A therapist and therapy seeker's take on Shrinking season 3 (Part 1)

Written by David Rothman, LCSW and Allegra Balmadier, Content Manager at Zencare. Published on March 12, 2026.

Two years ago David and I (Allegra) published a two part blog series covering season two of "Shrinking." "Shrinking" is an Apple TV show starring Jason Segel, Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams. This season we've seen cameos from Michael J. Fox, Cobie Smulder and Jeff Daniels. Shrinking season three has 11 episodes, and this article covers episodes one through five.

David provides his insights on each episode as a therapist, and I provide my insights on each episode as someone who is passionate about mental health and who is familiar with therapy!

Check out our coverage of season 2 and get caught up here:

• Season 2, Part 1
• Season 2, Part 2

Friendly reminder that this blog post is full of spoilers and personal opinions. Any therapist insights or thoughts shared here are not advice. Please connect with a mental health professional if you want to discuss anything that might ring true for you from watching this series or reading this article.

Let's get into it!

Episode 1: My Bad

Synopsis: The group plans a small wedding for Paul and Julie. Alice has a college scout coming to her soccer game, everyone shows up for her. Gaby doesn’t feel like she’s doing what she’s supposed to be doing – all of her client’s issues seem so trivial. Brian and Charlie expect that their baby could arrive at any time! Liz’s son, Matthew, moves back home after getting fired. Paul hallucinates — a new Parkinson’s symptoms.

Allegra: I was so excited for this season to start. The only big question I had was if the series was going to acknowledge the Eaton Fires at all, but it doesn’t seem like they are. It’s so great to see Michael J. Fox in a role like this, representation matters!

Paul had a lot of great therapy nuggets in this first episode: “Fake it till  you make it” – is that something therapists say to clients? And “The Field," The Field is an intelligent energy force that knows who you’re supposed to be and it keeps demonstrating to you what you need to work on over and over again until you do it. Paul presents this to Sean about facing someone from his past, but we’ll for sure see this for many characters in this season I bet.

Alice self-sabotaging with the college scout I think is incredibly relatable for many people. When you have a great support system, why would you leave? But once she realizes what she’s doing she pulls the "Dead Mom Card" one more time with the scout and gets into college!

Julie and Paul getting married was so beautiful, and Jimmy officiating was the cherry on top, “Everyone is so lucky to get to love you back”. At the end of the episode, Paul hallucinates Gerry and Julie realizes that he’s speaking to someone who isn’t there — “Woof” is right.

David: Just one episode in and this season has set up a lot of big changes for our beloved characters, with a theme of being pushed out of your comfort zone in order to grow: “if you’re not growing, you’re not living”. Paul’s social network of friends, colleagues, family, and spouse does an amazing job of balancing supporting him through his worsening Parkinson’s and pushing him when it’s needed, Paul especially is acting selfishly by dragging his feet on the wedding to Julie . Watching Paul struggle with his Parkinson’s is heartbreaking, especially with him hallucinating Gerry (played by Michael J. Fox!).

Alice demonstrates some good self-awareness about why she initially sabotaged herself with the Wesleyan soccer coach: she’s afraid to leave her support system she’s had at home. We therapists love that kind of insight from our clients!

Jimmy is not surprisingly struggling with the idea of Alice moving out to college. Especially with the loss of wife, Alice moving out would truly leave him alone in the family. But I actually love that he’s trying to put on a brave face for Alice, because he doesn’t want her to stay just because of his feelings. He knows Alice needs to leave in order to grow.

Therapist commentary: I cringed when Gaby mocked her client’s problems in-session; we’re trained to not let our personal judgments out in-session like that! That was maybe a sign that she’s feeling a little burnt out.

Episode 2: Happiness Mission

Synopsis: Paul struggles with his “hallululs” (hallucinations) and misses working, but everyone chips in to provide support to him and build a new routine. Gaby takes on a new client who is not into therapy. Liz and Derek struggle with their son back at home. Sofi shows up to Jimmy’s, Louis feels stuck, Sean tries to deal with an ex who is back in town. Gaby struggles with Jimmy and Alice’s friendship with Louis.

Allegra: In this episode, I feel like the two biggest events were when Gaby finally shared her feelings about Louis to not only Louis but also to Jimmy, and then Derek and Liz facing parenting challenges as seasoned parents.

It was heartbreaking to see Gaby finally share her feelings about Louis to Louis. And I think it was really brave for him to give her permission, so to speak, to allow her to do that, especially knowing that he was never going to get forgiveness. And I think Louis needed to hear it so he could move on, it seems to be the shock he needed to go to his ex-fiance’s house. In this case, I think The Field was at play for Louis.

