🧠 The 10 Best TV Shows Featuring Therapists — Ranked by How Much They’d Make You Want to Go to Therapy
Therapists on TV range from deeply insightful to please-someone-revoke-their-license. Here’s a ranking of the best shows that put therapy (or therapists) in the spotlight — judged for realism, heart, and entertainment value.
1. The Sopranos (HBO)
Summary: Tony Soprano spills his mob-boss angst to Dr. Jennifer Melfi, who somehow manages not to flinch when he confesses, you know, murder and stuff.
Why it’s good: The therapy scenes are iconic — a mix of genuine psychoanalytic exploration and delicious tension. Dr. Melfi sets boundaries like a pro (well, mostly), and the show basically made therapy cool for people who see themselves as antiheroes.
2. In Treatment (HBO)
Summary: Each episode is a therapy session, featuring Gabriel Byrne as a brooding therapist whose calm demeanor hides a very not-calm inner life.
Why it’s good: It’s the most realistic portrayal of therapy on TV — complete with silences, projections, and the therapist’s own countertransference. Like The Office for psychology nerds, but with more crying.
3. Shrinking (Apple TV+)
Summary: Jason Segel plays a grieving therapist who starts saying exactly what he thinks to his clients. Chaos (and healing) ensues. Harrison Ford steals every scene as the cranky mentor.
Why it’s good: It captures the messy humanity of therapy — empathy, humor, and the occasional ethical gray area. Plus, it’s the rare comedy that makes burnout feel oddly endearing.
4. Frasier (NBC / Paramount+)
Summary: Dr. Frasier Crane pontificates about wine, opera, and his radio call-in therapy show, offering questionable advice to the public while being an emotional mess in private.
Why it’s good: Frasier is both the therapist and the case study. A reminder that even clinicians need their own therapy (and maybe fewer sherry decanters).
5. Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Summary: When sports psychologist Dr. Sharon Fieldstone joins the team, Ted’s relentless optimism meets its match in her calm, clinical insight.
Why it’s good: Therapy here isn’t a gimmick — it’s transformative. It shows the courage it takes for even the most cheerful among us to open up and heal.
6. The Patient (FX/Hulu)
Summary: Steve Carell plays a therapist kidnapped by his serial-killer client for 10 sessions of intensive “help me stop murdering people” therapy.
Why it’s good: Equal parts gripping and horrifying, it’s a dark exploration of the therapeutic alliance, and what happens when empathy goes too far.
7. Billions (Showtime / Paramount+)
Summary: Wendy Rhoades, performance coach and in-house psychiatrist for a hedge fund, blends therapy, coaching, and high-stakes manipulation like a Wall Street Jedi.
Why it’s good: She shows how psychological insight can fuel ambition, though the ethics board might have a few notes.
8. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW / Netflix)
Summary: Rebecca Bunch’s therapy journey is filled with musical numbers, chaos, and genuine self-discovery.
Why it’s good: It’s hilarious, self-aware, and refreshingly honest about mental health, portraying diagnosis and recovery with compassion (+ jazz hands).
9. Monk (USA Network / Peacock)
Summary: Detective Adrian Monk’s therapist patiently helps him manage OCD while solving murders.
Why it’s good: It’s lighthearted, touching, and one of TV’s early efforts to portray anxiety disorders with empathy…even if played for laughs at times.
10. The Bob Newhart Show (CBS)
Summary: The OG TV therapist, Dr. Bob Hartley, counsels Chicago’s anxious and eccentric while maintaining impeccable deadpan.
Why it’s good: Vintage, funny, and quietly revolutionary for bringing psychotherapy into living rooms long before “self-care” was trending.