Katharine Wyatt is an attending psychiatrist at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital.
History[]
Meredith's Therapy[]
Meredith started seeing Katharine after Derek started dating Rose. During her third session, during which she hadn't spoken, Katharine asked her about it. She said she read a study that showed that the act of going to therapy was beneficial even if you didn't say anything while you were there. She admitted that she hadn't been sleeping during the last five weeks. When Meredith wouldn't say what had happened five weeks ago, Katharine admitted that she knew things about her because of the way gossip travels in the hospital, though Meredith denied that her problems were due to Derek. When Meredith was paged, she left the session abruptly. Meredith later came back and committed to start talking. ("Where the Wild Things Are")
When Meredith had five minutes before her surgery, she came to Katharine to assure her that she wasn't emotionally involved with the clinical trial patients. Derek had told her not to get her hopes up, which she thought was offensive because she thought he was the one who had his hopes up. ("Piece of My Heart")
In another session, Meredith told Wyatt that when Derek's in the room, all she can think about is his tongue in her mouth. Meredith asked for therapy tools she could use to move on so she could concentrate on their clinical trial patients. They hadn't yet managed to save one and she wanted to save one, so she needed to concentrate. Wyatt told her the only way to get rid of the fantasies was to remember the reality, that he won't be kissing Meredith because he's with Rose. At the end of the day, she told Wyatt she thought she was successful and it was a good day, but Wyatt told her it was a load of crap. She drew parallels between Meredith's situation and that of her patient. She kept saying that Derek was with Rose and that meant he wasn't with her and he wasn't with her because she was scared. Meredith asked if she was calling her a coward and then left the room. ("The Becoming")
Meredith came back to Wyatt's office, but only to tell her she was quitting therapy. Meredith insisted that she wasn't quitting, but firing Wyatt. Wyatt said that her mother quit her father and she quit her life momentarily a few times. Quitting is what she knows how to do. Meredith stormed out. Meredith later returned to get her chart because she'd fired her. Wyatt told her that Meredith quit and it wasn't appropriate for her to show up unannounced. She told her to make an appointment if she wanted to unquit. Meredith later cornered Wyatt in a bathroom and was once again told to make an appointment. After Lexie ranted at Meredith and was overheard by Wyatt, Meredith agreed to an appointment at two that day. At the appointment, Meredith talked about her patient, Greta, who had true love only because it was fake. Wyatt pointed out that Derek wasn't the one who gave up. It was her. She waited for him to fail so she could say that she quit. Wyatt again implied that Meredith was suicidal. She asked her about drowning in Elliott Bay and putting her hand in a body cavity that had a bomb in it. She was careless with her life, probably because her mother told her she was a waste of space and Meredith believed her. Meredith said she wanted her chart because if it said she was suicidal, it was wrong. Meredith left the session with her chart, telling Wyatt never to talk about her mother again. She later went back to Wyatt and told her that Ellis tried to kill herself after Richard left her. She'd never told anyone before. She then challenged Wyatt to fix her, because she said she's no quitter. ("Losing My Mind")
Meredith continued to tell Wyatt about her mother's suicide attempt. Wyatt told her it was okay to talk about it. Meredith said that her mother cut her wrists in front of her and then Meredith sat in a pool of her mother's blood waiting for her to pass out so she could call 911. It's not okay to talk about it. Meredith had to wait to call because Ellis had told her not to call before she cut her wrists, so Meredith knew she'd be in trouble if she tried to save her life. Meredith saved her life, even though she didn't want to be saved. She's angry, but not at her mother. She was angry at Richard Webber because he left her mother. Wyatt said that Ellis didn't want to kill herself and encouraged Meredith to think about it and figure it out. ("Freedom, Part 1")
Meredith had trouble figuring it out. She said that Ellis had told her to be extraordinary. She became a surgeon, so she had all the tools she needed to figure it out. Later, while confronting Richard Webber, she figured it out. She hadn't been trying to kill herself because she would have cut her carotid artery if she were because it would have taken seconds. She just wanted Richard to come back to her, but he didn't know about it, so he didn't. Wyatt said it meant that Meredith was gifted like her mother, but she gets to learn from her mother's mistakes. Her mother wasn't talking about surgery when she told Meredith to be extraordinary. ("Freedom, Part 2")
After moving in with Derek, Meredith came back to Wyatt and said she was finished. Wyatt said she was far from finished. Meredith left mid-session over Wyatt's objections.