Even parents who are empty nesters struggle with parenting. I think in good parent-child relationships, it’s a good sign that your children feel that coming home means going somewhere safe. But at the same time, is it safe because they know what they can get away with? Paul drops some wisdom for Derek: “The biggest mistake parents make is being there too much for their kids.” Paul breaks down how Derek’s emotionally inconsistent parents shaped how he became a parent, and gave him the push he needed to essentially be the “bad cop” and kick Matthew out.

Question for David: Do therapists put a lot of pressure on themselves to have a great first impression with clients who are “therapy hesitant”? Does it occasionally happen that an interaction like Gaby had with her new client occurs?

David: Allegra, to answer your question I’d say it’s pretty common for therapists to put the most pressure on themselves in the first meeting with a client, whether that’s a consultation or first session; we definitely want to make a good impression so that the client stays working with us. Thankfully I haven’t had as obvious a bad moment as Gaby had with her new client…well, as far as I’m aware of.

Gaby seems off-center and uncharacteristically is carrying her own baggage into the session, which seemed to alienate her new client. I’m not sure I realized that Gaby has been harboring resentment towards Jimmy and Alice for befriending Louis, but it makes sense! Her raw explosion at Louis was heart-wrenching, but ultimately was helpful both both characters, as Gaby is giving him permission to finally move his life forward, and Gaby expressing what she’s been bottling up for a while.

I feel for Paul, who can’t work safely due to the recent hallucination he experienced; his job as a therapist has brought him fulfillment for most of his life, so who is Paul if not a therapist? That’s what this season looks to answer. He reminds me a lot of Jimmy this season, in that he’s rather inappropriately giving free mini-sessions to people around him since he’s not able to work; he seems like he needs his kick.

I really wanted Jimmy to knock on Sofi’s door at the end of the episode; they’re too perfect for each other, but maybe that actually scares Jimmy.

Therapist commentary: During one of Paul’s “mini-sessions”, he expertly sized-up Derek’s reluctance to set boundaries with his Matthew, which resulted in Derek finally deciding to say Matthew has to move out since he’s not putting in real effort into finding a job. But Paul should know better, us therapists aren’t supposed to go around therapizing our friends when we’re off the clock!

Episode 3: D-Day

Synopsis: Jimmy’s dad comes for dinner, and Jimmy’s complicated relationship with his dad. Ava goes into labor, Brian tries to handle childbirth without Charlie. Sean tries to navigate reacquainting with his ex, Marisol.

Allegra: I really loved the message around how coming back to therapy isn’t failure, and how life has a way of making sure that you’re not done with needing support AND that you never have to get through anything alone if you don’t want to. I think some people will always be seeing a therapist, and I think that some people’s therapy attendance will ebb and flow with their life — and all scenarios are valid!

Hanging onto this affirmation from Derek: “All we can do is believe that everything is going to work out the way it’s supposed to.”

It was interesting to see Paul’s take on essentially "referring out” Alice to Gaby! Now he knows she’s in safe hands when inevitably he can’t work anymore or when Alice is away at college. For our therapy-seekers here, it’s a green flag when your therapist knows that your care would be better with someone else and makes that transition easy for you.

Question for David: “Self-use” in therapy, how often do therapists do this? Is it ethical? It seems like Gaby did this well to re-establish trust with that client.

David: Allegra, I’d say self-disclosure is becoming more common among younger generations of therapists. I certainly heard the “no self-disclosure at all” rule in grad school, but some modalities, like ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) actively encourage therapist self-disclosure in order to normalize client’s issues/complaints. I self-disclose to clients, but if and only if it’s important and related to the client’s treatment. All that to say, I found Gaby’s use of self-disclosure appropriate.

Liz, always the pushy one, has a great scene with Jimmy where she calls him out for avoiding new chances at romantic connections. She sees that Jimmy is stuck, and reluctant to move his life forward.

I just love Paul holding Brian and Charlie’s baby at the end of the episode. Harrison Ford is such a good actor, he goes from reluctant, to uncomfortable, to warm in the span of a few seconds without saying a word. The Star Wars fan in me heard some Han Solo in the last line of the episode, which is Paul saying to the newborn:”enjoy the ride, kid”; that hit hard.

Therapist commentary: We see Paul transfer his quasi-patient, Alice, to Gaby. His vote of confidence in Gaby is heartwarming. Though the real-life therapist in me cringes at giving therapy to a colleague’s family member; dual relationships are a no-no! But hey, it’s TV.

Episode 4: The Field

Synopsis: Charlie and Brian go solo with new daughter Sutton. Gaby keeps trying to figure out her resistant new client, and bends the rules to do it. Paul is cleared to go back to work now that the hallulus (hallucinations) are gone (cue the Indiana Jones theme song). Jimmy guest-lectures at Gaby’s class. Sean struggles with the fact that Marisol hasn’t changed and he hasn’t.

