Brenda Chenowith

Grew up… with psychiatrist parents. Brenda is used to living life under a microscope. As a child, she realized that she was being observed by another psychologist, and began to fake symptoms of mental illness in order to confuse him. Brenda has always distrusted psychoanalysis. She claims that it’s “habit-forming and destroys your ability to lead a normal life.”

Living… to take care of her mentally ill brother. Brenda and her bipolar brother Billy have an unusual, even abnormal relationship. Billy seems to be unhealthily attached to his sister, and has gone in and out of mental institutions. Brenda just wants to make sure that he’s taking his medication. As she tells her boyfriend Nate, “He’s my brother and he’s sick, and he needs me! This is who I am, this is what you get…”

Profession… shiatsu massage therapist. Brenda, like her parents, wants to heal people. As a massage therapist, she takes care of physical wounds. “We’re all wounded,” she says as she massages Nate. “We carry our wounds around with us throughout life, and eventually they kill us.” No, she’s not an especially sunny person.

Interests… sex. Brenda isn’t shy about her enjoyment of physical intimacy, though she has a tendency to put this interest above her others.

Relationship Status… (sort of) dating Nathaniel Fisher Jr. Brenda and Nate, who met on a flight, came into each other’s lives right when they seemed to need each other the most.

Challenge… helping her brother, Billy. Brenda is having trouble balancing her relationship with Nate with her commitment to the possessive and disturbed Billy. As Billy re-enters her life, Brenda needs to find a way to help her brother confront his own demons.

Personality… brilliant, yet troubled. Brenda’s bleak worldview and her complicated relationship with her family often leave her anxious and depressed. She’s prone to seeing the glass as half-empty: “We live, we die, ultimately nothing means anything.”