Couples Therapy Recap: Trauma

This week on Couples Therapy,  Taylor Armstrong,  Ghostface Killah, Farrah Abraham, and Sada Bettencourt share harrowing tales of childhood trauma with Dr. Jenn Berman. Then Farrah’s mom, Debra Danielson, joins Farrah and Dr. Jenn for a bit of therapy. Certainly not nearly enough therapy for either Farrah or Debra. Both of them are beyond broken.

Picking up where we left off, Sada and Taylor talking to Jon Gosselin and Liz Jennetta about how bitchy Liz is to Jon. Surprisingly Liz takes it well and listens to what Sada says and Taylor slurs.

The next day, Dr. Jenn talks to Jon alone because she feels his relationship is doomed if he doesn’t start to demand respect from Liz.  Jon truly believe Liz loves him.  Then, he says he dated a lot of women and felt the best connection with Liz, and I stare at my TV in disbelief.  Who are these women who want to date Jon Gosselin?!? Seriously! Dr. Jenn wishes Jon luck, adding, “You need to come from a place of strength, not a place of woundedness.”

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Jon and Liz are outside, smoking cigs in their hoodies, and Jon sees smoke in the distance. He asks, “Is that a fire?”  Liz responds, “No, that’s James Deen fumigating his penis. #BackDoorTeenMom #Regret.” OK, not really. I made that up. Liz makes a sarcastic comment, making fun of Jon’s stupid question, but it doesn’t even register in Jon’s brain. A light bulb goes off in Liz’s head, however, and she apologizes for being a bitch. Again. Jon, a day late and a dollar short, remembers that Dr. Jenn told him to demand respect from Liz.  Jon tells us it’s going to take time. You don’t say?

The couples and Farrah are off to group to talk about childhood traumas.

Dr. Jenn asks Taylor to tell her story – she’s two to three years old, wearing blue fleece zip-up footed pajamas, sleeping in bed with her mom. Her dad came home and attacked her mom. Then her mom grabbed her and ran out of the house.  Mom filed for divorce from Dad.  Taylor says she regrets not leaving Russell Armstrong, who she claims beat her, so Kennedy, their young daughter, wouldn’t suffer similar trauma.  Dr. Jenn tells Taylor she needs to let go of the regret to be the best mom possible to Kennedy. Hmm. Just a thought – maybe stop talking about your issues on TV as well.

Ghost talks next, sharing that his dad took off when he was six. Ghost wonders if his feelings of abandonment play a part in his current relationships with women.  DING! DING! DING!  Dr. Jenn is proud of Ghost for connecting those dots. Gold star for Ghost!

Now Farrah tells us a story about when she, too, was two years old. Copy cat. Well she tries to tell a story. She doesn’t say much other than, hiss, don’t know, sniff, no idea, hiss, all alone. Farrah jumps ahead a few years and tells us her mom insisted on leaving her at ******** house.  I *think* she says *a grandparent* but her words are beeped and her lips are blurred. She whisper cries, when mystery person “hurt her” and “some other things”, she told her mom.  Farrah says Debra didn’t “give a f–k” – and then Farrah just sits on the couch and holds her head.

Sada shares, her parents fought a lot and her father would lose control, hitting her and breaking furniture. Sada seems to have blocked the more traumatic events from her memory. Dr. Jenn says, “You grew up in a constant state of terror.” Sada responds, “He’s a loving man though.” Dr. Jenn adds, “That’s a bigger mindf–k.” Taylor chimes in, because she is confused about her role on Couples Therapy, and Dr. Jenn warns Sada to not let her past define her or creep into her relationship with Whitney Mixter.

As promised, Debra joins Farrah on Couples Therapy. They totally look like Grumpy Cat and Botox Cat.  Now we just need a litter box for all the sh-t that comes out of Farrah’s mouth. VH1 reminds us when Debra busted up Farrah’s lip on Teen Mom, and Dr. Jenn adds, “Farrah’s issues with her parents have damaged her so much that they carry over into her romantic life.” So, Farrah’s parents damaged her so much, she lets them raise Sophia? Please enlighten us, Dr. Jenn.

Dr. Jenn gushes about how amazing Farrah has been in therapy.  Oh Lawd. Debra is not giving Dr. Jenn the answers she wants. So Dr. Jenn accuses her of being angry with Farrah. Debra insists, not at all. Dr. Jenn says, “You hit your daughter, how can you say that?”  Debra goes on about how Farrah was running her mouth and would not shut. the. hell. up. so she had no choice. Farrah says her mom aggravated her so much that she had no choice but to scream at Debra.

Farrah gets defensive, “Does it look like I have hit you?” Debra is like, um, you have hit me! Farrah responds, “Yeah, I have hit you. Yes, I have.”  Huh?

Farrah derails.  One second, she says her mom doesn’t know how to control herself. The next second, she’s screaming like a lunatic, “I can’t even look at my family because everybody is angry at each other.”  So there is no eye contact when she leaves Sophia with her angry family?  Debra maintains that she is NOT angry. Farrah whisper cries, hisses she needs a minute and double fists tissues to dab her dry eyes.

Dr. Jenn lays into Debra – really judging her based on hearsay. This goes nowhere. So Dr. Jenn changes directions and asks Debra to approach therapy with her HEART.  Debra breaks down and says her heart has been BEYOND broken by Farrah.  Dr. Jenn says, “Farrah needs you to understand her.” Debra responds, “Farrah is not honest with me.  I can’t read her face.  I can’t read minds.”  Deciding she’s done with Debra, I guess, Dr. Jenn tells Farrah, “You need to grieve the loss of the mom that you wished that she was because she’s never going to be that mom.”

Don’t get me wrong – Farrah‘s mother is a train wreck. But Dr. Jenn is biased and rude to Debra.  For us, Dr. Jenn adds, “Farrah will be better off having recognized her mother’s limitations.” What about Farrah’s limitations?! The girl is incapable of telling the truth.

Sada feels guilty for talking about her family issues on Couples Therapy. Dr. Jenn encourages her to invite her dad to the house for a joint session. Cause it worked so well for Farrah.  Dad agrees when Sada invites him, but now she feels overwhelmingly anxious anticipating it.

So Sada says she’s going to take a bath to relax.  When Whitney asks her if she wants company, she says no. But then Sada gets mad at Whitney for not keeping her company. Now Whitney is upset. Rinse. And. Repeat. Bottom line is, Sada expects Whitney to read her cues and know what she wants or needs at any given time.  Whitney wants Sada to spell out exactly what she needs.

“I feel really f–ked up right now,” cries Sada. “The last thing I want to do is beg you to come sit in the bathroom with me – common-f–king-sense dude.”

Sada plays the “maybe our relationship just is not right” card. Now Whitney is upset AND offended. Oy. I really like Sada and Whitney and feel like they’re the only genuine couple on this season of Couples Therapy – but they have real issues to work out.  Starting with Communication 101.  I’m rooting for them.

TELL US — DOES ANYONE FEEL SORRY FOR FARRAH?  WILL WHITNEY AND SADA OVERCOME THEIR ISSUES?

Photo Credit: VH1