Cristina came and spoke to Wyatt and begged her not to let Meredith quit therapy. Meredith later talked to Wyatt in an elevator and told her she wasn't done. She pointed out how Meredith was able to talk about her feelings, when she hadn't six months ago. She said her door was always open. ("Here Comes the Flood")
Erica's Therapy[]
Erica came to see Wyatt when she was being asked to operate on Walter Tapley, something she didn't want to do out of fear she'd kill him. ("Losing My Mind")
Owen's PTSD[]
Owen came to see Wyatt when he had PTSD in order to talk about his feelings. She tried to get him to realize that he was there because of what happened with his platoon. He later told Wyatt that he knew he was no good for Cristina and he ruined her. And he couldn't forgive himself for that. She said it was good that he was able to name his feeling, so he could start working through it. ("Sweet Surrender")
Owen and Wyatt worked together to think of three-word phrases he could say to Cristina instead of, "I love you," because saying, "I love you" would be cruel. ("No Good at Saying Sorry (One More Chance)")
Wyatt encouraged Owen to take things slowly with Cristina, meaning no sex. ("Good Mourning")
Owen brought Cristina to a session with him. She told Wyatt things she knows about Owen, trying to convince her that they know each other. Wyatt said she wanted Owen to feel comfortable with her and that was the goal, not them just getting to know one another. Wyatt then asked if Owen talked to Cristina about his trauma, the war, or the choking incident. The PTSD was fed by his avoidance of talking about it. She didn't want them to get lost in the lust of it all and have him not talk about it.
They had another session together later and Cristina finally brought up the choking incident. Owen explained that it was a dream. He believed he was saving his own life and wasn't trying to hurt her. Wyatt said that was a start. ("Goodbye")
Relationships[]
Professional[]
Meredith Grey[]
Following Meredith's breakup with Derek and Derek dating Rose, Meredith began to see Dr. Wyatt for sessions due to the fact she could not sleep. Meredith was unwilling to talk in her three sessions, having read that just the act of attending therapy can be helpful. But eventually she decided to talk to Dr. Wyatt and after a while she opens up about Derek's relationship with Rose, her family and eventually her mother's suicide. During the clinical trial that Meredith proposed was taking place, Meredith found it difficult working with Derek and required some tools to get her through the surgeries that the trial involved. Following an argument over Meredith's feelings towards Derek and Rose's relationship and Dr. Wyatt's implication that Meredith was suicidal, Meredith fired Wyatt. Wyatt told Meredith that if she left she would be quitting but Meredith decided to stay and soon opens up and tells her for the first time that her mother attempted suicide ("Losing My Mind"). Wyatt helped her explore her situation with her mother further and with Wyatt's help, Meredith realizes that her mother never meant surgery when she was told to "Be Extraordinary" and she was never really trying to kill herself. Meredith continued with her therapy but after Derek moved in and Meredith found she was happy with her life, she told Wyatt she was quitting. However, Wyatt insisted that Meredith's work wasn't done and they were only scratching the surface. When Meredith told Cristina about her plans to quit, Cristina approached Wyatt and asked her not to let Meredith leave. Saying barely a sentence to her, Dr. Wyatt knew it was Cristina, annoying Cristina that Meredith spoke about her in therapy, and became even more annoyed as Dr. Wyatt began to analyze her, proceeding to claim her to be a "terrible shrink". When Meredith soon met Wyatt in an elevator she realized there was misery all over the world and Wyatt said for the second time that Meredith wasn't done and her door is always open.
