Dr. Knutz

## Appearances

The Princess Diaries, Vol. IX: Princess Mia
The Princess Diaries, Vol. X: Forever Princess

**Dr. Arthur T. Knutz** is an adolescent and child psychologist.

Dr. Knutz is the nations preeminent expert in adolescent and child psychology.

At some point Dr. Knutz met Phillipe Renaldo at a fundraising event.

#### Princess Mia

Mia is brought to Dr. Knutz's office after her breakup with Michael causes her to fall into a depression and not get out of bed by her father, in her Hello Kitty pajamas. Mia is immediately bothered by Dr. Knutz's cowboy-like tendencies and asks to leave. Dr. Knutz points out that Mia checked "Most of the Time" or "All of the Time" for most of her answers on her assessment. Mia tells him she's been a little down because of her life, but insists she's fine but Dr. Knutz calls her bluff and notes that she has stopped going to school and hanging out with her friends, which are classic signs of adolescent depression. Mia admits she might be a little down and Dr. Knutz tells her it's ok to admit she's depressed and Mia says ok and begins to cry. Dr. Knutz encourages Mia to open up and tell her what's going on. Mia ends up telling Dr. Knutz (almost) everything that has been happening since her breakup and how she feels like she's at the bottom of a hole. Dr. Knutz tells her that sometimes when you fall in a hole you need someone to help you out, but they can't help unless they know you're down in the hole. Dr. Knutz sends Mia away from her consultation and tells her to get her blood work done before coming to her first real appointment the next day. Mia asks him to prescribe her drugs, but he says he can't, as he is not a psychiatrist, and even if he could he doesn't believe she needs them as she is not suicidal. Mia insists she cannot go to school without drugs but Dr. Knutz tells her that Eleanor Roosevelt said to do one thing every day that scares you and he encourages her to do the same.

The next day Dr. Knutz asks Mia how her day of school went and Mia tells him about Lana to illustrate how bad it was, but Dr. Knutz thinks it is a good thing. Mia tells Dr. Knutz to watch the films based on her life to understand her relationship with Lana. Mia complains that the whole school thinks she's dating J.P.. Dr. Knutz asks Mia if she responded to Michael's e-mail and she tells him she didn't, as she didn't trust herself not to ask him to take her back, and Dr. Knutz agrees she made the right decision. Dr. Knutz asks if she plans to go shopping with Lana the next day and Mia says she does need new clothes and the idea definitely scares her, which Dr. Knutz says should give her her answer.

Dr. Knutz tells Mia about a horse on his ranch named Dusty who like to do whatever she wanted, like wander into ponds when it was hot, even though she wasn't supposed to, to illustrate that sometimes we don't get to do what we want. Dr. Knutz goes back to something Mia said the day before about her not deserving Michael and asks her to talk about it more so Mia explains that she always thought Michael would dump her for someone smarter eventually, so she beat him to the punch. Dr. Knutz asks Mia if Michael ever gave her any indication that he felt the same way and Mia admits that he did not. Dr. Knutz suggests that if Mia thinks that she is the one that is unworthy perhaps she too should do something to prove to him that she is. Dr. Knutz assigns Mia homework: to go shopping with Lana, think about what she was put on the earth for, and come back the next week for another appointment.

At her next appointment Mia tells Dr. Knutz about Princess Amelie's executive order and her father ignoring it, but he is confused as the films based on Mia's life indicate that Genovia is already a constitutional monarchy, but Mia tells him that is just one of many things the films got wrong. Dr. Knutz tells Mia about a horse on his ranch named Pancho that is a pushover and lets all the other horses push him around, Mia tells him she already knows she's insecure but doesn't understand how it relates to Amelie and her father. Dr. Knutz points out that Mia doesn't fight back - she isn't with her father, she didn't when Lilly stopped being friends with her, and she didn't when Michael told her he wanted to be just friends. Dr. Knutz tells Mia that nothing is going to change for her until she starts doing something every day that scares her and Mia tells him she knows this but she doesn't know what she's supposed to do. Dr. Knutz tells her it's not about what she's supposed to do it's about what she wants to do. Mia tells him she wants to do the right thing and Dr. Knutz tells her to be more like Amelie and less like Pancho. Before Mia leaves he tells her to bring Phillipe and Grandmère to her next session.

### Mia's Senior Year

Dr. Knutz gets called for an emergency session after Helen and Mia have an argument over J.P.'s chameleon-like behavior.

#### Forever Princess

Mia goes for her second-to-last session with Dr. Knutz and asks him for advice on J.P., prom, what college to choose, and what to do about Michael being back in town. Dr. Knutz tells her a cryptic story about a horse he owned named Sugar who looked perfect on paper but he could never get in a groove with before ending their session.

At their final session Mia tells Dr. Knutz about Grandmère showing up in the lobby and what just happened with Michael on the carriage ride and Dr. Knutz asks if Mia has thought at all about the horse he told her about the week before. Mia asks if instead of horses they can discuss her college options, since she knows she wasn't good enough to actually get into any of the schools she got in to, but Dr. Knutz tells her she has no way of knowing that and has her repeat the Serenity Prayer. Mia realizes that as a princess her problems are too weird for even a therapist and asks Dr. Knutz to look at a text with her. She opens Michael's message which says "Mia, I'm not sorry. And I'll wait. Love, Michael." Dr. Knutz says Michael's text is very direct and asks Mia what she is going to do. Mia tells him she can't do anything because she's dating J.P., but he points out that she's not attracted to J.P.. Mia tells him she can't break up with a perfectly nice guy just because her ex came back in to town, but Dr. Knutz says she can and should if she is still in love with her ex, otherwise it isn't fair to the perfectly nice guy. Mia says she doesn't know what to do, but Dr. Knutz says that when the time comes she will know what to do and ends their session.

## Physical Appearance, Personality, and Traits

Dr. Knutz wears wire-rimmed glasses and has white hair.

Dr. Knutz is obsessed with Western culture, owning a ranch in Montana with a few dozen horses (including Dusty, Pancho, and Sugar).

He speaks with a western accent.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 The Princess Diaries, Vol. IX: Princess Mia
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Princess Diaries, Vol. X: Forever Princess