Fictional therapists

Articles and blog posts

6/6/2023

Fictional therapists: an introduction

Why do fictional therapists get it wrong?

Famous therapists in fiction

A (fictional) therapist as friend or family member

Becoming Someone: my journey through
psychology, therapy and fiction

Fictional couple counselling

7 Reasons Why Lovers of Fiction Should Read
The Examined Life

Why I’m thanking my therapist

Writers and therapy: a love-hate relationship?

How to create a convincing fictional therapist

Full list (alphabetically by author surname) of the fictional psychotherapists and clinical psychologists I’ve encountered on page, and where on Annethology you can find out more about them (updated on the date above). If you know of any significant omissions, please let me know via the comments box below.

Bold text represents the therapist is a key character in the novel and is not necessarily an endorsement of how the character is portrayed.

Ali M Love Marriage London: Virago, 2022
Arikha A Where to Find Me Richmond: Alma Books, 2018
Attenberg J All Grown Up London: Serpent’s Tail, 2017.
Barba A Such Small Hands London: Portobello books, 2017
Barker P. Border Crossing. London: Penguin, 2001.
Barker P. Regeneration. London: Penguin, 1992.
Bennett R. Zugzwang. London: Bloomsbury, 2008.
Blain G. Between a Wolf and a Dog. London: Scribe, 2016.
de Botton A The Course of Love. London: Hamish Hamilton, 2016.
Brownrigg S. The Delivery Room. London: Picador, 2007.
Coe J. The House of Sleep. London: Penguin, 1998.
Conlin J. The Uncommon Life of Alfred Warner in Six Days, Edinburgh: Black and White Publishing, 2017.
Costello I. Paris Mon Amour, London: Literary Sofa, 2017
Cunningham P. The Trout. Dingwall: Sandstone Press, 2016.
de Vigan D Loyalties London: Bloomsbury, 2019
East P Little White Lies London: HarperCollins, 2020
Eaves W. Murmur London: CB editions, 2018
Emerson T. She Chose Me London: Legend Press, 2018
Essbaum JA. Hausfrau. London: Mantle, 2015.
Evans K. The Art of the Imperfect. Scarborough: Avenue Press, 2014.
Farrell LG The Wacky Man. London: Legend Press, 2016
Faulks S. Human Traces London: Vintage, 2005
Feigel L The Group London: John Murray, 2020
Forna A. The Memory of Love. London: Bloomsbury, 2011.
Françoise S. Stories We Tell Ourselves London: Head of Zeus, 2018
Galgut D The Promise London: Chatto & Windus, 2021
Gameson M. The Giddy Career of Mr Gadd (Deceased) London: Salt, 2017.
Goodwin A. Sugar and Snails. Derby: Inspired Quill, 2015.
Goodwin A. Underneath. Derby: Inspired Quill, 2017.
Goodwin A. Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home. Derby: Inspired Quill, 2021.
Greengrass J Sight London: John Murray, 2018
Greenberg J. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden New York: St Martin’s Press, 1964/2009
Gur B. The Saturday Morning Murder New York: HarperPerennial, 1993
Harris S The Definition of Us London: Piatkus 2018
Harwicz A Die, My Love Edinburgh: Charco Press
Hawkins P. The Girl on the Train. London: Doubleday, 2015.
Healey E. Whistle in the Dark. London: Viking Penguin, 2018
Holnqvist N The Unit London, Oneworld Publications, 2010
Honeyman G Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine London: HarperCollins, 2017
Hornby N. Juliet Naked. London: Penguin, 2009.
Hubbard S Rainsongs London: Duckworth Overlook, 2018
Hughes K. The Key London: Hodder Review, 2018
Hustvedt S. The Sorrows of an American. London: Sceptre, 2009.
Iweala U Speak No Evil London: John Murray, 2018
Jensen L. The Rapture. London: Bloomsbury, 2009.
Johnston BA. Remember Me like This. London: Two Roads, 2014.
Joosten M Gravity Well London: Scribe
July M. The First Bad Man. Edinburgh: Canongate, 2015.
Kalfar J. Spaceman of Bohemia London: Sceptre, 2017
Katzenbach J. The Analyst. London: Bantam Press, 2002.
Keneally T. Crimes of the Father London: Sceptre, 2017.
Kirshenbaum B. Rabbits for Food London: Serpent’s Tail, 2019
Daniela Krien The Fire
Kureishi H. Something to Tell You. London: Faber and Faber, 2008.
Leary A. The Good House. London: Corvus, 2013.
Lerner B. The Topeka School. London: Granta, 2019
Lewis L. Don’t Stand So Close. London: Corgi, 2014.
Lodge D. Therapy. London: Vintage, 2011.
Low M Asylum London: Legend Press, 2019
Maher K. Last Night on Earth. London: Little Brown, 2015.
Matlwa K. Evening Primrose, London: Sceptre, 2017.
McCleen G. The Offering. London: Sceptre, 2015.
Messud C The Burning Girl London: Fleet, 2017
Mooney D The Great Unexpected London: Legend Press, 2018
Moskovich Y Virtuoso London: Serpent’s Tail, 2019
Naspini S Oxygen Europa editions, 2021
Parks T. Thomas and Mary. London: Hamish Hamilton, 2016.
Parks T. In Extremis London: Harvill Secker, 2017
Quatro J. Fire Sermon. London: Picador, 2018
Riley G First Love London: Granta, 2017
Roth P Portnoy’s Complaint London: Vintage, 1967
Seethaler R. The Tobacconist. London: Picador, 2016.
Smallwood C The Life of the Mind London: Europa Editions, 2021
Statovci P My Cat Yugoslavia London: Pushkin Press, 2017
Taylor D. Herring Girl. London: Oneworld, 2014.
Teir P The Summer House London: Serpent’s Tail, 2018.
Theroux M. Strange Bodies. London: Faber and Faber, 2013.
Thomas B A Good Enough Mother London: Faber and Faber, 2019
Thompson S. Jott London: JM Originals, 2018
Treger L Madwoman London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022
Ullman E. By Blood. London: Pushkin Press, 2012.
Vaught A Killing Hapless Ally Manningtree: Patrician Press, 2016
Versteeg W. The Boy. London: Hope Road, 2016.
Vickers S. The Other Side of You. London: Fourth Estate, 2006.
Vickers S. Miss Garnet’s Angel London: Fourth Estate, 2006.
Whitaker P. You. Cromer: Salt, 2018
Wolitzer M. The Interestings. London: Vintage, 2014.
Wood J Upstate London: Jonathan Cape, 2018
Wood N. Azanian Bridges, Alconbury Weston: Newcon Press, 2016.
Woodruff SG The Lobotomist’s Wife Seattle: Lake Union Publishing, 2022
Yalom D When Nietzsche Wept New York: Harper Perennial, 1992/2003
Yalom ID Lying on the Couch New York: HarperPerennial, 1997

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Articles and blog posts

Index of fictional therapists