eThoughts : Psychology and the Media

I object, strenuously, about entertainment masquerading as psychological therapy. Most of you can guess that I’m talking about psychologists (real or imagined) who have radio or television shows and who purport to be helping others by showcasing (parading?) their guests’ (clients?) maladies in front of an audience. Oh I’m sure that all of the legal “T’s” have been crossed and the legal “I’s” dotted, but consent is not always legitimate. Just because a “guest” consents to exposing their troubles in front of an audience and to a host “psychologist” (yes, even the ones with legitimate credentials), does not mean they are aware of the ramifications. And, as one psychologist with a specialty in marriage and family counseling recently wrote, apart from adults, just what are children doing on such shows, even if their parents consent? It’s flat out child abuse and against everything that is supposed to be therapeutic—well, for the client anyway.

It seems that the personality geared to attend the gladiator games is still alive and prospering in their indulgence of watching the travails of others. And so is the personality who serves up the fresh meat.

In a sane society there would be few rules, but we are not such a sane society and that’s why we’ve got a litany of lawyers and laws. While that makes me profoundly sad—even while recognizing that I’m one of the members of said society—I don’t suppose we’re going to pare down any of these laws any time soon. And we just might need a few more, as in not allowing therapy to be entertainment.

If these showbiz knuckleheads really want to exercise their altruistic bent, why don’t they do some good old exposés? Here’s one: How about doing something to expose the lack of medical and psychological support soldiers are experiencing. That’s not therapy and not particularly escapist entertainment, but it just might really help get people the support they need, without parading particular personal troubles in front of an audience. Oh, wait you say, there are already programs like that on the air, perhaps most notably 60 Minutes. Right you are—great point!

Don’t get me wrong, professionals, or those who are aspiring to become professionals, can gain enormous experience by watching practitioner-client interactions en vivo. But that’s not entertainment, folks, it’s practice. And the ones consenting to be viewed may not know what they’re actually consenting to, but at least they maintain the right to privacy—to not have their troubles splashed all over the airwaves under some pretext that what helps them can also help others. How do we know that’s a bogus parallel when dealing with the media? Because the audience is not committed to maintaining privacy, much less to helping those in need.

Simple. So, stop supporting these shows. That’ll be a social contribution, just in case you’re really interested in making a difference.

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