Die rote Couch

Ernest Lash, a young psychoanalyst from San Francisco, believes in the effectiveness of his work but is convinced that classical therapies urgently need renewal. One day, the ethics committee of his department assigns him to investigate a delicate case: he is to review the practices of an older, very famous colleague named Seymour Trotter, who is accused of having had an affair with a patient forty years his junior. Trotter insists that sex was the only means to save the young woman from her self-destructive behavior. Initially, Ernest is outraged. However, the more he delves into the matter, the more he becomes fascinated by the idea of providing each patient with a case-specific treatment.