Dr. Paul Weston is a fictional character on the five-nights-a-week HBO series, In Treatment. The character is portrayed by Gabriel Byrne, who was coined as TV's "latest Dr. McDreamy" by The New York Times for the role. According to Byrne, the character of Weston has flaws, but possesses certain virtues:
"I tend to think of him as an innately compassionate man, but a damaged man. But just because you’re damaged doesn’t mean you can’t be compassionate...I think what makes him a good therapist with all his patients, and sets him on the right road, whether he says the right thing or the wrong thing—he truly listens. He may not have the answer, but he’s paid the person the compliment of listening to them."
Background Growing up, Paul did not have a happy childhood. His father, who was a cardiac surgeon, left the family for a patient 26 years his junior when Paul was young. He was then left to take care of his depressed mother, playing the parental role in the broken family. Whilst at high school, Paul often got into trouble with the authorities, and when asked by counsellors about his aspirations for the future, he replied that he wanted to be anything but his father. Paul and his stepmother were often mistaken as either siblings or a pair of newlyweds whenever he joined his father's new family on special occasions as a young man. His decision to marry Kate in his late 20s was due to his admiration for her strength, something he did not see in his own mother in the aftermath of his parents' separation. A little more of Paul's background is revealed in Season 2. We learn he has an older brother (Patrick) and that his father obtained his doctorate from the fictional "Dublin School of Medicine", which confirms that Paul's family is from Ireland and perhaps explains Weston's Dublin accent. (Paul places his father's doctorate on a shelf in his Brooklyn office in episode 21 of season 2 Mia: Week 5).
Overview At the time of the first episode of the show, professionally, Paul is a successful psychotherapist who appears to be the breadwinner of the family. His achievements have not only brought him to a respectable place professionally, but also to a secure financial position, allowing his family and himself to live comfortably. Paul has exceptional listening abilities that aid him in his work, but lately, he feels as if he has been "losing patience with [his] patients." At home, problems are apparent between his wife (Kate) and himself. Paul is most comfortable in his office, creating distance between himself and Kate and the children. This is complicated by a mutual attraction with one of his patients.
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