counteract it in real life. By the end of the story she gets some emotional catharsis that helps her a bit, and she's able to hold it together when faced with a real-life gun for a couple of minutes, but she still freaks out in private afterward.

* ''Manga/TheKurusagiCorpseDeliveryService'' tends to avert this. Most of the cast have some manner of psychological issue or other, and learning what caused it and confronting it gives, at best, some manner of closure that helps in the healing process. Notably, Sasaki is still actively seeing a therapist and taking antidepressants, a decade after seeing her family killed before her eyes and after the crew gives her the opportunity to to forgive one of the killers to his face and exposing the other.

** Twice has the power of SelfDuplication, but can't duplicate himself any more because he is terrified that he is actually just another copy. He also has severe paranoia and some form of Dissociative Identity Disorder. At one point he is conclusively proven not to be a copy, and he duplicates himself countless times to create an instant army to save his friends. [[SubvertedTrope However]], it quickly becomes apparent that, while his ability to duplicate himself remains unlocked, this has made every other mental issue he has significantly worse. He's still paranoid, delusional, has trouble with his own identity, and is obsessed with protecting his friends. All his epiphany did was make him more dangerous.

** In Ultimate X-Men, Professor Xavier helped a washed up martial arts student become a competent fighter by telepathically fixing her mental blocks.

* The ComicBook/MartianManhunter had a deep seated fear of fire as his AchillesHeel, which made the second most powerful being in Creator/DCComics Earth vulnerable to matches. Thanks to some epiphany therapy with a flame powered hottie, he managed to remove the fear... only to discover it was a mental block placed by non-NeglectfulPrecursors to avoid his species becoming [[AlwaysChaoticEvil psychotic fire demons]] drunk on power.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'', Homer gets an epiphany therapy from an old Eskimo woman, and realizes that he's nothing without his family and therefore must save Springfield to get them back. Played bizarrely realistically in that this only helps his guilt complex, and even then he doesn't find closure until he's actually helped his family out; meanwhile, [[TheDitz everything else wrong]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold with Homer Simpson]] is still strong in his psyche.

* Hilariously played with in ''Film/WhatAboutBob'', where the title character, while tied up with explosives strapped to him, manages to turn the situation into a metaphor that gets him over his mental issues, while using a literal application of the metaphor to escape his situation. The "played with" part is that he ''never'' realizes he's actually in danger, and believes the whole thing's a constructed roleplaying scenario designed to cause this sort of epiphany.
* Parodied in ''Film/HighAnxiety'', where a climactic situation sent Creator/MelBrooks's character into a childhood flashback, making him realize "I'm not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of ''parents''!"
* ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'' is abducted by a Soviet agent, but gets out of a forced defection by engaging him in friendly conversation, and getting him to realize he only became a spy out of fear of his father, a high up in the KGB who arrested his mother in a Stalinist purge. The analyst says he could probably cure him, but it would take years and he couldn't do it if he was sent to Russia.

** Mobster Paul Vitti has been seeing a psychologist, and makes a breakthrough that leaves him in tears. Unfortunately, it comes at the worst possible time -- he's in a gunfight with rival gangsters, and unable to fight back, causing his psychologist to say, "Paul, you have to channel all this nice grief into a murderous rage." At the end of the film, they both agree he still needs therapy.
** Vitti repeatedly thinks he's cured after minor epiphanies (some of which don't necessarily apply), and leaves treatment despite his psychologist insisting that there's much more buried underneath. Of course, he ends up still screwed up.

* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', when Firestar fears that Scourge will crush the clans, he laments that there were always four clans in the forest, but Scourge is trying to change that. Then [[TheWatcher [=StarClan=]]] tell him [[spoiler: that there were never four clans, there were always ''five''. Cue Firestar realizing that [=StarClan=] is always with him, and that while he has [=StarClan's=] support and the gift of [[BackFromTheDead nine lives,]] Scourge does not.]]

* ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'' averteds it. [[spoiler: Winston]] recalls a traumatic experience and bemoans that recording it has done nothing to avert the pain he feels about it.

* ''Literature/InDeath'' averts this. Eve Dallas, the main character, begins the series plagued by nightmares, repressed memories, and other baggage you'd expect from a DarkAndTroubledPast. Subsequent books see her slowly get better with the help of her TrueCompanions, especially Mira and Roarke, but to date she still struggles with the lingering emotional damage.

* In ''Literature/TheWitchlands'', Safi has huge problems with being proactive, and often prefers to ignore her problems until they become unavoidable. While she's been making strides to overcome this, when she has a near-death experience, the narrative explicitely calls it the epiphany that made her shift from being reactive to being active.

** Angel's decent into darkness and apathy in Season 2 is cured by [[IntimatePsychotherapy sleeping with Darla]], his sire and enemy in "[[Recap/AngelS02E16Epiphany Epiphany]]". Angel turned evil after sleeping with Buffy, so has been avoiding sex for years. He eventually sleeps with Darla as a DespairEventHorizon but when he fails to turn evil the morning after, realizes life isn't quite as bad and gets back with his friends.

** In the season 9 premiere, Brennan and Booth are barely speaking after their broken engagement (after [[SerialKiller Pelant]] blackmailed Booth into breaking it off) until Brennan finds the bar that Booth had been frequenting and meets Aldo, an ex-priest who was an army buddy of Booth's during his career as a sniper and was now a bartender. During their conversation, Aldo reminds Brennan of what Booth's Catholic faith means to him and that Booth still loves her as deeply as before. By the end of the episode, Brennan, who in the past had chafed at using the word "Faith" in any context, admits to herself and to Booth that she had absolute faith in him, and that they will work things out.

** During [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice "Amy's Choice"]], an artificially induced dream shared by the Doctor, Amy and Rory helps Amy realize just how much she loves Rory. This overlaps with LoveEpiphany, and while it forces her to confront the issue it does not magically cure her emotional baggage. In fact, she generally averts this trope, as she's been in therapy for much of her life (four therapists in total! She bit all of them) because she refused to accept the Doctor was a figment of her imagination, and still hasn't gotten over her trust and abandonment issues.

* An episode of ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' was solved this way. Soon after [[PutOnABus Kate married a Navy pilot and moves to Guam with him,]] Drew goes several nights without sleep because he keeps dreaming about [[TheLostLenore the love of his life he left him.]] It gets to the point where his insomnia is affecting his daily life, and eventually, his [[ObnoxiousInLaws sister in law,]] [[SitcomArchNemesis Mimi,]] takes him to a junk yard, and brandishes a shotgun. Drew thinks she's finally going to kill him, but she explains that [[PetTheDog she felt so sorry she had to do something.]] After shooting some garbage, Drew goes home realizing that no matter how much he loved Kate, it was never going to work between them as their past relationships were riddled with mistakes and other serious issues, so he decides that its best to just move on with his life, and finally gets some much needed sleep.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': The character's emotional issues - albeit treated in a light-hearted manner - are either consistently present or phased out through CharacterDevelopment. Ross's jealousy and paranoia (caused by his wife cheating on him with another woman), stick around right until the final episode. Monica's insecurity from her emotionally abusive mother improves as she becomes happier with herself after falling in love with Chandler, but she still feels she has to be perfect at everything. Meanwhile Chandler gets over his CommitmentIssues, but it takes a 4 seasons of him realizing he wants a relationship, 6 seasons of Monica supporting him and numerous episodes dedicated to his freak outs to get there.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'', [[spoiler: Shotaro]] after being driven insane with fear by the Terror Dopant, causing him to scream his head off at even the slightest noise, [[spoiler: Philip basically telling him goodbye forever while leaving him a cryptic message on how to reverse it, Shotaro not only reverts to normal, but allows him to breakthrough his instinctive fear of Ryubee/Terror, which had been planted during their first meeting and prevented him from confronting him throughout the series.]]

