I have struggled with various addictions/compulsions in my life and I have many family members who have struggled with worse addictions, some who have died from said addictions. Addictions are serious matters.
I see “Dr. Phil” on TV saying, in effect, “Go to my website, buy my books, and watch my television show every day and you will be cured of your addictions.”
Neither my own therapist or any of my psychology instructors (at school) seem to put much authority in “Dr. Phil”, but apparently a lot of people in America do, and it really does disturb me.
He’s not even really “Dr.” I think. Someone told me that he doesn’t actually have a PhD. He’s got like a bachelor’s degree in psychology or something pointless like that.
That show is basically just a low-quality Mr. Rogers for adults. They’d be better off watching the actual Mr. Rogers show though. He was smarter than Dr. Phil.
Dr. Phil has a B.S, M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from North Texas State University with a dual area of emphasis in clinical and behavioral medicine. He has been a board-certified and licensed clinical psychologist since 1978.
I knew he had a PhD; I put “Dr.” in quotation marks because I’m really uncomfortable using such titles.
He could have 20 PhDs, though, and sell 30 minute cures and still be a fraud who convinces people cures for serious diseases can be had nearly instantly.
My own therapist is actually in debt. Just being a regular common psychologist does not allow a person to make a lot of money.
However, it’s easy to make $20,000,000 a year if a person has multiple best selling books, guest appearances on Oprah, then your own TV show, Larry King Live segments, newspaper columns, have your face in every other magazine on the news stand, etc.
I object to that much more than him calling himself “Doctor Phil.”
I’ve got one of his books (bought cheap secondhand) and felt like he has some very good ideas. I don’t always agree with him 100% and of course his television show is just that - tv, so it’s all sound bites, but I do think he’s got a knack for telling people what they need to hear. I can speak from years of counseling - he’s not a quack, he’s sincere, and I think he’s helped a lot of people through various means (books, tv, etc.) (I wonder if asking a counselor what they think about another counselor is entirely worthwhile. I’m sure they’d rather have you seeing them than to stop seeing them and check out every Dr. Phil book from the library for help.)
Dr. Phil is credentialed as noted above. My understanding, however, is that he didn’t practice clinical work for many years. He did quite well for himself as a jury consultant and was actually, I believe, a jury consultant on the Oprah red meat lawsuit, which is where she met him. Evidently she was impressed and started booking him on the show to dispense his common-sense approach to solving problems in his somewhat flashly and confrontational style, which the audiences liked. I’ve never watched him on TV for more than 3 minutes running, so I have no idea how he does. TV is not the best format in the world for dealing with complex human problems, I would think.
I’ve also had years of counseling (all together more than half of my life, actually), and I don’t deny that he is helpful to some people, but it is dangerous to follow a therapist on TV, buy all his books, read everything he’s ever written and expect to be “cured” from that.
On Larry King Live last night (that’s what inspired my post), people called in basically telling him their lives wanting an instant cure right there. And people buy his books looking for the same thing, and he goes along with it. He’s not really a single person–he’s a corporation of 30 minute/1 hour psychological cures dished out to whomever will pay for the book(s). It’s scarey.
The way he so aggressively mass-markets his name, his cures, and his image in the name of helping people seems a bit…hmm…distasteful, at best, I guess.
(I wonder if asking a counselor what they think about another counselor is entirely worthwhile. I’m sure they’d rather have you seeing them than to stop seeing them and check out every Dr. Phil book from the library for help.)
I can see that sentiment, but he doesn’t get anything out of seeing me. I am so low income that I pay $0.00 a month and I don’t have insurance. It’s also my psychology instructors last semester who feel that he isn’t exactly the most wonderful figure in psychology today.
I have not seen him but I do have a friend who is a therapist and she seems to think he has some good ideas. I realize that my friend and I could be totally insane for all you know.
I think there are many lonely people at home, some struggling with serious problems. Is there some chance that Dr. Phil is of some help to these people? Perhaps he answers some questions in ways that get people thinking a bit. Perhaps he provides them with a bit of company.
There’s a fellow Randy Carlson on Christian radio,
I believe 'its ‘Parent Talk On Call,’ who is doing
family counseling–people call in. I think he’s
doing a great deal of good.
I’m inclined to think that Dr. Phil does some genuine good.
His message seems to be that people have to take responsibility for their lives and deal with the things they’re having problems with. When I’ve watched him for a few minutes at a time, it seemed that he was dispensing good common sense that could apply to a lot of people. It didn’t look to me like he was trying to treat anyone, more like he was giving advice for problems that a lot of common folk might relate to.
His style is rather showy/commercial, but people listen to him, so I’ll not fault him for presenting himself in the way that gets people to pay attention.
He also makes the point in his show that a TV show is no substitute for therapy, and he urges his viewers who need help to GET help. I’ve never seen him claim to be able to CURE anything. He does, however, urge his listeners to stop whining, get off their duffs and DO something about their problems…whether it’s consult a therapist or a psychiatrist or a marriage counselor, take their medications, or get an attitude adjustment. I like him, and wish there were more out there like him.
I don’t know about all those people on TV, not having seen them.
But there is an aspect of mental illness in which people aren’t able to distinguish the invisible boundaries we have that tell us when and to whom it is appropriate to bare one’s soul.
For example, they tell people they don’t really know well enough things that those people aren’t ready to hear about them. They spill everything out too soon and that harms their potential relationships.
TV is different though, so I don’t know if this is the same thing.
People do often go to extreme lengths to cry for help. But again, TV does seem different.
Degrees or not, I don’t think he’s a magic cure for anybody. I’ve watched his show a few times, and all I can think is that I hope he’s still talking to these people after the camera stops rolling, because you’re not going to sort out a whole life in an afternoon.
Of course, I think psychiatry in general tends to oversimplify human beings, but that’s just my personal opinion.
Dr. Phil is primarily an entertainer. He also can help some people (and hurt some too). In my opinion, overall, he is a positive factor, though I do not watch his show or read his books.
I will again promote the mental heath group that I am active in: http://www.recovery-inc.com/
The technique is cognitive-behavioral therapy. There is no cost to attend (donations accepted) and meetings are open to all adults.
One concept I learned in Recovery is “the complaining habit.” Many people have this need to complain about everything and everybody. It is debilitating. The phrase is “talk it up, work it up.” I had this habit and am weaning myself off it, the progress is doing wonders for my mental health. This is not to say to bury everything. What is preferred is to express without temper to a sympathetic ear.
The outer environment can be rude, crude and indifferent. I have no control over the outer environment.
Like the man said, “Television is opiate for the masses.”
Think of all the people who have exactly the same problems as the poor slouch on the idiot box (now appearing in digital format!) so that they can sit on their lard-butts and say to themselves, “Well, at least I ain’t like that sorry sack o’ hammers.”
And thus, they feel better about themselves.
Until 2:30 PM the next afternoon, just before ‘Dr. Phil’ (should be ‘Dr. FILL’, IMO) comes back on the magic TEE-VEE box.
