Charlie Brown may have been Lucy‘s most frequent and loyal customer, but he was by no means the only Peanuts character who sought her out for psychiatric help. Basically, all the members of the Peanuts gang saw her at least once, even the level-headed and practical Franklin. Lucy, being the abrasive child she is, is not always the most empathetic or understanding therapist, though.
As a result, she does not consistently have happy customers, as those who see her don’t feel very helped by her tough love at times. Regardless, she has no shortage of patients, with many of the Peanuts gang coming to her, even smaller supporting characters seeing her for psychiatric advice from time to time. Not too bad for someone with no medical credentials.
10 Frieda
Frieda is Arguably Lucy’s Least Favorite Patient
A supporting character who all but disappeared in the strip’s later years, Frieda was most known for her head of naturally curly red hair. Her pride in her hair and her appearance in general resulted in Freida being very vain, which is on display in this strip.
When Frieda comes to Lucy for advice because she feels depressed that all the girls are so jealous of her, Lucy offers some tough love as only Lucy knows how. Lucy knows how to be completely real with her clients, Frieda included. To boot, Lucy makes sure she gets her five cents whether her patients are happy with her help or not.
9 Linus
Lucy Attempts to Break Linus’ Blanket Addiction
Linus’s beloved security blanket has always driven his sister Lucy absolutely bananas. She abhors his blanket and aims to get rid of it any chance she gets. She receives the perfect chance to help him with his blanket dependency when he comes to her psychiatry booth.
Lucy, as always, bluntly tells him that he needs to stop sucking his thumb and carrying around his blankie, to which Linus has a retort that Lucy does not see coming. From the strip, it is clear that Lucy does not make any headway here with fixing Linus’s habits. Likewise, after getting a punch in the face for his rebuttal to her, Linus will not be as brutally honest in any future therapy sessions.
8 Schroeder
Lucy’s Crush Needs Some Advice on Feeling a Bit Blue Over Beethoven
Schroeder’s role model and hero is Beethoven. He loves to talk about him and tries to emulate him in many ways. While Beethoven’s music has been a source of great joy for him, it doesn’t mean that it is all sunshine and rainbows.
For example, in this strip, Schroeder comes to Lucy’s psychiatry booth because when he thinks about how the composer never got to hear his own “Ninth Symphony,” he gets down in the dumps. Lucy comes up with a simple solution, but not without taking Schroeder’s money first: to stop thinking about it. Her response is definitely lacking in the empathy department, but she does have a point in advising him to avoid depressing thoughts.
7 Sally
Sally’s Fear of Kindergarten is Not Helped by Lucy
Sally, much like Lucy’s little brother Rerun, has an intense fear of kindergarten. Upset by her phobia of school, Sally comes to Lucy for help. Unfortunately for Sally, Lucy cannot think of something more empathetic to say other than that Sally is really not different from everyone else.
Much like other clients’ phobias, it doesn’t seem like Sally’s worries about school are assuaged. Plus, she is now out five cents. Maybe Sally and Rerun can start a support group for kids afraid of school. Anything would be better than Lucy’s flippant advice.
6 Lucy
Lucy Engages in Some Self-Care at Her Advice Booth
Self-care is a term long espoused by mental health professionals. Lucy, in this strip, takes it to heart when she catches up on some sleep at her psychiatry booth. The sleep doesn’t last for long, however, as seen when she falls out of her chair.
She laments that that is something that is not warned about in medical school. One would think that nap-induced injuries would be something students don’t need to be warned about in medical school, but Lucy is still at the age when mandatory nap time was not all that long ago. Hopefully, she takes it as a lesson to not sleep at her psychiatry booth in the future.
5 Woodstock
Snoopy Thinks Woodstock Needs a Goalie Intervention
Even birds need some help from time to time, as seen in this strip. When Woodstock wants to be a hockey goalie, Snoopy steps in and does what he thinks any logical friend would do: takes him to get psychiatric help. It seems absolutely bonkers to Snoopy that someone would willingly want to risk getting hit in the face with a hockey puck.
Woodstock is not dissuaded and eagerly want to be a goalie, though he does go along with Snoopy to see Lucy. The reader doesn’t get to see Lucy’s reaction since the strip ends before it can be seen. However, it’s highly likely that she has her work cut out for her.
4 Pig Pen
Lucy’s Frequent Attempts to Get Pig Pen Clean Were Never Able to Stick
Someone who enjoys being as dirty as as much as Pig Pen does could definitely use some help from Lucy. She does her best to help him, even if it is begrudgingly at first. In this strip, Lucy flat out refuses to talk to Pig Pen until he has cleaned up.
Pig Pen, being the dutiful client he is, does as she says. Unfortunately for both of them, he gets dirtier by the second, just standing there until he is back to his default mode. One can fault Pig Pen for many things, but they can’t fault him for trying his best.
3 Franklin
Franklin Questions Lucy’s Medical Credentials
Franklin, being the most level-headed of the Peanuts gang, always seems rock solid. He is not bombarded with the neuroses or irrational fears of the other characters. In fact, he comes to Lucy’s booth not for psychiatric help, but instead to find his friend Charlie Brown.
Franklin, understandably thinking that Lucy’s booth is a lemonade stand, is corrected about the true purpose of the booth. When he asks if she is a real doctor, Lucy answers in her typical brash fashion. For someone who offends others on a day-to-day basis, Lucy does not take kindly to it when it comes to her being offended.
2 Snoopy
Lucy Makes Things Worse for the World’s Most Famous Beagle
Lucy and Snoopy may not always be the best of friends. They’ve had their squabbles, but they’ve also had their share of heartwarming moments. While they may have their ups and downs, it doesn’t stop Snoopy from using Lucy’s psychiatry services.
When Snoopy is feeling nervous, Lucy tries to use her psychology expertise to help him. Instead, she just lists more things to make him nervous and takes the pup’s money on top of it all. The advice does not help Snoopy whatsoever, leaving him worse off than he began before the therapy session.
1 Lucy (Again)
Lucy Gets a Bump in Self-Esteem from Herself
Lucy may act like she has everything figured out, but even she needs help sometimes. When Lucy starts to feel down on herself because of Schroder’s lack of attention towards her, she turns to the neighborhood’s best child psychiatrist: herself.
Lucy does a great job of bolstering herself back up when she starts to feel self-conscious, making the reader question why she isn’t this effective a counselor for anyone else. Regardless, her words of wisdom to herself help her to feel better, which she shows to Schroeder proudly. Lucy may not give the best advice to the Peanuts kids, but she does to herself.