Erica Hahn[]
Erica Hahn went to her for a therapy session to receive some counselling and therapy into being able to operate on Walter Tapley. ("Losing My Mind")
Owen Hunt[]
After assaulting Cristina due to post-traumatic stress, Owen Hunt went to Dr. Wyatt. After a few sessions they started focusing on his feelings for Cristina and he couldn't say "I love you" to her so they started work on other three word sentences he could say to her such as "Take care now" and "good work Yang".
Career[]
Dr. Wyatt is an attending psychiatrist at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. Her patients also include several staff members of the hospital, as their hospital insurance covers a couple of sessions with a therapist.
Notes and Trivia[]
- She has a large fish tank with some fish in her office.[1]
- Although unseen, Dr. Wyatt was still part of the hospital staff as of season seven, indicating she wasn't fired during the merger.
- Curiously, Katharine Wyatt was seen wearing navy blue scrubs, which normally are destined for attending surgeons. It's possible one of her patients needed surgery and she was there to support them, as we've seen Sheldon do on Private Practice.
- She is the one of the few on-screen doctors to have a Ph.D., with the others being Dr. Cristina Yang, Dr. Alma, Lawrence Jennings, Dr. Helen Fincher, Dr. Paul Stadler, and Dr. Rebecca Froy.
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Appearances[]
Grey's Anatomy, Season 4 | |||||
#01 | "A Change is Gonna Come" | #07 | "Physical Attraction... Chemical Reaction" | #13 | "Piece of My Heart" |
#02 | "Love/Addiction" | #08 | "Forever Young" | #14 | "The Becoming" |
#03 | "Let the Truth Sting" | #09 | "Crash Into Me, Part 1" | #15 | "Losing My Mind" |
#04 | "The Heart of the Matter" | #10 | "Crash Into Me, Part 2" | #16 | "Freedom, Part 1" |
#05 | "Haunt You Every Day" | #11 | "Lay Your Hands on Me" | #17 | "Freedom, Part 2" |
#06 | "Kung Fu Fighting" | #12 | "Where the Wild Things Are" |
Grey's Anatomy, Season 5 | |||||
#01 | "Dream a Little Dream of Me, Part 1" | #09 | "In the Midnight Hour" | #17 | "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" |
#02 | "Dream a Little Dream of Me, Part 2" | #10 | "All By Myself" | #18 | "Stand By Me" |
#03 | "Here Comes the Flood" | #11 | "Wish You Were Here" | #19 | "Elevator Love Letter" |
#04 | "Brave New World" | #12 | "Sympathy for the Devil" | #20 | "Sweet Surrender" |
#05 | "There's No 'I' in Team" | #13 | "Stairway to Heaven" | #21 | "No Good at Saying Sorry (One More Chance)" |
#06 | "Life During Wartime" | #14 | "Beat Your Heart Out" | #22 | "What a Difference a Day Makes" |
#07 | "Rise Up" | #15 | "Before and After" | #23 | "Here's to Future Days" |
#08 | "These Ties That Bind" | #16 | "An Honest Mistake" | #24 | "Now or Never" |
Grey's Anatomy, Season 6 | |||||
#01 | "Good Mourning" | #09 | "New History" | #17 | "Push" |
#02 | "Goodbye" | #10 | "Holidaze" | #18 | "Suicide is Painless" |
#03 | "I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watchin' Me" | #11 | "Blink" | #19 | "Sympathy for the Parents" |
#04 | "Tainted Obligation" | #12 | "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" | #20 | "Hook, Line and Sinner" |
#05 | "Invasion" | #13 | "State of Love and Trust" | #21 | "How Insensitive" |
#06 | "I Saw What I Saw" | #14 | "Valentine's Day Massacre" | #22 | "Shiny Happy People" |
#07 | "Give Peace a Chance" | #15 | "The Time Warp" | #23 | "Sanctuary" |
#08 | "Invest in Love" | #16 | "Perfect Little Accident" | #24 | "Death and All His Friends" |
References[]
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