Kroger and Harold may have an inappropriate relationship but I think that is due to a flaw in writing and not because they are supposed to.

Meaning, Kroger should not have accepted an expensive watch from Harold (Buried Treasure). Also, Harold apparently went inside Kroger's house and even had dinner with them.

Have you noticed that when Monk and Harold are fighting, Kroger yells at Harold only.

You remember that fight about the appointment slot (Gets A New Shrink) - I think Harold may have been right, since when Kroger said "First thing Friday morning" I think he meant the first thing in that slot and not the first slot in the day.

Harold is a liar. He exaggerates his relationship with Dr. Kroger in order to annoy Monk. That and he probably has a transference problem. We're not supposed to believe him. One of the indications that he's lying is that Dr. Kroger does seem to be easily annoyed by him. Another indication is how uncomfortable Dr. Kroger was accepting Harold's thanks in Election. Dr. Kroger never said that Harold gave him that watch. That close relationship is all in Harold's head... and Monk's. Dr. Kroger wouldn't violate patient-doctor ethics. Remember, he is a very, very good doctor.

Which then begs the question as to why he keeps Harold on as a patient. Does no one else in town want him? Or have they all tried and cracked?

I don't think a dr can accept a gift of money, or anything expensive from a patient. I know nurses can't.

Hey...You know, I really appreciate all the interest from Rober C...i.e. What is Dr. Kroger doing? How is he doing it?....Several entries now on this particular subject. I would love to discuss this with you, Robert C., but I'm sure you know there is such a thing as Doctor-Patient-Confidentiality. I will tell you this though: I am very proud of the progress that ALL of my patients have been making; and I will continue to be there for ALL of them for as long as they feel they need to see me. Thank you for your concern, but trust me, everything is in good order. Think we can put this subject to rest for now. Thanks, Dr. Kroger. (Stanley Kamel.)

LOL

Dr. Kroger, if you're looking for any new patients you're in the right place.

Mr. Kamel, it's always great to have you drop by.

Ah, the always formal Mr. Kamel!

I only wish my past therapists were like Dr. Kroger. They were either threatening or... just indifferent.
The last therapist I went to stared at me for the longest time after I told her that the Prozac she prescribed me tasted bad.
I kid you not, it must have been 30 seconds before I had to crack the silence. She just... stared at me. I thought she broke.

Was quite scary.

I think my therapist enjoyed our sessions, she laughed a lot when I was there. And she rarely had to say much, if you can imagine that. She didn't need to prod me or anything to get me to talk. And sometimes I would just make it my goal to come up with something that would shock her. I only managed that once. Monk is much better at it than I am obviously.

Prozac has a taste? I took it for over a year and I don't remember tasting it. The migraine preventive that I take now, that stuff is nasty! But better than migraines. Jen, did you try taking it with soda? Soft drinks are wonderful for killing or preventing aftertaste from medicines. I take BC powders with coke and barely taste them at all. Anyone who's ever taken a BC knows what I'm talking about.

When Adrian asked Kroger if Harold gave him the watch, Kroger didn't exactly say no. (This was in Buried Treasure.) Are you sure the watch was not from Harold?

Well, he didn't say anything about that. Maybe it was some kinda game with Adrian? Maybe Charles wanted to test him... Just my thoughts.

I'm reasonably sure. We could ask Harold, but he'd only lie about it.

Dr. Kroger denying it wouldn't absolutely mean that it wasn't from Harold, and besides, the therapist's personal life or his relationship and/or sessions with other patients shouldn't be discussed, or in the case of the therapists personal life, he isn't required to disclose any details.

I don't think that Dr. Kroger would have accepted the watch from Harold, and I really don't think he would have used the watch as a means of testing Adrian. Not sure what he would be testing, either. But where ever he got that watch, it is his business and the point of the sessions is not to discuss the doctor's personal life, his gifts, who gave them to them or anything *but* the problems/issues of the patient who is sitting in the chair opposite the therapist. If the discussion doesn't somehow relate to the patient in some way, there is no reason to discuss it and in some cases it's inadvisable, illegal, and unethical.

But if we needed to, I'm sure that there are reasons for Dr. Kroger's evasion that don't involve Harold, we probably could come up with a few. Possibly he was feeling a bit low and bought it as a gift for himself, and Dr. Kroger might be like me in that the idea of spending so much money on himself feels a bit shameful or scandalous, or possibly he feels it might be detrimental to his patients' faith in him if they found out he had been feeling low enough to have bought himself such an extravagant gift. Possibly he lost his old watch in some way that would be greatly disturbing to Adrian, like maybe it was dropped into the toilet by accident or swallowed by a dog. Perhaps he just misplaced it and doesn't want Adrian to know that he is capable of losing something like that because that would probably be something that would be alien to Adrian and be distressing if he should ever mislay something himself. Possibly the old watch was a gift from his first wife, and when his second wife found out about it, she wanted him to stop using it and it gradually went from a discussion between two adults to a bitter argument that he'd rather not reflect on or discuss with patients, possibly he would rather not examine his own reasons for not having gotten another watch sooner. Before the episode aired, I even considered the possibility that the watch was a gift from Troy and he wore it because he was trying to show Troy that he appreciated the thought, but was worried that maybe Troy had come by the watch by less than legal means. Maybe he was really just hoping to avoid Adrian getting distracted from the discussion of his own issues by discussing the watch.

But overall, he is not supposed to discuss Harold with Adrian, or discuss Adrian with Harold, not under any circumstances, and his personal life is not supposed to be what they are discussing, either.

So I'm not crazy! (Wait, yes I am...) But not about that! I thought those pills tasted funny...

A few weeks ago my therapist sent me to a psychiatrist who stuck me on Prozac for my OCD/anxiety. The taste doesn't seem 'bad' persay - but it is noticable. I learned I can avoid it all together if I take the pill fast enough.

Note to self: Don't mention the taste to the therapist.

I've never had a close relationship with any of my therapists, except the one before last. He was really nice. Reminded me of Dr. Kroger, but he was only counselling to see who I should go to, and I only saw him for a month.
And to me, Prozac has a very baaaad taste, like blood and plastic. Apparently it depends on the person though. I simply took it with water quickly to prevent the taste from even making an appearance.

"I tastes bad?" she asked.
"Yes."
[proceeds to stare] "Did you open the capsule and pour it on your tongue?"
[refrains from giving really weird look] "No."
[stare of confusion insues]



Yay! Someone who agrees! Yes, I had to take it very quickly lest it linger on my tongue and give me that terrible taste. Also, if I didn't take it on a full meal, I would get HORRIBLE heartburn. The kind that makes you want to stick a knife down your throat... or something.

I took myself off Prozac a couple of months ago, though. It gave me homicidal nightmares and I was really hostile to everyone.

Eep. That's not good. At all.

I've been lucky so far - no signs of any side effects whatsoever.
'Course I haven't been on it long enough to have any regular effects yet either.

I hope I'm not the only Monk fan who isn't a pill popper...

I thought my first therapist and I did some groundbreaking work. Them my second therapist told me I made the first one up.

So I did what anyone would do. I upped my own dosages until #2's complaining didnt bother us so much!

Well, that's good. It took me maybe a month to actually get those side-effects. Hope you don't get them. Prozac is quite effective without them!



Heh. We're not all "pill poppers". Most of us, though, take medication because we have OCD or PDs or other disorders which drew us to Monk in the first place.

Nope, not the only one! *high-fives* Never had to take anything more interesting than Motrin.

Also...Mr. Kamel for the WIN, with that Dr. K. response.

Harold did take a bullet meant for Dr Kroger.