** In general, this is a common tool in Sidney's arsenal. Since pretty much all of the patients he work with have some form of combat-related trauma, it's often necessary for them to consciously process it in order to begin healing, especially if (as in the previously-mentioned cases) the patient has repressed the memory. It doesn't miraculously make them okay, but it puts them on the road to getting there.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': Lt. Barclay had a paralyzing fear of transporters, as revealed in the episode "Realm of Fear". During that episode his fear is compounded when he discovers a living organism within the transporter field. The same story had O'Brien reveal that he once had a fear of spiders, but now kept a pet tarantula.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Averted in "It's Only A Paper Moon". Nog is suffering from PTSD and retreats into a holosuite fantasy. While the holosuite character of Vic Fontaine does force Nog to openly confront why he just can't handle reality right now, Nog is not instantly cured, in fact he straight out admits he's not okay, "But I'm going to be".
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' averts this so much it gets annoying after a while. In ''All Hell Breaks Loose'', Dean seems to be crawling out of his self-loathing pit of despair and having a bit of hope but when it comes to the next episode? He's telling Sam how the prospect of being dragged down to hell is like a light at the end of the tunnel. And in ''Dream A Little Dream Of Me'', he makes a beautiful revelation about how his Dad was an absolute arsehole but fast-forward to four episodes later and he's back to being the devoted, scared-out-of-his-mind soldier. As of late season 4 he appears to finally be thinking about making some progress, being outright told that for all his problems he doesn't have license to whine quite so much, and gently mocked for taking such a depressed mindset. It is partially valid, but the writers seem to have realized that no matter how much it is he can't keep whinging, and the multiple Epiphany Therapies may be having an effect.

* In ''Theatre/NextToNormal'', Diana, who suffers from bipolar disorder and severe depression due to a long-ago traumatic incident, goes through two therapists, countless meds, a suicide attempt, and ECT before having her epiphany - the trauma she suffered couldn't be totally cured by treating her mentally; she needed to let her soul heal. This is not a straight example because Di's solution to this is to leave her family and go live with her parents for a while, to try to stand without the crutch of her husband (who has also been suppressing the same trauma), the bitterness of her daughter (who feels jaded and unloved, and scared of ending up like Di), and the constant reminder of the event that scarred her. She's clearly scared of leaving, but is convinced it's the only way she can distance herself and let go. In another twist of the trope, she had the epiphany all on her own, and acted against her therapists' pleas to continue treatment. Basically, Diana has the epiphany but is not cured. She just found the strength to try. We don't know whether it ends up working or not.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'''s downplays this in supports. While issues are typically resolved by an A rank support, it doesn't truly resolve and will tend to repeat itself if the issue appears in other supports. Some of them, such as Lon'qu's gynophobia, are justified.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIShadowsOfAmn''. Each of the original romanceable characters have their own issues, and it takes ''a lot'' of time (and sensible dialogue choices) for whomever you choose to deal with his/her problems, let alone move past them. If you continue the romance through ''Throne of Bhaal'', this even becomes a DefiedTrope -- [[spoiler: your love interest is forced to confront a wraith masquerading as someone from his/her past that strikes at their deepest fear or doubt.]] Some of them even say that it will take more than comforting words or a good snuggle to help them get over it.

** The final chapter from the "Farewell" DLC is all about this. [[spoiler: Despite Madeline having mostly conquered her demons while climbing Mt. Celeste, Granny's death and the fact Madeline didn't get to say goodbye ended up causing her to have a relapse of her depression. She ends up having constant dreams about ascending the mountain and bringing Granny back to life, while Badeline [[JerkassHasAPoint rightfully]] points out this is emotionally and mentally self destructive and she needs to finish grieving and move on. Madeline ignores this and they end up seperating while Madeline figures that out on her own.]]

* ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial 4'' has [[spoiler: Okura Miyako]]. While she initially seems just fine, when the protagonists asks her out on a date, then wonders about a rabbit-doll she carries around and later makes a joke about how she'll become a great wife, due to her wonderful cooking, to some guy in the future, she completely breaks. Her dialogue revolves mostly around [[spoiler: things she and the protagonist did as kids]], showing how important is it to her. [[spoiler: Miyako breaks when she feels that the protagonist only [[PrankDate asked her out on a date as a joke]] ''and'' realizes that he has forgotten, or doesn't care about, their childhood events and that they made the rabbit-doll she carries around together. At this point, Miyako breaks and flat-out goes {{Yandere}} on the protagonist, making him fight the rabbit-doll if he goes on a date with another girl, purposefully cooks him terrible food and gives it to him to eat and overall talks in a very creepy tone of voice.]] The protagonist must date her for a prolonged time when this happens, but the big change comes in one scene where [[spoiler: Miyako lost the rabbit-doll's button eye next to the river and is frantically searching for it. The protagonist "heals" Miyako by telling her that, since they can't find the button, they should give up and rips a button off of his high school uniform and that she should use it for the doll's new eye]].

** In a light-hearted, played for laughs example, one NP story has Sarah deciding that she wants to be less concerned with nudity. Having [[InnocentFanserviceGirl Grace around]] will probably do that. Despite this, she keeps getting deeply embarrassed whenever Grace shows up topless or nude. Grace reassures her by saying that just because you want to stop feeling a certain way, feelings aren't convenient and don't just shut off like that. A cultural taboo which you've been raised with from birth is a very difficult thing to shake off psychologically.

* PlayedForLaughs in the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Crystals Have Power". Jake swears off violence after having a flash-back to a childhood trauma where he accidentally hurt his brother Jerome, only for his dad to tell him "You're going to hurt ''everybody''!" This hampers Jake's attempts to save Finn from some extra-dimensional crystal monsters, until Jake receives a vision of his father explaining what he meant:

'''Jake:''' Oh. Well I'm over it, then!

** It's parodied in the episode where Marge is cured of her fear of flying. The therapist declares her phobia cured when they dig up one embarrassing incident from her past, and then brushes aside several much more traumatic flying-related memories ("Yeah yeah yeah, it's all a rich tapestry.") When she tries to move on to discussing the obvious marital problems Marge is having, [[HypocriticalHumor Homer barges in and ushers her out the door]].

** Angel's decent into darkness and apathy in Season 2 is cured by [[IntimatePsychotherapy sleeping with Darla]], his sire and enemy. Angel turned evil after sleeping with Buffy, so has been avoiding sex for years. He eventually sleeps with Darla as a DespairEventHorizon but when he fails to turn evil the morning after, realizes life isn't quite as bad and gets back with his friends.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''. They pass off "shaking" (a condition caused when a person is under combat stress for quite a while) as normal, but they often use hypnosis for a quick cure (it appears to be mixed with efficient counselors, too.)

* Lovingly defied in ''Fanfics/Daemorphing''.Rachel understanding she has anger issues doesn’t fix them, nor does two allies dying in front of to keep those issues from getting her killed. Tobias finding a real family doesn’t fix the damage his aunt and uncle did and Marco’s extra-strength PTSD doesn't go away with some eureka moment, just goes down to the level of the rest of the cast after extensive work with a therapist.

** The final chapter from the "Farewell" DLC is all about this. [[spoiler: Despite Madeline having mostly conquered her demons while climbing Mt. Celeste, Granny's death and the fact Madeline didn't get to say goodbye ended up causing her to have a relapse of her depression. This resulted in Badeline, who couldn't comprehend her issues coming back, abandoning her and leaving her to go on another journey in her dreams to find the epiphany that Granny's passing made her lose.]]

Writers sometimes try to add depth to their characters by giving them some sort of psychological problem -- [[SingleIssuePsychology always exactly one, neatly-explainable problem]]. Maybe they [[DoesNotLikeMen hate men]] due to a previous abusive relationship. Maybe the [[DarkAndTroubledPast memory of their dead little sister]] keeps getting them down. Or perhaps [[CartwrightCurse constantly having their girlfriend]] [[Website/WomenInRefrigerators locked in a refrigerator]] causes them to drive potential [[LoveInterests lovers]] away due to [[ItsNotYouItsMe fear for their safety.]]

