- Hi, I'm Beverley Andre.
- And I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford.
In "Never Have I Ever," Devi has been through some trauma.
Her dad has died.
Her mom wants her to move to India,
and she's dealing with teenage hormones,
relationships, friendships, and school pressures.
- Luckily for Devi, she also has Dr. Ryan,
her therapist guiding her through all the turbulence.
- With everything going on with Devi,
we're gonna check in on some of her therapy sessions
and let you know what a real therapist really thinks.
In this scene from season two,
Devi talks to Dr. Ryan
after Ben confronts her about the rumor Devi helped spread
about her classmate, Aneesa.
- So then he just burst into my house
and bitched me out in front of my entire family,
including my old-ass grandma!
- Well, what you did was pretty messed up.
- What? You're gonna dunk on me too?
You're supposed to be on my side, Doc.
- I am on your side,
but that means being honest with you and dunkin' on you
when it's appropriate.
- It's important to be able to define what
on your side looks like,
meaning I am rooting for you,
I am on your side to be your best version,
but on your side does not mean I'm not gonna call you out
when you're wrong.
- I think Dr. Ryan was spot on when she told Devi
that she is there to tell the truth.
This is the first time we see Dr. Ryan in season one
after Devi is able to walk again.
- Listen, I think I've got something
that could really help you.
- Paxil, Lexapro, Xanax, Zoloft?
I'll try anything.
- Whoa, knock it off, wannabe pill popper.
It's a grief journal.
- And so it's really effective
to kinda write everything down because then you're able
to see the patterns and the connections
between your thoughts.
And sometimes, it feels really good
to just get your thoughts out,
not think about rhyme or reason
or feel like you have to justify how you're feeling
to someone else.
- Sometimes, the pain we feel is too hard to say out loud.
This way, you don't actually have to say it.
- I think journaling can be a great way
to give yourself a place to put all of that down.
And especially with grief,
I think a lot of complicated things can come up,
and so I can see how this could be really helpful.
- And if this doesn't work,
you can always prescribe me some Klonopin.
- Girl, bye.
- In this clip, Dr. Ryan attempts to coach Devi
through her anger about her new friend, Aneesa,
flirting with her ex, Ben.
- Then, she did a crazy Beyonce hair flip,
and she didn't even shower him with dandruff.
- Devi, you're holding that pin like a knife again.
- Body language reveals a lot in a session.
If you are really paying attention to your client
and you see that they carry stress in their neck
or their shoulders or their hands are balled up,
a lot of times, we will respond physically
before we say anything.
- When you feel that surge of anger coming up, stop,
take a deep breath, and listen to some soothing music
or anything that'll bring you peace.
- I think weed would be more effective.
- No.
- Fine.
- Typically, we'll encourage clients to build
what I call a coping kit,
where they have something like, yeah,
like they have a playlist already made
or maybe they have some Play-Doh that they can use
to kind of manipulate in their hands
or a scent that they really enjoy,
like lavender or your favorite perfume or something,
so that all of those things bring you into the moment,
and it deescalates and takes the intensity out
of that experience your feeling.
In this scene from the final episode of season two,
spoiler alert, Devi talks to Dr. Ryan
after her mom catches her spying on her during a date.
- Devi, tell me what's upsetting you.
- Dr. Ryan, do you think I'm crazy?
- Of course not.
- I think I might be.
Everyone at school calls me crazy Devi,
and now my mom thinks I am after I stalked her
because I was paranoid she was dating her work friend,
and climbing onto that man's roof
and spying on them through the skylights
and then falling into his hot tub with my clothes on.
- That's a lot, but you're not crazy.
You're just hurting,
and you might even be a little depressed, and that's okay
because I can help you through it.
You had a big loss, and the hurt that comes from that
can come out in surprising ways.
- Normalizing that. - Mm-hm, beautiful.
- Like my paralysis?
- Exactly, yes.
- I know- - That mind-body connection.
- I didn't want to talk about it before, but
why did that happen if I'm not crazy?
- This breakthrough was achievable
because they have a foundation of trust.
You cannot be vulnerable with someone
that you do not trust, right?
So in order for you to have a breakthrough,
you need to be able to talk
about what you're trying to break through.
- Devi, you feel a lot,
which means sometimes, you're gonna hurt a lot,
but it also means that you're gonna live a life
that is emotionally rich and really beautiful.
- Thanks, Dr. Ryan.
- Hands-down, that was my favorite scene.
I was like, "Okay."
It really got me because you saw the care
in how Dr. Ryan was able to slow down.
If Devi didn't feel comfortable with Dr. Ryan,
she might've continued to avoid answering the question.
She might not have felt comfortable to let her know
that she was stalking her mom on this date, right?
And so I think that it's just an illustration
of her feeling comfortable in that space
and knowing that Dr. Ryan will take care of her
in her most vulnerable state.
- So she gave her the education.
She communicated care.
She normalized where she was in that process,
and then she just let her speak.
- This scene is also just a beautiful illustration
of how when therapy feels safe,
you feel comfortable being vulnerable.
- It's really nice, being able to see a realistic depiction
of a client-therapist relationship.
- I agree.