The Celebreality Interview – Trina Dolenz

TV Couples therapist Trina Dolenz, is credited on her official site with helping couples “resolve their issues and turn complete tools into perfect boyfriends.” She’ll have another crack at that when Tool Academy 2 hits VH1 on Sunday at 9/8c. Below, Trina compares the upcoming season to the last, talks about how making TV affects the process of therapy and shares her thoughts on watching such serious subject matter for laughs.

As resident couples therapist of Tool Academy, which season was a bigger challenge?

This one, without a doubt. There were more couples, and I think we had a much more diverse cast, which meant there were a lot more needs and personalities. It was a big step up because the girlfriends knew what they were coming into. The boyfriends also knew the show. Perhaps because they had higher expectations, they were willing to go deeper and further.

How do you define “tool?” That obviously isn’t a clinical term.

It’s funny because I have a whole list of definitions of tools. It’s a loose term. Half the country is dating a tool. I think you start with unknowing – if you’re doing something and you don’t realize it’s wrong, you’re a tool.

Right. Before the first season aired, just hearing the title of the show didn’t lead me to think it’d be so relationship-focused. To me, a tool has a lot more going on than relationship problems.

Yes. Tool technically means “penis,” so they’re d***s. What’s interesting about this season is that it comes out that if you’re a tool in your relationship, you’re bound to be f***ing up in other areas. You probably can’t be a tool in one area only.

These tools are on the show because of their poor treatment of women. Have you ever felt disrespected?

No, and I would have expected otherwise. They’re very, very respectful. I think maybe if we had more time together, they’d feel comfortable enough to treat me like their mother and tell me to “F*** off.” They direct their anger at [the show's host] Jordan [Murphy]. I’m all good and he’s all bad. But the fact that they do respect me shows that they do know how to behave, and that there is some hope for them.

Is presiding over them hard?

Yeah. It’s intensely hard. The first thing I have to think about is that I’m working toward a TV show. And then I have to think about each one of the couples and then I have to think of my theory and then I have to think about what I’m going to say to intervene. And that changes every second.

Was it tough to integrate making TV into your therapeutic process?

Yeah. Sometimes I’ve done things that are right for the show that I wouldn’t have done in my therapy room. And then I saw that it didn’t matter at all and instead was really exciting and useful. One example is that the therapy is very biased towards the guys and not the girls. I’ve sometimes pinned a guy down on a certain point and made him really reiterate what he’s said, but I’ve never put the girl in such an uncomfortable position, really. We focus totally on the tool, and yet the girl changes.

Watching the premiere, I was surprised that the show was able to once again fool a group of guys into thinking that they were going on a show other than Tool Academy. Do you have any theories as to why no one’s walked off at that reveal?

It’s extraordinary. John tried to leave, but that’s it. If you believe that they’ve all watched the first season, I think they all think what they have to go through is quick and easy. “Oh, this will be seven minutes of therapy, that’s no problem. It’s a TV show. Trina says something and you’re fine.” I think they don’t really understand what’s going to happen to them. I also believe that every single one of them knows they’re a tool and they don’t want to be a tool. That’s what’s extraordinary about the casting: they’re not nasty guys. They all want to be better, but they don’t know how.

Obviously, you’re there for a serious purpose, but people watch Tool Academy to laugh at it. What do you think about that?

I think it’s hysterical. It’s the biggest joy to watch it back and just fall off my chair laughing, because I can’t in the therapy room. I think that’s the whole thing with relationships: watching someone sobbing and crying is awful in person. On TV, it’s the funniest thing you’ll see. It’s terrible, isn’t it? But we’ve been doing that since the Roman times. We watch people’s distress and it’s funny.

What else can we expect from this season?

I haven’t watched it, so I don’t know how it’ll play out, but I hear that the second episode’s therapy session is the best ever. We did 10 episodes, which was initially thought to be harder but we managed to keep them all action packed. It’s bigger, faster, stronger, harder than last time, and it definitely felt like that during filming.

Read more about Trina at her official site and follow her on Twitter, as she’ll be tweeting about the show throughout the season.

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Tool Academy 2 cast reveal
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