After a while, writers may feel that the character has to lose this flaw. In RealLife, deep-seated psychological traumas take years to deal with and cure even in the best case scenario, and most require a lifetime of treatment -- [[ScarsAreForever mental scars are]] ''[[ScarsAreForever also]]'' [[ScarsAreForever forever]], after all. In fictionland, however, ThereAreNoTherapists; fortunately, FreudianExcuse, MyGreatestFailure, the HeroicBSOD, InTheBlood, and DysfunctionJunction, can be cured with a simple WhoopiEpiphanySpeech, growing BoredWithInsanity, a friend telling them to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan cop on]], confiding in someone about your BadDreams, the [[ThePowerOfLove strength]] or [[LoveRedeems redemption]] offered by love, or {{sidekick}}s or TrueCompanions showing them that ThePowerOfFriendship cures all wounds. The writers thus resolve the issue over the course of a single episode (or movie) and call it CharacterDevelopment, often at a cost of WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. (On the plus side, this trope saves the audience a lot of time.)

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'': Issues didn't tend to stay cured, whether they were fears of losing each other, the desire for a normal life or realising that relationships require compromise to make them work.
* Alex P Keaton from ''Series/FamilyTies'', when Greg died in a car crash.

* ''Series/{{Wiseguy}}''. Frank [=McPike=] and Roger Loccoco decide to snap local kingpin Mark Volchek out of his phobia of death by recreating the final scene of his favourite horror movie so it has a happy ending. Mark Volchek refuses to accept this and storms out the door, only to run into someone who he thought [[TroubleEntendre had been killed]] in an earlier episode. Not surprisingly, Volchek faints. He does get better though. Somewhat.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Buffy has a number of EpiphanyTherapy moments:
** In the first season, she overcame her fear of the Master, by getting killed by him. Killing him in return certainly helped.
** When she immediately overcomes some issues simply because she confesses that the spell to re-ensoul Angel had truly worked and she sacrificed him anyway.
** Buffy's character arc in Season 6 is an aversion of this trope. It takes her the entire season to get over the traumas of dying, being yanked out of Paradise, and then having to claw her way out of her own grave.

