What Not to Do in Family Therapy

Family therapy is an important thing in every person’s life. The clients can open up to the therapists and reveal inner secrets of the family that have not even been shared with other people, even with close family members. In handling these kinds of issues, the therapists need to be very careful not to deviate from the point and not to ask questions that may be unsuitable or make the clients feel uneasy during the session (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2008). The questions that the therapists should ask the clients have to be formulated in such a way that the clients should be able to respond to and be comfortable with them. The therapist should not position themselves in a way that the client will feel that the discussion is going out of their way. This paper seeks to analyze Dr. Phil’s interviews with Dina Lohan and others which did not go very well and give suggestions on what the doctor should have done.

Dr. Phil began with a question about Dina’s age when she got married, and she answered without any problems. Then he asked her about her husband at the early period of their relationship, and the woman told everything rather freely. When the therapist inquired about the abuse committed by her ex-husband, Dina became rather nervous. It looked as it was hard for her to answer because she asked to stop the record and stumbled at the point whether to answer or not. Later Dr. Phil asked about the way Michael abused Dina, but she did not know what to say for sure. She asked the therapist to help her with expressing her thoughts. After the specialist told Dina that she was insincere, she was at a loss. Dr. Phil stressed woman’s hesitation to speak about everything except the affair itself, accused her of lying, and she showed the middle finger to the camera (TvShowNetwork, 2013). When Dr. Phil asked her about money, support in their family, the role of each member in it and so on, Dina rejected all his questions. She did not even listen to the end. In addition, Dina could say nothing about the purpose of coming to the show at the end of the interview.

Michael also took part in the interview with Dr. Phil and denied everything told by his ex-wife, Dina. He told about the alcohol addiction of his ex and voiced the need to have treatment for her.

In another interview with a seventeen year old girl who loses control and gets angry easily, Dr. Phil told the young lady that when people are angry is the time they feel superior (DrPhilShow, 2012). Here, the doctor took much of the conversation on his side and did not allow Courtney to express her ideas well.

In both the family therapy interviews, Dr. Phil should have given the clients ample time to express their ideas. In case of Dina Lohan, Dr. Phil intimidated her by asking some rhetorical questions that made her uneasy. As an experienced interviewer, he should not have made her remember that he is an international interviewer who even interviews high-profile people. These kinds of statements and words made the two clients feel as if they were from low class and not valued at all. Continuous repetition of these questions made the conversations unhealthy; the interviews took the wrong direction where the clients were forced to respond in a very disrespectful manner.

In conclusion, Dr. Phil should have conducted himself like a normal person who interviews people with dignity. As a therapist, he should not have interfered so much in the affairs of his clients and should have just let them explain their situations without interruption. A good family therapist is the one who listens first without interruption to both sides of a story and then judges. Though Courtney tried to explain her side of the story properly, Dr. Phil kept interrupting her in the discussion and judged before listening to her.