In 1972, Dr. Joanna Bereza is a psychiatric intern on a psych. ward as stuck as the people it treats. When Joanna is assigned two patients: a mute young mother suspected of trying to kill her baby and a feisty old woman who's been shocked too many times, she does her best to do what's right. Unfortunately, her supervising psychiatrist, Dr. Myron Eisenstadt believes shock treatment is the best way to treat depression fast.In trying to stop her patients from getting ECT, Joanna not only neglects her husband, but also puts her career in jeopardy. Further complicating matters is the seductive senior resident who looks more like a hip rock star than an aspiring shrink.Shadowing Joanna's work is her own unresolved grief over something that happened when she was a child.The Rubber Fence was inspired by the author's experience as a family therapist on a psychiatric ward.