Dr Phil

Dr Phil is on TV again, using big words like “maturity” and “responsibility”, and talking about relationships. I like Dr Phil; he’s charismatic, compassionate and assertive with the people who come on his show. He doesn’t take crap from them, and calls them on their blind spots when they try to spin some story on him. But I can’t help wondering about the people who agree to go on the program. There is something voyeuristic about watching another person’s personal problems being aired before a mass audience, and surely something exhibitionist about wanting to go on the program.

Some of the people are clearly at their wit’s end and don’t know what else to do; perhaps they think that going on Dr Phil and exposing the lies and the secrecy that keeps them bound will release them from whatever is keeping them trapped. And maybe it does; but not everyone ends up with a happy ending. Jeffery from the Obsessive Love series is a case in point. I won’t spoil the ending for you if you haven’t seen it but it made for compelling viewing. Perhaps their appearance on Dr Phil brought the issue to a head; Jennifer appears much happier now, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be in Jeffery’s shoes and to some extent I felt he was exploited for the sake of our entertainment. He was clearly set up to be the “bad guy”, and played his part dramatically well. But he was also a real person in need of some real help; and although Dr Phil and Creative Care sincerely offered it to him, the show also had another agenda of creating entertaining TV. Generally I think the show does a remarkably good job of aligning these disparate goals, but not everyone walks away a winner.

Some of the people appearing on the show have some deep and serious issues in their lives, and the daily relationship miracles we see worked on Dr Phil no doubt require many hours of counselling, therapy or other ongoing support to make the changes stick. I like the fact that he often refers people for therapy on the basis of “making some resources available” to them; and the responsibility for the outcome remains with the guest/clients. But in a sense it all looks too easy; real therapy is hard work, and doesn’t fit neatly into a one-hour TV show where everything is resolved before the final credits role. Still, at least the people on Dr Phil are real, and are there because they have some degree of commitment to resolving things, exhibitionism aside. While I worry about the sort of people who want to air their personal issues so publicly, I worry more about people who would rather keep everything buried; because the symptoms are bound to come out somewhere.

Having Dr Phil on air gives the rest of us permission to examine our own relationships and life circumstances, and to seek help and support in resolving them when necessary. Generally the show makes pretty compelling viewing and often the issues raised strike a chord with me.