The King’s Speech:  Scotch Tape and Glue, Beethoven, and a Bit of Love

So often today people seeking help for emotional problems are sent to an array of experts who at best help them in a fragmented way.  There is no one stop shopping for mental health, and it is rare to find a true therapeutic relationship.

The speech therapist, Lionel Logue, in “The King’s Speech” forms a transformative relationship with his illustrious patient, King George the VI.  There are so many facets to the “cure” of the King’s stammering; the relationship that develops between these two men is rich, human, textured, and uplifting.  In the final scene, as the King delivers his speech to his people, the score is Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, the two men enact a carefully choreographed bag of tricks to help “Bertie” through his rough spots, their eyes meeting often underscoring the entirely human cure that is at work.  A relationship, indeed a friendship in this case, love, respect, and some tricks, carry the day.

I was reminded of a patient I saw early in my career who had a stuttering problem.  As was the case in the movie, he had also been trained out of left handedness at an early age.  There were other similarities as well.  His stuttering stopped after a few months of psychotherapy with me, but we did not have any tricks.  I never totally understood what happened, but my best guess is that we made a very good human connection, and he felt genuinely accepted by me.  Also, he became in touch with some of his anger during our work, which I believe was very liberating to him.  I cared, I listened, I inquired, I didn’t judge.  He found his anger.  I was involved.

Although my approach is generally long term, there are times when a piece of very important work can be done in a short term, sometimes six months, as was the case with my patient with the speech difficulties.