Dr Phil Today

[.cup.car]

Don't click the link if you're easily triggered by watching this stuff:

www.drphil.com/shows/show/2348/

Tom is the chief of police in his small town and says his 16-year-old niece, Kristi, is the cause of as many as four 911 calls every week. Her family says she is angry and violent, refuses to go to school, smokes marijuana and has no respect for authority. Kristi’s parents, Ann and Mike, admit they’ve lost control of their daughter and say her rages are so frightening, they lock their bedroom door at night and sleep with a baseball bat nearby for protection. Ann says she feels like a hostage in her own house and has even offered her daughter $100 a month to move out. What’s behind the teen’s outrageous behavior? And, will this family have the courage to accept Dr. Phil’s offer of help?

Thought of y'all who post on here when I saw it pop up on my Facebook feed. Might be worth discussing.

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[MammaMia]

Dr. Phil seems to be assuming Kristi and her parents are mutually to blame for her outrageous and sinister behavior.  Really?

The question that needs to be answered is: Is this sensationalized entertainment or a family with a real crisis?   

Dr. Phil often spends too much time and effort being theatrical and self-promoting.  Evaluate the family using a competent psychiatrist ... .then judge them.  Stop playing the blame game until you have the facts.

[eyvindr]

Amen, MammaMia. This kind of media crap -- and posers like ":)r" Phil (and the rest -- Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Zakaria, Piers Morgan, etc. -- do *nothing* to raise awareness and everything to perpetuate ignorance of the real issues by reinforcing hysteria and polarized thought.

Interesting -- so much of the media and politics in America today is driven by B&W thinking styles.

[.cup.car]

I don't think it's sensationalized entertainment - I think Dr. Phil did a somewhat decent job with the episode, although I must say for every episode he gets right, he gets five or six totally wrong. It's why I'm not a frequent viewer.

My assistant manager went to school with the older brother of a kid who was on Dr. Phil in 2011, and he says the show totally nailed every aspect about the situation, even down to the kid's mom, who was a bully herself. Maybe I'm just lucky to have run into the right people and have my opinion changed

The entire episode featured in the OP, with Kristi and her family, can be viewed here.

I didn't think Dr. Phil blamed the parents a whole lot, and what he did was justified. Most of the episode was spent showing raw footage of the girl's behavior without really confronting her directly - which would have caused a huge outburst. A lot of times she's sort of stumped - he basically just plays clips and says "that's you." The audience reaction and the sheer multitude of clips enforces that the behavior isn't right. What else is he supposed to do, get into a shouting match with a teen girl?

I agree with what he said about the parents. At some point, they have to acknowledge that this isn't normal behavior and take action. Her room is a warzone and she's behind 80+ assignments in school? She's smashing plates and throwing hairbrushes so hard they get stuck in the wall? I've asked this before in another thread on here, at what point does a parent finally clue in that something needs to be done? Especially when the other two kids are relatively normal and the eldest moved out for three months to focus on her studies and avoid the hostility?

But I think the other kids bailed them out. It's obviously not much of a parental issue when the other two kids are totally fine.

And that camp at the end she gets sent to, it's for kids who are mentally ill. They're walking on eggshells the entire episode. Dr. Phil's just that good at what he does.

[MammaMia]

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I would be interested to know if any of this family completes therapy (behavioral ranch for Kristi and on-line therapy for the parents (via a program Dr. Phil created).  It also sounds like the family will be responsible financially, because Dr. Phil did not indicate medical or psychological treatment was complementary, in fact, he mentioned there were fees for the on-line sessions.  I hope they have good insurance. 

Did the family and the boy who had a Dr. Phil experience in 2011 complete therapy?  Does the show do any type of monitoring and/or follow-up afterward?

I know, the show cannot be held responsible for the action or inaction of its guests.  Just curious.

[.cup.car]

Did the family and the boy who had a Dr. Phil experience in 2011 complete therapy?  Does the show do any type of monitoring and/or follow-up afterward?

I know, the show cannot be held responsible for the action or inaction of its guests.  Just curious.

I asked my buddy and he said the kid got bullied an insane amount at school afterwards. Beat up daily. The mom supposedly chilled out.

You're definitely right about the costs though. In Canada at least a lot of that stuff is free. Merica, not so much.

[MammaMia]

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Kids can be so cruel.  I suppose they saw the show or heard about it.  Sad.

Did this boy have any improvement from therapy or did he actually get worse from the bullying?  Sounds like Mom may have had some benefit from being on the show which is good.

Yes, the cost of mental health care is prohibitive for many here in the US.  Canada is very fortunate.