Linda: The one-sided intimacy of therapist-client relationships

‘What are you writing about me?’ and other questions Jo isn’t supposed to ask her therapist, but keeps trying to anyway. Watch ’Linda’ on Aeon: Watch more free videos on Aeon: Subscribe to the Aeon Video newsletter: Follow us on Twitter: Follow us on Facebook: Follow us on Instagram: Most people who’ve visited a therapist have likely contemplated the one-sidedness of the relationship – they regularly access your most private thoughts, but you often know very little about them. In this animation, the US photographer and filmmaker Josephine Sittenfeld contemplates the life of her own therapist, Linda, on the basis of the small hints she’s collected. From glimpsing her in an apron at her home office, to her ability to never yawn in sessions, Sittenfeld tries to imagine Linda’s life beyond their meetings – an effort that only seems to deepen the mystery. An amusing and perhaps relatable watch, Sittenfeld’s short ponders the seemingly innate desire for reciprocity in relationships, even when barriers have been raised for a reason.