The Dr. Phil Phenomenon: Where Good T.V. and Good Therapy Diverge
December 11th, 2010
As Dana Udall-Weiner, PhD points out in a recent Psych Central blog post, the pop-culture counseling of the Dr. Phil show may make for good television, but it gives people a skewed sense of what to expect in a therapy session. Human beings are complex, and uncovering our troubles and truths is equally so. Clients sometimes “come to therapy for quick answers to overwhelmingly profound questions,” writes Udall-Weiner. This is not only realistic, but it may be that clients aren’t necessarily ready to face the music and make a change if they haven’t gone through a process to arrive at those realizations. Though Dr. Phil may give some good advice for general life matters, his deliver is fast and often un-nuanced. Patients meeting a therapist one-on-one can expect a slower process that is also more thorough, nuanced, and in all likelihood, more effective.
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I absolutely agree. In a similar vein, I tried several times to start an advice column online. It seemed like a fun and potentially helpful thing to do. I kept running into problems, however, because advice just isn’t very helpful when people are asking about issues of emotional and mental health. Collaboration — which takes listening, interactivity and very importantly, time — is much more useful and much less prone to harmful errors. I’m sure Dr. Phil is more than competent as a therapist but his TV show format lends itself more to authoritative advice-giving than the collaborative process used in actual therapy.
I’m no fan of Dr.Phil. His show, well…it’s like drive-thru therapy! Superficial and leaves you feeling unsatisfied an hour later. That’s the best I can say about that.
Correct me if I’m wrong here and I may be speaking out of turn: didn’t Dr. Phil lose his licence a couple of years ago or get disciplined or something before? I’m almost sure I read that in the press. If course it could have been gossip.
Shows like his should be classed and treated as pure entertainment. Another thing: they also make clients think therapy will be a quick, easy fix. Dr. Phil miraculously turns a life around and does it in what, 50 minutes? Give me a break. I pity therapists that have to explain therapy doesn’t work like that. It would be funny if it wasn’t setting people up to be deeply disappointed when they find out therapy involves a lengthy commitment and hard work, and that work can involve painful memories surfacing for the first time in decades.
Who can forget his infamous visit to Britney Spears when she was in a clinic recovering? He was invited to go see her by her family and betrayed that trust by then going out and talking to the press about it. He makes me sick. He’s nothing more than a publicity hound. Any sense of decency and proper conduct deserted him long, long ago. That was a huge violation of trust.
things can be made to look very nice,glossy and easy on the tube.but it is not so in real life and when it comes to treatment and disorders,the end is not always a happy one.
I have watched Dr Phil a few times, ok maybe more and you would have to be an idiot to think that this was what real therapy will be like. He does make a few good points every now and then but it is so sensationalized that it somethimes feels like these people would be just as happy to take advice from Jerry Springer! I am not saying that it does not make for some compelling televisions because if it did not it would go off the air but I think that most intelligent people realize that this is not really the way therapy or counseling would be. If your doc comes off like a sharp shooter like Dr Phil then maybe you should run for the hills. . . quickly!
Actions like those have far reaching effects too. How many therapy clients wondered if their own therapist ever discussed them with outsiders too? It would have perfectly feasible for that would cross their minds. What he did was wrong IMHO.
Dr. Phil wouldn’t have a show if people weren’t willing to go on it. They are as much to blame as he is for there being as far as I can tell little depth to the show.
Therapy is a journey, not a pit stop! Dr. Phil’s manner is unorthodox to say the least. I do think his heart is in the right place. It’s his speedy approach that’s lacking.
Things are a lot easier in movies. If only life was the same. But its not!
I do not understand why they allow for programs that allow the viewers to thing that a health problem can be cured so easily. This is spreading wrong things among people!
He may not be the best but maybe watching would at least encourage someone who needs help to take that step.
I was a fan until the Britney fiasco, especially when he tried to say he and the family had a show planned. I remember her mother’s spokesperson coming on TV to deny he ever had permission to speak to the press and also saying a show was never talked about.
He gets the viewer ratings. It’s the closest thing to affording real therapy some will ever get. Isn’t that better than no guidance at all?
Dr. Phil’s program flouts what I understand as professional ethics which mandates to respect the confidentiality and the dignity of the client. This television program is a voyeuristic peep show at the guests’ expense.
Dr. Phil seems to reinforce an authoritarian construct which, I think, undermines a sense of empowerment and rational thinking. I think it the job of the therapist to help the client dismantle an over-idealization, not to encourage it.
I’m a consumer and there’s an important point I don’t understand. Why do the professional societies condone this bully and his bombastic faux-practice? In fact, the APA invited Dr. Phil as their Presidential Speaker and awarded him a citation.
I hate to break it to all of you but you can solve many people’s problems in 50 min. or less. SFBT. Some SFBT therapists do it with 4-6 sessions, 5 min each. Dr. Phil obviously uses REBT & CBT which are closely related to SFBT. I’ve never watched a show where Dr. Phil used specific SFBT techniques but just because he can’t do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. The true crime Dr. Phil commits is making a nation of arm-chair, popculture therapists. ESPN personalities now think they have Ph.Ds, the Today Show is full of psychologists all of the sudden who analyze any celebrity with a headache. The greatest threat to our society in an age of high-speed information is people who claim to have authority telling everyone else how to live. No accountability or assumed authority can only result in tragity.
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