What does Aaron expect Rachel to get from her appointments with her therapist? What does she actually achieve through therapy?

What does Aaron expect Rachel to get from her appointments with her therapist? What does she actually achieve through therapy?

Aaron expects that therapy will make Rachael "well" and will return her to "normal" -- so she will have babies, clean house, and fix his dinner. Therapy forces her to explore her experience and her guilt. The ultimate resolution for her, though, comes from her contact wth Angelika, who actually helps her put her guilt in perspective, and from her return to her art ( which is, in fact, encouraged by her therapist).

I agree with laurap above that the therapist's constant urging Rachel to return to her art was helpful to her recovery. I'm sure Aaron thought the therapy would help Rachel to overcome her emotional distress and her feelings of guilt.

I also agree with laurap and Aaron feels that then some of his conflicts with his brother will resolved because he to will have a "normal" family life. If Rachael does resume her art perhaps her focus can now in the present not the past but it will a constant struggle for her as will think of her mother's artistic talent.

Aaron hopes that Rachel’s therapy will help her to deal with the past that haunts her and will allow her to be the kind of wife he thought she would be. Taking up painting again at the urging of her therapist is the breakthrough that allows Rachel to confront her past.

Aaron wants Rachel to be normal, but I do not think he expects much. He complains about the money spent and refers to her therapist as what’s his name the shrink. I do not think he believes Rachel needs this help.

I feel like Aaron doesn't really buy into the psychotherapy thing. He pays for it because he's supposed to, but I don't think he believes it's helping his wife. After all, she still isn't agreeing to have his children, which seems to be his biggest concern. I'm also not sure it does actually help her. It's been a couple of weeks since I read the book, but I'm not remembering any "aha moment" where there's a breakthrough. In fact, quite often she doesn't want to talk to him or cuts the appointment short. Finally being able to release her emotions into painting seems to be what helped her the most, and while the psychiatrist encouraged that I tend to think she would have reached that point on her own regardless.

Aaron wants Rachel to be well; he expects the therapy to make her all right. He does not know of the horrors she experienced and why she feels so tormented.

Aaron doesn't understand the depth of Rachel's emotional issues, and I don't think he's capable of doing so. He thinks the psychiatrist will "fix" her so she can be "normal" and just move on. Unfortunately, I think many people who feel the same way about therapy and counseling. Hopefully with celebrities, those in the Royal family in Great Britain and other more visible people speaking out about the importance of getting help for their mental health will change the public's perception and take it more seriously.

Aaron thought therapy would "cure" Rachel of her unconventionality (she had not borne children, she was outspoken), but seemed less interested in her overall mental and emotional health. Ultimately, Rachel is "cured" by the resolution that comes from contacting Angelika.

Aaron doesn't understand mental illness and at best sees it as any physical disease that just gets cured so he thinks that Rachel goes to the shrink and should come home cured. Of course that isn't how it works. The Doctor allows Rachel to have someone who listens, who is under pressure to "understand" what she has gone through, who doesn't judge her so she is able to open up and actually put her thoughts out in the open so she herself can respond to them. Encouraging her to do her art is helpful.

I think in the 50s, the idea of therapy was probably a bit misunderstood...Aaron would like Rachel to be normal, but I don't think he believe that she is really being helped by therapy as he complains about the cost of it frequently and the fact that she is not getting "well" quick enough.