Dr. Melfi

Jennifer Melfi
First appearance	"The Sopranos" (Episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"The Blue Comet" (Episode 6.20)
Created by	David Chase
Portrayed by	Lorraine Bracco
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Psychiatrist
Title	Doctor
Family	Aida Melfi (mother) Joseph Melfi (father)
Spouse(s)	Richard LaPenna (ex-husband)
Children	Jason LaPenna (son)

Jennifer Melfi, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the psychiatrist of Mafia boss Tony Soprano. She is portrayed by Lorraine Bracco.

Like most of the primary characters in The Sopranos, Melfi is Italian-American, which is also the main reason why Tony selected her to be his therapist following a panic attack. Her father's family has roots in Caserta. She is a graduate of Bard College and Tufts University School of Medicine and lives an upscale lifestyle, living in a three-bedroom condominium in Essex Fells, New Jersey and shopping frequently at gourmet Italian shops (as revealed in "Meadowlands"). Presumably educated in the Freudian school of psychoanalysis, Melfi analyses Tony without immediately assuming he is an untreatable psychopath.

She is probably the person closest to truly understanding Tony Soprano. Over the years, Tony Soprano has been able to confide in Melfi many things that he has told no one else, not even his associates or his wife, Carmela. However, Melfi and Soprano have an unusual, on-again, off-again relationship. He inwardly fears Melfi's prying into his life during their sessions, but he also fears the results of not dealing with the problem. As a result, she watches him go through frequent mood swings during their time together, sometimes acting playful, other times violent — sometimes acting responsive, other times being cold and distant. At times Soprano also expresses frustration with the pace of his treatment and berates Melfi with short outbursts, when he feels she is not following his train of thought.

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