Before Therapy – What Linklater’s Before Trilogy Teaches Us About Love, Process & Presence

Episode Title: Before Therapy – What Linklater’s Before Trilogy Teaches Us About Love, Process & Presence

Media Links

Website: delvepsych.com

Instagram: @delvepsychchicago

YouTube: youtube.com/@DelvePsych20

Substack: delvepsych.substack.com

Participants

Hosts: Ali McGarel, Adam Fominaya

Guest: Colleen Paul, LCPC — staff therapist & certified clinical trauma professional

Overview of Big Ideas

• Why the Before trilogy still resonates: raw, real-time conversation and authentic tension beat Hollywood fairy‑tales every time.

• Creative roots & counseling: acting, film study, and improv sharpen attunement to subtext, empathy, and rule‑breaking therapy.

• “Happiness is in the doing”: the hosts unpack Jesse’s line to explore process‑over‑outcome living with clients.

• Opening & closing pain: therapy as practice for tolerating discomfort while staying engaged in life’s story.

• Finding your “why”: Nietzsche’s maxim—“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how”—anchors change work.

Breakdown of Segments

• Welcome & clinic update – Delve’s services and low‑cost therapy options.

• Film geek meet‑cute – how Ali’s partner and Colleen’s film degree sparked the topic.

• Slice‑of‑life cinema – long takes, ambient eavesdropping, and why dialog‑driven films feel therapeutic.

• Real love vs. rom‑com myths – quirks that charm early on often trigger later conflict.

• Therapists’ thought experiment – what advice would they give Jesse or Céline between films?

• Process, purpose & disappointment – coaching clients who chase creative dreams through rejection.

• Quotes on the whiteboard – “Everything was fine … until you hit me with reality” and the value of confronting truth.

• Closing & how to connect with Delve therapists.

References & Further Listening/Reading

• Richard Linklater (dir.). Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), Before Midnight (2013).




• Friedrich Nietzsche. “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”




• Buddhist aphorism on seeing the world “as it is.”




• Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) literature on values‑led action.

Enjoy the episode, and let us know what conversations the films spark for you!