Dad who shot up his daughters laptop gets visited by the authorities.

[MilShooter]

Any person who earns a PhD is entitled to refer to themselves as Doctor. As for him belittling his patients all of them volunteer and ask to be on the show knowing what will happen. I like his show for the most part and my mother who was a psychologist liked his show very much. I have no sympathy for any of his patients for any thing he or his audience says to them and found that his advice is usually right on the money or lack of money the guests are paying for the advice. If they don't want to be belittled then they need to go on Jerry Springer and fight about it. Now if you want to get picky with titles look as all the ones running around with J.D. or Esq. after their names but either couldn't pass the bar exam or too lazy to try. As a graduate engineer I knew no to put PE after my name without passing the exam but I knew quite a few engineers that had Dr. in front of their name without ever taking the PE exam. Then there are all those that have Dr. in front of their name with only an honorary Doctorate of Letters or so.

You might be surprised to learn that I agree with just about everything you said. But I think you misread the line you quoted from me. In writing "a REAL Psychologist", I meant one that held a professional license to practice - and has people in his practice known as PATIENTS. "Dr." Phil satisfies neither criteria. The people on his show are NOT patients. They are guests on an entertainment show broadcast on television. In fact, they must sign statements before their appearance to acknowledge that "Dr." Phil is NOT a Doctor who practices psychology and his advice is purely for entertainment value, not medical advice. None of this means that he does not give good advice. Sometimes (most of the time), his advice is spot-on. I admire his insistence that people accept responsibility for their actions, their problems, and their lives.

My fact-based response was simply to answer the question as to whether or not "Dr." Phil IS or IS NOT a practicing Doctor of Psychology (as opposed to a Doctor of Philosophy) engaged in the practice of psychological counseling. And he is not. For what its worth, using the "Dr." title for people who are not medical doctors is generally reserved to academia, not the normal world. (As has been my observation, not based on anything factually researched.)

 

[kerb]

All I know is, Dr. Phil gets on my nerves. It doesn't surprise or displease me to find out that he is in fact a shyster.

While I acknowledge that "Doctor" Phil McGraw obtained a PhD in Psychology, he is not, by definition, a Psychologist (one who is lawfully engaged in the practice of psychology and is duly licensed by a state). He is not licensed to practice as a psychologist in any state. Historically, he WAS licensed to practice in the Republic of Texas and later, in California. But there were some "problems" in Texas with improprieties that resulted in disciplinary action by the state board. Rather than comply with the sanctions they placed on him, he surrendered his permit to practice psychology. Later, while he was licensed in California, he again surrendered his license in 2006, ostensibly to focus on his TV career wherein he "plays" the role of counselor. He is very careful to NOT refer to himself as a Psychologist because doing so would subject him to legal sanction. He does not, however, correct anyone who refers to him as a psychologist.

Draw your own conclusions. He earned a PhD in Psychology and for that effort, I give him credit. Not respect, but credit. A REAL Psychologist would NEVER hold his patients to public scrutiny and ridicule as he does on his television show. He is really just an entertainer with a background in psychology and a know-it-all, holier-than-thou attitude.

And by the way, the only way he gets-away with referring to himself as "Doctor Phil" is the fact that he holds a PhD - NOT because is a practicing Doctor of Psychology. Which he is not.

So when "longslide10" said that Dr. Phil was not a doctor, he was both right and wrong. He has the PhD (which stands for "Doctor of Philosophy) but he is not a licensed practitioner (Doctor) in Psychology, nor can he refer to himself as such under California law. So everyone is right and wrong.

And so it goes...

 

[theGinsue]

I fully expected him to get the visits he got a lot sooner too. I am, however, surprised that they took the logical and sensible approach and realized he broke no laws and his daughter was in no way really harmed (sure, she is/was likely pissed about loosing the laptop her folks got her, but hey..)

Yep, those idiot liberals trying to protect children form adults who should not be parents in the first place.

Here's another hero for you:

Ohio dad put son in dryer as punishment, police say

Oh wait, he's not a "hero" because he didn't shot the dryer while his kid was being punished in it.

The Ohio case is clearly a case of an abusive parent whereas so many times when CPS gets involved between parents and their children, they consider the worst possible outcome. They often demonize parents who aren't harming their children and are just trying to raise responsible and self-sufficient children.

If the liberal lefties could just get over themselves and realize that you can't raise a child effectively without occasionally cracking their delicate little psychies to get them to see what the real world is actually like we'd certainly not be in this mess that our nation is in today.