The Shrink Next Door Exposes Decades of Therapeutic Manipulation

The Shrink Next Door is a true crime podcast on Apple Podcasts that launched in May 2019. Host Joe Nocera, a former journalist at The New York Times, documents one of the most striking cases of therapeutic manipulation in recent memory.

A Patient in Search of Help

Martin Markowitz first sought psychiatric care in 1981 following the deaths of his parents. What should have been a healing process instead became the beginning of decades of systematic exploitation. His psychiatrist, Isaac 'Ike' Herschkopf, would go on to manipulate and take advantage of Markowitz for thirty years of abuse in a deeply troubling misuse of professional trust.

Uncovering the Manipulation

Through interviews and thorough journalistic research, Nocera reconstructs the destructive relationship between the two men. The podcast examines the psychological mechanisms that allowed the abuse to continue for so long — and why patients can be especially vulnerable to manipulation by the very professionals they trust most.

From Podcast to Television

The podcast's success led to a TV adaptation in the form of a miniseries. Will Ferrell portrays Martin Markowitz, while Paul Rudd plays the manipulative Dr. Herschkopf. The series brought this disturbing story to an even wider audience, illustrating how therapeutic trust can be undermined through sustained manipulation and abuse.

A Warning About Professional Authority

The Shrink Next Door stands as a sobering reminder of how professional authority can be abused within psychiatry — and how those who seek help can find themselves exploited by the people they rely on most.