* When ''Series/{{Monk}}'' realized the source of his pathological hatred of nudists, he got over it. This means he doesn't impulsively and immediately accuse them of any and all crimes. He still is visibly disgusted and goes out of his way to avoid them.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': In ''The Billfold Syndrome'', a young medic becomes amnesiac, unable to remember even his own name. In order to treat him, Sidney has to take him back to the moments before he lost his memory. As he suspected, the medic went through something so traumatic (witnessing the death of his brother in a mortar attack) that his mind essentially wiped itself rather than deal with the memory. Once Sidney helps him confront the trauma, the rest of the man's memory returns.
** In the finale, Hawkeye is sent to a mental hospital after exhibiting bizarre behavior. [[spoiler:It turns out that shortly before the behavior started, he was involved in a horribly traumatic incident for which he blamed himself, and the bizarre behavior was the subconscious impact of the repressed memory.]]
** In general, this is a common tool in Sidney's arsenal. Since pretty much all of the patients he work with have some form of combat-related trauma, it's often necessary for them to consciously process it in order to begin healing, especially if (as in the previously-mentioned cases) the patient has repressed the memory. It doesn't miraculously make them okay, but it puts them on the road to getting there.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': Lt. Barclay had a paralyzing fear of transporters, as revealed in the episode "Realm of Fear". During that episode his fear is compounded when he discovers a living organism within the transporter field. The same story had O'Brien reveal that he once had a fear of spiders, but now kept a pet tarantula.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Averted in "It's Only A Paper Moon". Nog is suffering from PTSD and retreats into a holosuite fantasy. While the holosuite character of Vic Fontaine does force Nog to openly confront why he just can't handle reality right now, Nog is not instantly cured, in fact he straight out admits he's not okay, "But I'm going to be".
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** During "Amy's Choice", an artificially induced dream shared by the Doctor, Amy and Rory helps Amy realize just how much she loves Rory. This overlaps with LoveEpiphany, and while it forces her to confront the issue it does not magically cure her emotional baggage. In fact, she generally averts this trope, as she's been in therapy for much of her life (four therapists in total! She bit all of them) because she refused to accept the Doctor was a figment of her imagination, and still hasn't gotten over her trust and abandonment issues.
** In "Vincent and the Doctor", [[spoiler:they take van Gogh to the future to see that his art will be valued in the future, and to hear how highly he's esteemed. He leaves them overjoyed, and Amy insists they immediately go back to see what more he will have painted. When they get there she finds that he still committed suicide.]]
* In ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'', [[spoiler: Shotaro]] after being driven insane with fear by the Terror Dopant, causing him to scream his head off at even the slightest noise, [[spoiler: Philip basically telling him goodbye forever while leaving him a cryptic message on how to reverse it, Shotaro not only reverts to normal, but allows him to breakthrough his instinctive fear of Ryubee/Terror, which had been planted during their first meeting and prevented him from confronting him throughout the series.]]
* ''Series/MythBusters'' host Adam Savage has struggled for years with a well-known fear of bees. Much to his annoyance, it made him the guinea pig for multiple phobia myth experiments. Then they tested a myth of bees glued to a laptop flapping their collective wings to make it fly. Working with a single bee in their lab, he learned to admire their individual strength and by the final test, he admitted being completely over his fear.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': the premise of "the White Rabbit" in the episode "The White Rabbit Job" is that you can rearrange someone's personality if you just find the one defining event in their life and get them to reexamine it. [[spoiler:It works, too.]]

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'' it's been long established that Rimmer's neuroses are partly the fault of his emotionally distant and controlling father, who [[WellDoneSonGuy never said he was proud of him]] and [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood used to stretch him on a rack so he'd be tall enough to join the Space Corps]]. In the episode "The Beginning" he learns [[spoiler: that this man isn't his father at all]] and this almost instantly cures his self-doubt.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' averts this so much it gets annoying after a while. In ''All Hell Breaks Loose'', Dean seems to be crawling out of his self-loathing pit of despair and having a bit of hope but when it comes to the next episode? He's telling Sam how the prospect of being dragged down to hell is like a light at the end of the tunnel. And in ''Dream A Little Dream Of Me'', he makes a beautiful revelation about how his Dad was an absolute arsehole but fast-forward to four episodes later and he's back to being the devoted, scared-out-of-his-mind soldier. As of late season 4 he appears to finally be thinking about making some progress, being outright told that for all his problems he doesn't have license to whine quite so much, and gently mocked for taking such a depressed mindset. It is partially valid, but the writers seem to have realized that no matter how much it is he can't keep whinging, and the multiple Epiphany Therapies may be having an effect.

* In ''Series/NYPDBlue'' Detective Diane Russell is convinced to go sort-of undercover, getting close to her old boyfriend who's involved with organized crime. Forcing herself to tolerate uncomfortable sexual advances brings up memories of her being molested by her father, which leads to a tear-filled breakdown. The aversion comes from that later on there are scattered mentions that she sought out professional help afterwards and is going through long-term therapy.
* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Tony frequently experiences epiphanies in therapy, but they never "take". He always reverts back to form, sooner or later.

* ''Series/{{Apocalypse}} does this to a unsuspecting volunteer named Steven.

