Hard to swallow: February 2006

The subject of this month's 'hard to swallow..', though it sounds like something out of a Woody Allen film, is in fact, like everything covered in this column, absolutely genuine. Dr Chuck is a 12-inch tall, straight-talking personal therapist doll that comes clad in khaki trousers, blue blazer, shirt and tie, 'just as a therapist might be' according to Chula Productions, the similarly straight-talking company behind this Sigmund Fraud. 'Everybody has a friend or relative who needs therapy,' the company claims. 'For those of us who know people who need help but don't know how to tell them, the answer has arrived and it's guaranteed to put the kook in your life back on track.'

Dr Chuck has an astounding nine-phrase repertoire and, at just $29.95, is much better than a human therapist, for your wallet if not for your psyche. Powered by two AA batteries rather than coffee, he might not be able to free-associate or have an in-depth discussion on cognitive dissonance, but he can say: 'You're the finest example of self-esteem and humility I've ever seen', and: 'In your case it really is your parents' fault'.

While the doll's orations may be out of this world, he is very much grounded in reality, and that reality is called Chuck Berke, Dr Chuck's co-creator and a real-life marriage and family therapist who charges $150-175 per hour. 'Laughter is an incredibly healing activity,' he says. 'I've helped my clients learn to have fun again and what's better than that?'

Larry Berk, Berke's business partner and clearly a graduate of the school of diplomacy and flattery, describes Berke as 'the only real-life therapist that I know well enough to make a doll out of', and Dr Chuck as 'a great gag gift for friends and relatives [because] they're the ones who have made us nuts in the first place'.