Here's why Prince Harry volunteered to take therapy on camera for 'The Me You Can't See'
May 24, 2021
Washington [US], May 24 : Prince Harry volunteered to have his therapy session filmed for his new docuseries on mental health, 'The Me You Can't See', created in collaboration with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
As per People magazine, Dawn Porter, a director on Apple TV Plus' 'The Me You Can't See', addressed The Duke of Sussex's decision to show himself in a therapy session in the new mental health docuseries.
In a new interview with Town and Country magazine, Porter spoke about the decision behind Harry's emotional on-camera therapy, which is documented in the five-part docuseries that was co-created with Oprah Winfrey.
"Asif Kapadia was working really closely with Harry, and it was really interesting because we were working on the series for so long that we knew a lot about what Prince Harry was doing to maintain his mental wellness," said Porter, who co-directed the series with Kapadia.
Porter added, "And when you have Oprah Winfrey and the best advisers on the planet, you get access to a lot of the best research and the best medicine."
"Harry, he volunteered," she added of the Duke of Sussex.
She further said, "He was game for trying something. And we thought well, we have the opportunity to film this [therapy] and maybe this is something that will work for some people, maybe it won't, but the idea is that you don't tick a box and you're done, mental wellness is an ongoing pursuit."
Porter shared, "You have to continue to try new things and to push yourself, and his volunteering to try something was a great way to emphasize and underscore that point."
In the docuseries, Harry openly talks about his upbringing in the royal family, how he takes after his late mother, Princess Diana, how he's changed as a person since becoming a father with his wife Meghan Markle, and how much he's grown stronger mentally after four years of working with his therapist.
According to Porter, both Harry and Oprah decided to helm the docuseries because of their "personal and deep feelings about destigmatizing conversations around mental health and mental wellness."
"This was really important to both of them, and so they were extremely hands on," Porter said of the pair.
Porter added, "We had meetings every other week. We would look at footage of different possible participants. We would talk through their stories. We would talk to what each story would bring to the series, and that also led to both of them participating. They were seeing in real time how our subjects were opening up, and then they both really opened up too, so I'm really proud of that, that they were so involved and it was such a collaborative effort for our team."
Harry said in the docuseries that Meghan, whom he married in May 2018, inspired him to pursue therapy more seriously than ever after they met.
"It was meeting and being with Meghan, I knew that if I didn't do therapy and fix myself, that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with," said Harry.
After pursuing therapy, Harry ultimately gained "one of the biggest lessons" in his life, he said in the docuseries.
The Duke added, "You've sometimes got to go back and to deal with really uncomfortable situations and to be able to process it in order to be able to heal. For me, therapy has equipped me to be able to take on anything. That's why I'm here now. That's why my wife is here now."
Since stepping down as working royals in March 2020, Harry and Meghan have established their new life in Montecito, California, with their son Archie. This summer, the couple is expecting their second child, a baby girl.
The couple has launched new business ventures, with Netflix and Spotify, as well as expanded their platform with their Archewell Foundation.
'The Me You Can't See', which explores mental health and emotional well-being with stories from people around the world, is streaming now on Apple TV Plus.