Gina and Paul -- Week Six

Enraged by being put on repeated hold while trying to deal with his father's estate, Paul heaves his cell phone in the trash just as Gina opens the door to her waiting room to invite him in. Still agitated, Paul surprises himself by asking Gina to "proof" the letter he's drafted to give to Alex, Sr. Gina expresses her concern about the letter, but Paul dodges, insisting that he's no good as a therapist because he can't really give his patients what they want (love and sex). He insists he's going to send the letter and become a "life coach" instead so he can give people advice. Gina has him play out the advice he'd give Mia, and Paul accuses her of being afraid to take responsibility for her patients' lives. Gina asks Paul if she's let him down and Paul keeps pushing, accusing her of not telling him what she really thinks. Pushed to the brink, Gina explodes and the two have an all-out fight as he accuses her of always judging him and thinking he has no boundaries, and she insists she's always stuck by him because she believes he's ultimately a good therapist—he just needs to learn humility. "We don't save people…we can't," she tells him. That's when Paul announces Walter tried to kill himself. Gina is stunned Paul didn't tell her this earlier, and she's concerned that this, on top of Alex Sr.'s case and his father's death, is a lot to bear. Paul says he was too humiliated to admit he's had two patients attempt suicide in two years and didn't suspect either one, but says he can understand Walter's desire to escape his problems. Gina treads carefully to probe whether Paul is having suicidal thoughts, but he promised he'd never do to his children what his mother did to him. Exhausted, Paul cuts the session short and is about to take his letter with him but Gina urges him to leave it with her for a week and to take time to think about it—and to see his patients and act as if he believes he's helping.