Supermedicine

The interesting thing about drama is that you can distill ideas and drop them into characters. 

It is human chromatography.

You can remix these themes and memes, you can make a point with counterpoint, you can justify a position with juxtaposition, and you can do it with a sackful of blokes with tropes.

You can break down the human condition and write it into parts. Parts for scenes. 

Then you can record it and present it.

Show.

And tell.

The question is often asked -  "But is it art?" 

Well, yes. Get over yourself.

In the process, your analysis became art. Largely because it was done by you and not a computer.

The question is less often asked - "But is it therapy?" 

Is it the same? Or the opposite of?

This is a question that dances across the mind of many a sensitive performer particularly those looking to a bloated NHS for funding when the Arts Council gives them only the finger,  and not the one that indicates a bright Vaudevillian idea.

Surely a thoughtful therapeutic intervention would use those techniques of artistry, and many, many others besides and marry them with with more supposedly conventional "science".

A good interventionist, whether medical (doctors) or non-medical (nurses, counsellors, psychologists, rune stone readers, psychics etc) should be able to leverage these interventions to build up the human condition once more. This time proper like. 

Strategies upgraded. Rebooted, if it comes to that.

"We can rebuild him".

"We have the technology".

The technology might come from a quiz in Cosmo. 

But probably not.

Lasting change might come from watching The Matrix, for all its Buddhist enlightenment. 

But probably not. (Watch it anyway. It didn't spawn new religions for nothing).

It might come from a session of mindfulness or CBT from someone with an appropriate diploma. It might .... but do you really think it will?

They will sell you a B flat when you need a C sharp.

But neither can the artists do it all alone.

It doesn't matter whether it's music or dance,  magic or mime.

You don't make a therapy by adding the word 'therapy' on to an art form.

It requires something else.

A catalyst.

A narrative.

A plot.

A plan.

A super-performance.

Skills...

Bravado, derring-do, drive, evidence, guts, charm, I don't know... something... it requires something.

Something else.

Something that even when defined will still be ethereal.

Sorry Capita. Sorry Serco. There is nothing you can strip and mass-produce here.

If you are a lover of the laughable invention of homeopathy, you may understand the concept of treating like with like. 

Maybe the only thing that can treat the human condition is the human condition.

I'm not Perry Mason but I would happily put my thumbs in my lapels and put it to you that that might involve all the different approaches mentioned above, and many, many more...

I think the 'something else' involves the ability to own a bag of credible tricks and be able to improvise with them.

Like a piano player dancing over keys.

Able not just to strike the keys, but to strike them in time, at the right moment with the correct force. Piano e forte.

Go and see a general surgeon and you will get an F sharp. Because that's the only note he knows. Even if you don't need an F sharp right then. Even if you're in a minor key. You will get F#.

Go and see a psychologist. Let them puff their tweeded chests out and brag about having both a B flat and a C flat to offer. 

You might not even notice the discord till you are too far in. Committed.

Go and see a GP. As far as I can see is that he is the only chap possible to have a full octave in stock. But probable? Sadly not. You will need to work hard to find one who doesn't wear big yellow shoes and drive a car whose doors frequently fall off.
Generally patients don't think their health and well-being sufficiently worthwhile to carry out research that is internet-proof.  A good GP isn't Google-able.

See one with the skills, care and love to strategically improvise and he or she may get you to Be.
Perhaps by disguising it as a C flat. Or they might sneak in a good solid F by gently introducing you to a playful E#. Or redesignate your  B flat to an A sharp with an instant parallax switch.

Or not...and if not you might make your way to BUPA instead or head to The Priory. Then you'll get everything you deserve.

They will sell you an A. Then they will sell you a B. Then they will sell you a C. Then they will sell you a D. Then they will sell you an E. Then... well you get my drift.

They might even throw in a bottle of Prosecco and some of the black keys for a 20% discount. 

But nothing will change, but for the making of a new friend.... relative poverty.

What should your doctor deliver, when they make no claim to be Superman?

Let's improvise a motto  in the style of that most succinct of art forms  - the movie tag line. (Which I would take over one of those miserable bloody haikus anyday).

"Can you help me, Doctor?"

"No Cape.
 No Powers.
 No Lycra.  

 No Problem".