Allegra: So brave of Jimmy to go on a date! I don’t think that the date going bad was even “his fault”, and I feel like he needed to experience a failure first like this to break the ice in dating so to speak! Sometimes you kind of need to experience something so it loses its novelty and realize the things that scare you aren’t real. Then you can kind of move on like, “oh — that really wasn’t bad at all..”.

The concept of “Doorknob disclosures” absolutely cracks me up and is something I definitely did myself in therapy. I think my generation loves the concept of a mic-drop and teeing up next session’s conversation, but I can see how frustrating it is for therapists.

David I’d like to know your take on Jimmy’s guest-lecturing — how would the rest of the clinician community take to a gray area technique like this? “You’re giving life coach” do you think other clinicians would feel this way? What do you think is worth the risk? Going as far as Jimmy?

Maya and loneliness, aw girl. I feel like as an adult it’s so easy to fall into it, for all the reasons Maya shared. Your friends move away because of life’s demands, or they join a cult. It’s only those two reasons, obviously. How DO you make friends? Dig yourself out of loneliness? I hope we find out this season.

David: As a therapist, I’m grateful for this episode because Paul deciding to end his career as a therapist in the episode makes me all the more grateful I get to “enjoy the ride” as a therapist now. I definitely won’t take my work for granted.

The scene with Jimmy guest lecturing at Gaby’s class gave me all the mixed feelings! The therapist in me is not surprised that the grad students, who are often “by the book”, call out Jimmy’s methods as probably unethical. On the other hand, there are definitely people out there that benefit from direct, unorthodox styles of therapy. So short answer: yes I think a lot of other clinicians would take issue with Jimmy’s methods.

Gaby visiting Maya, her patient, at trivia night…eek boundary violation! Gaby is lucky that her patient seemed to appreciate it more than feeling intruded upon.

Liz, oh Liz...it what a painful scene for her own son to overhear her saying “I raised an “a**hole”. Liz’s frustration is completely valid, but that’s a damaging, hurtful thing for a child to hear from their parent, at any age.

Therapist thoughts: Being able to work a job where you get to help people heal and grow is a gift; and seeing Paul wind down from his lifelong career as a therapist is both heartbreaking and heartfelt.

Episode 5: Hold Your Horsies

Synopsis: Gaby makes progress with Maya and faces some relationship questions with Derrick. Sean continues to struggle merging his current structured routine with his go-with-the-flow girlfriend. Jimmy helps Paul prepare for retirement, Meg reveals her marriage issues.

Allegra: When Gaby says, “Loneliness becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when you’re self isolating and self medicating” to Maya, I think it’s a warning/wakeup call that I fear many millennials need to hear right now! If you can’t feel lonely if you can’t feel anything, right?

I’m starting to get a little worried for Sean. Part of me is like “Structure is good! Structure is what helped him immensely in previous series!” BUT is structure also a crutch? Shouldn’t there be a good way to incorporate flexibility into routine to make way for growth? So is Sean set in his ways? How will things fare with Marisol long term? Is he going to be able to give up his sense of safety to allow good stuff into his life?

As an elder daughter myself, what Meg said about gratitude really hit home, “You’ll never get that thank you you’re dreaming about.” Meaning, if you’re helping someone, supporting someone and have this fantasy about how you’ll be thanked or appreciated — just know that you may never get what you envision. And you might have to continue knowing you may not get anything at all.

David: “Everyone needs to be disrupted sometimes”-Paul, to Sean. The theme of the season continues strongly here. Disruption, in this case, is referring to personal growth. Sean wants to stay in his safe, stable routine as a trauma response. Marisol represents a “disruption” to his safety, but Sean clinging too tightly to his routine is also keeping him stuck. I love the scene where Alice calls him out for “hiding”.

Gaby is pretty close to self-sabotaging her relationship with Derrick, all because she doesn’t feel safe being with someone who doesn’t need her to stabilize them. I.e., Gaby is used to playing a “rescuer” role in her relationships, so a relationship where she’s not the rescuer feels unsafe to her. Thankfully, her friends call her out on it and she decides to stay with him, whew!

Meg and Jimmy hooking up: well, this was teased back in the first episode of the season through their odd flirtation. They work well as a pair, but what’s interesting here is that both of them seem well-aware of how unhealthy their hookup is.

Therapist thoughts: Glad to see our therapists in the cast trying to work out their issues via their support networks. Self-care is always important for a therapist to remain effective in their work. I like the frankness of Gaby calling out her client Maya’s risky self-medication/coping strategies. Sometimes we have to call it like we see it instead of “dancing around” with our clients.

To be continued

We will continue coverage of Shrinking Season 3 and the remaining 6 episodes in another blog post.

If you relate to any of the struggles that Shrinking characters are going through, you might find that therapy would be a helpful tool in improving your mental health and well-being. Finding a therapist who gets you and who understands the challenges you’re experiencing can be tricky, but Zencare makes it easy. Use our filters, schedule free consults and find your fit today.