Cole finds himself back on his psychologist’s couch after a particularly painful end to his relationship with his wife Rhea. At the prompting of his psychologist he recalls the incidents leading up to Rhea leaving him, a result of the increasing toll his obsessive-compulsive tendencies have taken on his relationship. As he struggles to overcome his compulsions both during and after the dissolution of his marriage, he finds reprieve from his emotional pain by substituting it with physical pain, which he inflicts with the help of a hired dominatrix. As Cole struggles to cope with losing Rhea and consequently losing a bit of himself, he begins to realize that only through that loss can he find the strength to overcome his compulsions.