Gilligan Therapy

Okay, tell me if this is too crazy, too off-the-wall(or just too stoopid): a form of Psychotherapy based on the old TV series Gilligan's Island.

Yeah, that's about what I thought you'd say. And maybe I'd say the same thing, but- it just might work. I mean, consider the basic premise of the show: that they're stuck on an island, unable to escape. The island becomes a metaphor for the self, imprisoned by false beliefs and self-defeating habits, unable to break free from them. Just like on the show, the goal of Gilligan Therapy is to help the patient get off the island!

And along with one basic premise of Gilligan Therapy, that we are each stuck on our own personal islands, is another: that we as individuals our selves are made of seven different components (much like the Freudian concepts of ego, superego, id and so forth):

Gilligan- in this basic core part of the self, we find our self-destructive urges, our propensity toward failure in everything we do. We as people have to work against our inner "little buddy".
The Skipper- our sociability and zest for life, our "inner child"
The Professor- our rational mind, our ability to reason
Ginger-our vanity and selfishness
Mary Ann- our nobler impulses, our selfless giving
Thurston Howell III-power and survival
Lovee Howell- spouse of above(still working on this one..)

Well okay, this form of psychotherapy is in its infancy. Still working out many details, including how if at all would Sherwood Schwartz figure into all this? And that gets into the whole area of Sitcom Metaphysics. Plus begs the question about other such TV series and their psycho-potential as forms of therapy: F Troop, for example, or The Brady Bunch(although I'm thinking that one might make the individual worse!)

Could Gilligan Therapy help you get off your island and onto new personal terrain? Who knows- but we're now accepting patients..