Dr Jenn Berman says Farrah Abraham was really “stood up” on Couples Therapy

Dr Jenn Berman spoke to TheTVPage.com about the upcoming season premiere of Couples Therapy in which Farrah Abraham ostensibly is stood up by her boyfriend, DJ Brian Dawe.

According to Farrah, who begged to be on the show in previous years and then tried to hire a fake boyfriend, was supposed to be with Brian following his pre-interviews and agreeing to appear on the show. In scenes shown in the extended trailer below, Farrah cries at being the only person without a partner. Jenn denies being played but says she’s glad Farrah stayed regardless because the former Teen Mom obviously needed therapy.

Last year, it was widely reported that Farrah Abraham was lobbying very hard to get on your show — even though she didn’t have a boyfriend. Now she is on it and her “boyfriend” mysteriously disappears the night before taping starts. What is going on there.
What I can tell you — and I am a bit limited, legally, about what I am allowed to say — is that she signed on for the experience with a boyfriend whose name I cannot repeat…

Brian Dawe?
I cannot confirm or deny. But this person, the boyfriend, spoke at length with producers, did pre-interviews, had a plane ticket, the whole thing… He was flown in but he never showed up. So she arrived not even knowing that he wasn’t coming. She reached out to him and he didn’t respond to her. I am kind of limited with what I am allowed to say, but he really surprised all of us. When she walked in I sat down with her and said, “What do you know?” And she said, “He is not returning my calls.” She was really, genuinely distraught and confused — as were my staff and producers. My hope was to bring him in [later] to either do therapy or at the very least give closure to the situation. So I spent a lot of time trying to bring him back in. In the meantime, what I found was that this was a woman who desperately needed therapy. This was not an isolated incident. It was very much representative of her patterns with men. This was really an opportunity. I looked at this like, “May this be her rock bottom with men. I think I can help her whether he comes or not.” I thought it was really important to help her.

Did you feel at any point like you were just being played?
I felt that she did such authentic therapy and this was a woman so in need of therapy that there was no question in my mind that we did great work.

But he was never her public boyfriend…
There were pictures of them together and actually we had a body language expert who came and did some exercises and she saw the picture and she said “This is a woman who is genuinely happy in the presence of this man.” So to me it became less important that this therapy work I did with her was so authentic and there was such… she just did such great work and genuine work. She has been through so much in her lifetime that it broke my heart. I actually have a lot of respect for her. I really do.

At the end of the day, do you feel like you were able to help her?
No question, yes. And to me as a therapist, that is what matters. If I can make a difference in someone’s life and help them to make less painful choices, then I have done my job.

Will the public have a different understanding of her?
I think if someone watches the whole season they will. If they see her evolution, they will see a more human side of Farrah.

It has been reported that you are going to bring on other ex-boyfriends to participate in her treatment.
I am always willing to do whatever it takes to help someone have insight into how they view relationships. Sometimes an ex-boyfriend or a parent or someone from a person’s past can give me insight. One of the cool things about Farrah is once Farrah realized how [truthful] the therapy is — which she realized rather quickly — she was saying “I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I don’t want to live my life like this anymore. Something is really wrong and I am willing to do whatever you tell me to do.”

Did you see her interview with Dr. Phil?
I did and I really understand exactly why those interviews were as they were. [laughs]

Does she finally admit to being a porn star?
I will let you watch this season and see what happens. You will see her evolution. There are some things from my work with Farrah that I will never actually share. It is a much more complicated situation than meets the eye.

Maybe you guys should continue working together?
I am always in touch with all of my [previous] cast members. As a therapist, it would be unethical to abandon them. She and I formed a very strong bond and we did great work together.

Speaking of TEEN MOM — Amber Portwood was just on Dr. Phil’s show and is reportedly making another special for MTV. What do you think of her being back in the TV spotlight so quickly after getting out of jail?
You know, I never watched any of the TEEN MOM shows, so I know very little about them, but if she wanted help, I would love to work with her.