Dr. Jennifer Melfi, played by Lorraine Bracco, is the psychiatrist of fictional mob boss Tony Soprano on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos. Lorraine Bracco (born October 2, 1954) is an American actress who is most known for her role as Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos. ... Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders (see mental illness). ... This article is about a fictional character from The Sopranos. ... For alternate meanings of HBO, see HBO (disambiguation). ... An American family watching television in the 1950s. ... The Sopranos is a television drama produced by HBO. It first aired in 1999 and is expected to be concluded at the end of the upcoming sixth season in 2006, although several of the cast members have hinted that further seasons may occur. ...

Dr. Melfi is probably the closest person to truly understanding Tony Soprano. Over the years, Tony has been able to confide in Dr. Melfi many things that he has told no one else, not his associates and certainly not his wife, Carmela. However, Dr. Melfi and Tony have an unusual, off-again-on-again relationship. Tony inwardly fears the prying into his life that Dr. Melfi does during their sessions, but he also fears the results from not dealing with the problem. As a result, she watches Tony go through frequent mood swings during their time together, sometimes acting playful, other times violent; sometimes acting responsive, other times being cold and distant. This article is about a fictional character from The Sopranos. ...

For her part, Dr. Melfi has tried hard to help Tony as much as possible, half chalking it up to some sort of visceral thrill of helping a gangster but also trying to resist the idea that she has romantic thoughts about the man and keep their relationship professional. However, while she has so far resisted Tony's constant advances, which Dr. Melfi is both attracted to and repelled by at the same time, Tony no longer wishes for their relationship to remain strictly professional. Tony seems to see Dr. Melfi as the one object that he is unable to truly have and, while continuing to pursue her, also resents her for it.

Some time ago, Dr. Melfi was also brutally raped in a parking garage and after the rapist was freed on a technicality, she has had to resist the very strong (and completely understandable) desire to have Tony "squish him like a bug," as she once put it. To deal with this, Dr. Melfi also sees a psychiatrist of her own as well, Dr. Elliot Kupferberg (played by Peter Bogdanovich). Peter Bogdanovich (born July 30, 1939) is an American film director and writer, born in Kingston, New York. ...

See also

• List of characters from The Sopranos

The following is a partial listing of fictional characters from the HBO series, The Sopranos: Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini Carmela Soprano, played by Edie Falco Meadow Soprano, played by Jamie-Lynn DiScala Anthony Soprano, Jr. ...

External link

• HBO Profile: Dr. Jennifer Melfi (http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/cast/character/dr_melfi.shtml)