What is the name of Dr. Melfi's own psychiatrist?

What is the name of Dr. Melfi’s own psychiatrist? Dr. Melfi’s psychiatrist is Elliot Kupferberg. He is played by filmmaker and actor Peter Bogdanovich in The Sopranos.

Elliot provides therapy to Jennifer Melfi while she treats Tony Soprano. Their sessions give viewers a perspective outside Tony’s therapy room, allowing the series to explore Melfi’s professional boundaries, emotional strain, and growing uncertainty about whether treating Tony is ethically defensible.

Elliot repeatedly encourages Melfi to refer Tony to another therapist. He is also curious about Tony and eventually encounters him in a Columbia University parking garage while both men are visiting their daughters. Tony does not initially know that Elliot is Melfi’s psychiatrist, and the connection surprises him when it is revealed.

The character is sometimes confused with Dr. Krakower, the psychiatrist who advises Carmela Soprano, or with Jennifer Melfi herself. Elliot is not Tony’s psychiatrist; Melfi treats Tony, while Elliot treats Melfi. His role is therefore important to the show’s layered depiction of therapy and the personal pressures surrounding Tony’s treatment.