Private Practice
Season 4
PRIVATE PRACTICE - "God Bless the Child" - A second trip to the ER sparks concern for Betsey's well-being and prompts the doctors to launch an investigation into her new foster family -- risking sending the little girl back into the system. Meanwhile, Naomi makes a life changing decision for her family, and a struggling Amelia slips further away from sobriety, on "Private Practice," THURSDAY, MAY 12 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RON TOM)AMY BRENNEMAN
God Bless the Child
Season 4 | Episode 21 | Aired 05/12/11
Betsey’s thrilled to see Cooper and Naomi, but doesn’t want anything to do with Violet. The foster parents get extremely angry when they realize the Oceanside docs suspect abuse. Betsey seizes when her foster brother, Marshall, comes near her. After she’s rushed to surgery, Marshall throws a fit in front of Pete. Sheldon suspects the boy has severe anger issues.

Amelia must alleviate the pressure on Betsey’s brain. Her confidence is a bit shaky after accidently sipping champagne not long ago. A bleed during surgery means more of Betsey’s temporal lobe must be removed. Amelia does the procedure, but Betsey slips into a coma. Later, Marshall’s mom admits that she knew something was wrong with the boy. Even though she cares for Betsey, her son comes first. Just like that, the little girl is abandoned again.

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  • Stay or Go? By Noah Evslin, Director of Medical Research If you watch our show closely, you realize it's not the medical treatments that make Private Practice different than other shows on television; rather, it's the ethical debates our doctors have over any of the myriad decisions they need to make every week. Although the main medical storyline in the Season Five opener, "God Laughs," revolves around Pete's massive heart attack, it's the smaller storyline that I want to explore here – the story of JOANNA GIBSON, a successful career woman who was physically abused by her husband of over a decade. The story takes place primarily at the airport where Violet was waiting for a plane to New York. While sitting at the gate, Violet can't help but overhear a heated discussion between Joanna and her husband DAVID where he begs her not to throw away twelve years of marriage over a single fight. After David leaves to get coffee, Violet gets more information out of Joanna. She's a successful lawyer. In the early parts of their marriage, David worked two jobs to put her through law school. He then remained supportive while she worked around the clock. But now, many years later, David's changed. He's no longer supportive. And the last time they fought, David hit her. This brings us to this week's ethical debate: Should somebody throw away an entire marriage over one incident of physical abuse? In the United States, there are between 1 and 3 million cases of domestic abuse every year, and women of all races are equally vulnerable to violence by their partner. What makes this story particularly interesting is that there was no history of abuse for Joanna. She thought she had a great marriage, a successful marriage, a safe marriage, and then during one particularly bad fight, David violated that trust. For people who view domestic violence from the outside, the advice seems obvious: if your partner abuses you in any way, you leave them. But for people on the inside, the answers aren't always so clear. For many, there are financial concerns. For others, there's the issue of children. For almost everybody, there's the not inconsequential issue of still being in love with the person that is abusing you. What Violet tells Joanna is that after David hit her, she felt the need to leave him and go somewhere safe. Why should she doubt that instinct now? She also tells Joanna she can't pretend it never happened and she needs to take back control of her life.
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "God Bless the Child" - A second trip to the ER sparks concern for Betsey's well-being and prompts the doctors to launch an investigation into her new foster family -- risking sending the little girl back into the system. Meanwhile, Naomi makes a life changing decision for her family, and a struggling Amelia slips further away from sobriety, on "Private Practice," THURSDAY, MAY 12 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RANDY HOLMES) CATERINA SCORSONE
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "God Bless the Child" - A second trip to the ER sparks concern for Betsey's well-being and prompts the doctors to launch an investigation into her new foster family -- risking sending the little girl back into the system. Meanwhile, Naomi makes a life changing decision for her family, and a struggling Amelia slips further away from sobriety, on "Private Practice," THURSDAY, MAY 12 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RANDY HOLMES) KADEE STRICKLAND
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "God Bless the Child" - A second trip to the ER sparks concern for Betsey's well-being and prompts the doctors to launch an investigation into her new foster family -- risking sending the little girl back into the system. Meanwhile, Naomi makes a life changing decision for her family, and a struggling Amelia slips further away from sobriety, on "Private Practice," THURSDAY, MAY 12 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RON TOM) AMY BRENNEMAN, TIM DALY
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