40 Greatest Influences of the last 40 years #8 Dr. Frasier Crane

​The 40 greatest Influences of the last 40 years is a weekly countdown to my 40th Birthday in which I wax poetic about the people places and things that have shaped me into, for better or worse, the man I am today.
Today’s great influence is......

Dr. Frasier Crane

​Of course the entire premise of Dr Fraser Crane is that he is a pompous, self-important, quasi narcissist that actively wants to be highbrow, out of touch with the common man, and yet, it's the common man either in the form of his friends at Cheers, or his callers and patients and family in Seattle that are his salvation. But I tend to turn all that on it's head, and just aspire to be a loveable snob. As if such a thing exists.  

In every career planning exercise since 8th grade when they ask you to "imagine your perfect day" rolling out of bed in my swanky Penthouse apartment to the breakfast my housekeep just made sounds pretty good. I also generally like the idea of seeing clients or conducting business until noon, then taking a long casual lunch at a local watering whole before a I adjourn  to my radio/ TIn every career planning exercise since 8th grade when they ask you to "imagine your perfect day" rolling out of bed in my swanky Penthouse apartment to the breakfast my housekeep just made sounds pretty good. I also generally like the idea of seeing clients or conducting business until noon, then taking a long casual lunch at a local watering whole before a I adjourn  to my radio/ TV show/ podcast broadcast in the afternoon after which I look forward to dinner at a fancy restaurant or an exclusive invitation only social gathering with a valet. Of course the irony for me is my personal tastes match up much more with Marty Crane, than Frasier or his brother Niles. In my fantasy if I were to be Frasier, I could be the perfect son for his father.  Of course, if I did that, it would have been a pretty boring show. V show/ podcast broadcast in the afternoon after which I look forward to dinner at a fancy restaurant or an exclusive invitation only social gathering with a valet. Of course the irony for me is my personal tastes match up much more with Marty Crane, than Frasier or his brother Niles. In my fantasy if I were to be Frasier, I could be the perfect son for his father.  Of course, if I did that, it would have been a pretty boring show. ​

One thing I never liked about Frasier and all tv therapists is that they use the term psychiatrist. Now on the east coast it might still be that Clinically trained psychiatrists are still doing a lot of psychoanalytic therapy. But at least in Western and Midwestern USA, psychiatrists are primarily concerned with managing psychotropic medications, because that is what a psychiatrist is... a medical doctor trained in administering medications for the purpose of treating Mental Health Disorders. There is a huge shortage of people trained to do that. Most "psychiatrists" have waiting lists months long and only spend about 15-20 minutes with each patient. They are not putting their patients on the couch and asking them about their dreams. They are too busy looking for signs of side effects and cross referencing the patient's medical history to ensure no life-threatening interactions with other medications/substances occur. ​

Still, the dramatic and intense manner in which Frasier does on rare occasion deploy what he calls his "analytic skills" is what I always secretly hope I will get to do in the next 50 minutes when I start each of my sessions with a client. ​

​Oddly enough when I once conducted a formal Poll of some of my colleagues as to which TV therapist I most reminded them between Fraser, Niles, Counselor Deanna Troi from Star Trek, Dr Sidney Freedman from MASH, and Tobias Fünke of Arrested development, to my surprise the overwhelming answer was Dr Sidney Freedman from MASH. I guess they wanted to give me credit by comparing me to the only character that comes across as a legitimate Mental health professional. But in my mind, I am really just a temporarily displaced radio show host waiting for the radio station to change its format back to talk radio so we can renegotiate my contract. 

It's a bit of a bittersweet realization, but the longer I have been a counselor the more I have come to accept the necessary and sufficient functional implication of Dr Frasier Crane's famous sign on phrase "I'm listening." ​

< #9 Grandparents

#7 My Parents >