Reality Therapy Analysis

Much of what the therapist did in the film (Black et al., 2002) was unorthodox and may have seemed to be going against the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics, however, it also seemed obvious to me that the

Certain modalities of therapeutic treatments are linked to ethical dilemmas as well; these modalities affect treatment outcomes as well. Dyadic therapists may misuse the intimate nature of the sessions by pushing their values on the client or clients, or by allowing therapy to extend beyond its efficiency. Confidentiality can be broken much easier with the group setting; therapists need to be highly guarded on this topic. (Amato, 2000)

Video presentation: The video clip was quite interesting I found it to be very educational as to the legal obligations of therapists in the mental health field. There were issues that were brought up that were quite important, such as therapists need to understand confidentiality, privileged information, and a therapists responsibility related to reporting suspected child abuse, elder abuse, and/or suicidal ideations, and possibly the most important of them all is a therapists duty to warn. The first case they were

The APA Ethical Principals of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Section 4.09c) states, "Prior to termination for whatever reason, except where precluded by the patient's or client's conduct, the psychologist discusses the patient's or client's views and needs, provides appropriate predetermination counseling, suggest alternative service providers as appropriate and takes other reasonable steps to facilitate transfer of responsibility to another provider if the patient or client need ones immediately" (American Psychological Association, 1992, pp. 1597-1611).

Dr. Phil is known as the “leading celebrity psychologist” and he is the most well-known mental health professional in the world. The viewership of his show reached seven million viewers per day in 2008 (Rasmussen & Ewoldsen, 2013). In addition to the show, he has written seven self-help books where he offers his philosophy regarding life, parenting and relationship issues. Dr. Phil’s therapeutic style is “Do-It-Yourself” therapy, which combines self-help and behavioural therapy. He has positioned himself as the “America’s therapist” providing remedies and self-help techniques in his show and books. However, he is retired as a licensed psychologist and he states that the purpose of his show is to help people to understand psychology by addressing important personal and social concerns (Dr. Phil, 2003). For the purpose of analyzing the Canadian code of ethics for psychologists, this paper will examine Dr. Phil’s actions on the TV show as though if he is a licensed psychologist practicing in Canada.

Not only does it discourage people who need help from seeking it out, but alsomaking a mockery of therapists and their profession. Therapy is an extremely valuable tool in understanding and overcoming mental illness, and is a healthy way to vent when in a high-stress environment. The University of California – Los Angeles (2007) found that “verbalizing our feelings makes our sadness, anger and pain less intense,” which is the main focus of psychiatry, to talk it out (p.

Also, in many cases, the characters used in these shows are not ordinary individuals, but highly paid actors that simply recite scripts. Clearly, these shows are inaccurately labeled as “reality television,” and many individual’s time is wasted as a result. Time for many is very valuable. Wasting a person’s time because of an inaccurate description could be just as detrimental as wasting a person’s money because of an inaccurate description. Many people watch these shows to view real life situations, but what they are really viewing is the complete opposite. This cultivates confusion about what is real and what is fake.

Removing therapists from the expert role and empowering clients through mutual collaboration, positions individuals who have a history of being rendered powerless, in a position of power where they can make decisions that impact treatment. It is not harmful to collaborate with clients and inform them of their diagnosis and ask if it “fits.” Instead, this recognizes the client’s expert knowledge that is not found in the DSM-5. It is important to acknowledge how the clients are making meaning of what is being rendered

How Therapist Self-Disclosure And Non-Disclosure Affects Clients”, stated that, “The study results suggest that therapist self‐disclosure has both positive and negative treatment implications.” It depends on how therapeutic the self-disclosure would benefit the client in that given situation, and the client’s receptiveness to what information is given to them; for example, one patient may respond positively to a therapist’s self –disclosure that reveals another safe point of view of an issue, while another patient might feel that therapist’s has over stepped their boundaries. Madill et al. stated that, “These were sometimes attributed to inexperience and sometimes the characteristics of the total situation, such as events from the therapist's personal life” (13). There are times when sharing something from the therapist can help explain an issue that is present during the time of that therapy appointment. Another problem with a therapist’s self-disclosure is that after years of treatment, the therapist can run out of examples to use to clarify a point made during the appointment. Years and years of treatment sometimes cover issues where the therapist, will add something about himself or herself. People who tend to talk for a very long time during therapy can relate on a level that is not crossing the boundaries. In addition, self –disclosure may be a major problem for therapists who live and work in rural communities, because

Through, T.V. networks such as Bravo’s that features many reality shows, exploits the “money shot” or “moment of predictably unpredictable antisocial affective engagement among cast members” (Dominguez, 2015) which are statements that are meant to defend themselves,

     Today many people seek professional therapy or counseling for a limited amount of time in order to deal with different life crises. Others seek professional help for the majority of their lives in order to deal with a psychological disorder. After reading this chapter on Therapy, I learned that this was not always the case, and that the way our society views therapy, and the meaning of therapy, has changed dramatically of the years. This chapter not only explains the evolution of therapy, it explores the different therapeutic approaches.

The media is such a powerful tool that has the capacity to alter the audience mindset. The media can portray negative or positive effects on a wide variety of subjects. It is quite common for these influences to remain strongly vivid in the viewer’s mind which they will constantly refer to. I will focus on how therapy is portrayed in a Comedy Central show called Inside Amy Schumer where it focuses on her life and daily adventures.

TV reality shows have led to a moral decay. When reality TV shows, show people suffering and expect their audience to be entertained, it shows that they are encouraging people to continue suffering so that they can get airplay. At times, people watch these shows just for sympathy with the people, with no intentions to help them. It seems more immoral for production companies to express

But, I don’t want you to fall into the downwards spiral of these bad behaviors. Producers can’t continue to label these shows with the weight of the word ‘reality. Media watch, let’s use our power to make sure any show labelled as ‘reality television’ is just that, reality.

He is famous for his idea about ‘client-centred therapy’. He discovered that instead of treating a client as a patient, by displaying more empathy, positive regard and compassion, this would result in the client not feeling judged and therefore more likely to risk participation.