Private Practice
Season 4
PRIVATE PRACTICE - "Two Steps Back" - Charlotte and Cooper look to forgive each another after revealing secrets during couples therapy, Violets seeks the forgiveness and approval of her fellow doctors after they learn her novel-in-progress will make all of their personal lives public, Sheldon treats a patient who claims to have multiple personality disorder, and Sam and Naomi team up on a case involving a pregnant teen with Down's Syndrome , on "Private Practice," THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RON TOM)AUDRA MCDONALD, TAYE DIGGS
Two Steps Back
Season 4 | Episode 15 | Aired 02/24/11
Sam treats Tanya, a pregnant teenage girl with Down syndrome. There are cardiac issues that make Tanya’s pregnancy high risk, but she should be okay with proper monitoring. Tanya’s mom, Erin, wants her to have an abortion. Naomi convinces her to hold off any decision until they do a test to see if the baby will be healthy. The child’s father, Ricky, also has special needs. Nevertheless, both Ricky and Tanya are thrilled to learn they made a baby together. Then they are devastated when Erin says they may not get to keep their child.

Sam and Naomi discuss Tanya’s case over a late night dinner. The conversation segues into one about Maya, who may be moving to New York to attend Columbia. That means their grandchild would likely be going with her. That conversation segues into one about how Naomi still feels some stinging effects that come with Sam’s relationship with Addison.

Naomi and Sam tell Erin that her daughter’s baby shows no signs of have Down syndrome. This news comes a little late, as Erin took Tanya to have an abortion a few hours earlier. Naomi can’t believe it. Sadly, what’s done is done. Back home, Sam comforts Naomi after the events of the day. He gives her a hug which then turns into a passionate kiss. When exactly is Addison getting back into town?

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  • Is Preserving a Police Officer's Career More Important Than Their Mental Health? If you watch our show closely, you'll realize it's not the medical treatments that make Private Practice different than other shows on television; rather, it's the ethical debates surrounding the myriad decisions our doctors need to make every week. In this week's episode, Sheldon's friend DETECTIVE PRICE asks him for the favor of doing a psych evaluation on AARON, a young police officer who has just shot and killed an unarmed criminal in the line of duty. Aaron and Detective Price maintain that the man Aaron shot appeared to be reaching for a gun, and Aaron reacted in self-defense. Both men are in a hurry to put the incident to rest and get Aaron back to work. Despite the pressure from Detective Price to sign off on Aaron's stability, Sheldon follows his intuition and requests more time with Aaron before giving him a clean bill of health. Torn, Sheldon looks to Violet to be a sounding board for his concern. Violet makes the point that even though Detective Price and Aaron feel that Sheldon pushing the issue would be detrimental to Aaron's career, it could end up being much worse for Aaron if Sheldon helped to send him back out into the field before he was mentally ready. This conundrum brings us to this week's ethical debate: Is it worth compromising an officer's career in order to protect their mental health? Sheldon's dilemma stems from something much larger than just whether or not Aaron was right to fire his weapon. Today's society is quick to label "problem officers" for reacting with excessive force, an action that results in the officer losing their job and, in some cases, being sent to prison. Even if the victim is, as was the case with Aaron's incident, a dangerous menace to society, it doesn't detract from the fact that the officer's action was technically unwarranted. For Detective Price to want to protect Aaron from being kicked off the force, or worse, getting jail time is noble, but a police officer being sent back to work with untreated post traumatic stress could be equally detrimental in other ways. If untreated, post traumatic stress can lead to a number of debilitating symptoms such as anxiety disorders, abuse, drug addictions, even suicide. In the end, Aaron cracks and admits to Sheldon that his eagerness to return to work stems from a need to keep his mind off of the fact that he's haunted by the face of the man he killed. Aaron goes on to reveal that the root of his damage is that the man never actually made a move for his weapon – Aaron reacted too quickly out of fear. In the end, Sheldon makes the call in favor of Aaron's long term well being, not his career, and Aaron is forbidden to return to work until Sheldon determines he's really ready. Do you think Sheldon made the right decision?
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "Two Steps Back" - Charlotte and Cooper look to forgive each another after revealing secrets during couples therapy, Violets seeks the forgiveness and approval of her fellow doctors after they learn her novel-in-progress will make all of their personal lives public, Sheldon treats a patient who claims to have multiple personality disorder, and Sam and Naomi team up on a case involving a pregnant teen with Down's Syndrome , on "Private Practice," THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RON TOM) LIZA WEIL, BRIAN BENBEN, JENNIFER ASPEN, MATT ROTH
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "Two Steps Back" - Charlotte and Cooper look to forgive each another after revealing secrets during couples therapy, Violets seeks the forgiveness and approval of her fellow doctors after they learn her novel-in-progress will make all of their personal lives public, Sheldon treats a patient who claims to have multiple personality disorder, and Sam and Naomi team up on a case involving a pregnant teen with Down's Syndrome , on "Private Practice," THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RON TOM) LIZA WEIL, BRIAN BENBEN, JENNIFER ASPEN, MATT ROTH
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE - "Two Steps Back" - Charlotte and Cooper look to forgive each another after revealing secrets during couples therapy, Violets seeks the forgiveness and approval of her fellow doctors after they learn her novel-in-progress will make all of their personal lives public, Sheldon treats a patient who claims to have multiple personality disorder, and Sam and Naomi team up on a case involving a pregnant teen with Down's Syndrome , on "Private Practice," THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RON TOM) BRIAN BENBEN
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