* An episode of ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' was solved this way. Soon after [[PutOnABus Kate married a Navy pilot and moves to Guam with him,]] Drew goes several nights without sleep because he keeps dreaming about [[TheLostLenore the love of his life he left him.]] It gets to the point where his insomnia is affecting his daily life, and eventually, his [[ObnoxiousInLaws sister in law,]] [[SitcomArchNemesis Mimi,]] takes him to a junk yard, and brandishes a shotgun. Drew thinks she's finally going to kill him, but she explains that [[PetTheDog she felt so sorry she had to do something.]] After shooting some garbage, Drew goes home realizing that no matter how much he loved Kate, it was never going to work between them as their past relationships were riddled with mistakes and other serious issues, so he decides that its best to just move on with his life, and finally gets some much needed sleep.

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[[folder:Web Comics]]

Although this trope [[TropesAreTools works well to provide closure]] and end a story of struggle on an upbeat note, it can be naive, even dangerous, to think that real-life psychological disorders are so simple. Oftentimes, diagnosing the root of a disorder is just one step on the way to recovery, which may well take years of hard work. Harmful patterns of thought and behavior (like suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, and self-harm) will not break apart just because the patient has [[PuffOfLogic logically located their source]]. Epiphanies can be great sources of clarity and joy but they may or may not last long in the daily grind of thought and action.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Celeste}}''. At the beginning of Chapter 6, [[spoiler:Madeline and Theo have a heartfelt conversation by a campfire following their adventures in the Mirror Temple. After they both open up to each other, Madeline feels confident enough to confront Badeline. She then has a dream where she flies up to see the northern lights with golden feathers, (a new mechanic in the game) where she sees Badeline, and tells her that she doesn't need her anymore, and says that doing this will set them both free. This seems like it would lead to something good, but it [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes HORRIBLY wrong]] when Badeline goes insane and furiously holds Madeline captive with her tentacles. In a desperate attempt, Madeline tries to get rid of her by doing what she did two chapters earlier to curb a panic attack with the feather trick, but this fails hard, with Badeline ultimately slicing the feather in half, followed by throwing Madeline back down to the base of the mountain into a pit of crystals.]]

See also ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere, CompressedVice, NotHimself, ResetButton, SnapBack, ArmorPiercingQuestion and WeWantOurJerkBack. Definitely not to be confused with either PercussiveTherapy or 'wall to wall therapy', though they both are known for resolving the situation pretty quickly, too (for very different reasons).

** In general, this is a common tool in Sidney's arsenal. Since pretty much all of the patients he work with have some form of combat-related trauma, it's often necessary for them to consciously process it in order to begin healing, especially if (as in the previously-mentioned cases) the patient has repressed the memory.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Avertend in "It's Only A Paper Moon". Nog is suffering from PTSD and retreats into a holosuite fantasy. While the holosuite character of Vic Fontaine does force Nog to openly confront why he just can't handle reality right now, Nog is not instantly cured, in fact he straight out admits he's not okay, "But I'm going to be".

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': In ''Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?'', Captain Chandler was in serious need of an epiphany. He doesn't get it, but another victim who was unable to save his younger brother in battle, literally went into amnesiatic shock and couldn't remember a thing. His memory only returned after Dr. Freedman, Hawkeye and B.J. hypnotise him and stage a battlefield scene. [[spoiler:Hawkeye himself, during the finale? It takes around half an hour into the episode before Dr. Freedman is able to force Hawkeye into remembering what triggered the nervous breakdown.]]

* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''; the Total Perspective Vortex shows someone how insignificant they are in the universe, complete with negative effects, which are [[DrivenToMadness the destruction of the mind.]] It [[spoiler:has [[NoSell no effect]] on Zaphod because he's the most important being in that universe as he's ended up in a fake reality by jumping out a window instead of using the door. [[Itmakessenseincontext]]]]

* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''; the Total Perspective Vortex shows someone how insignificant they are in the universe, complete with negative effects, which are [[DrivenToMadness the destruction of the mind.]] It [[spoiler:has [[NoSell no effect]] on Zaphod because he's the most important being in the universe.]]

* ''Series/{{Charmed}}'': Issues didn't tend to stay cured, whether they were fears of losing each other, the desire for a normal life or realising that relationships require compromise to make them work.