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Dr. Phil Show Showcases Psychics

Kelly

Philosopher
K
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
6,277
Location
Renton, WA
Hello,

Some of you here may remember me. I run a nonprofit which assists family members of missing persons in the US, Project Jason. I also authored the blog series, "Psychics and Missing Persons" and was a speaker at TAM some years back.

I used to be a fairly frequent poster, but my workload doesn't allow for that.

Today, I received a disturbing email from an Associate Producer at the Dr. Phil Show.

She asked me this question:

"We are doing a very interesting show on Oct. 15, 2012. We will be having a few psychics on the show and we are looking to speak with a few family members of person who have gone missing or vanished. If you could please contact me if you have any people in mind that maybe interested that would be great!"

To which I replied:

"Hello Alonna,

I know and work with hundreds of families of missing persons, however, I would NEVER recommend for them to have anything to do with a show that further exploits these suffering families by exposing them to the harm caused by "psychics", who are predators.

I would venture to guess that you didn't research our organization at all, because if you had, you would know that we would be the last organization who would participate in an activity which only causes hurt to the families and wastes police time and efforts.

Popular media continues to promote such nonsense, and of course, the public, who apparently lacks in the ability to think for themselves and research, takes in all the lies and exaggerations these people make.

Why don't you instead, produce a show in which you showcase all the valid, scientific means to find missing persons? Why don't you feature a story about our retreat, the only one like it in the world, in which we teach families of the missing coping skills and how they can go on in the face of such a tragedy?

I would invite you to read more about why we take such a strong stance on this here:

http://projectjason.org/education-training/psychics-missing-people.html

Also, read just this one 3-part story about psychic predators:

http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2006/04/42706-pmp-bitter-end-part-i.html

Furthermore, I will alert all of my associates, families of the missing, and thousands of supporters about this, and ask them to write in to the show and express their dismay at the subject matter and decision-making process behind it.

I realize the tone of this message seems quite harsh, but I would venture to guess that you and the staff who were involved in this show do not have a missing loved one in their life, nor have done research into the lack of proof of these claims. You would have no knowledge of how this affects these families, but if you read all of my material above, you might start to gain an understanding and hopefully never produce a show in which you give these predators a platform to peddle their faulty wares.

The only thing I can thank you for is an opportunity to educate. I truly hope you will take some time to consider our viewpoint, which is the truth of the matter.

With hope for real solutions to find missing persons,

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
www.projectjason.org"

She then replied:

"I apologize if I offend you as that wasn’t my intend.

Have a great day!"

And I stated:

"I wouldn't say I am offended. I would say that I am very disappointed in the show.

I really, really want you and your staff to consider the truth of this matter and the harm caused by airing this show."

Naturally, there is no response to this. I feel confident my email was trashed and she did nor will read anything beyond the original response.

I ask my JREF friends to take a few minutes and let the show know how they feel about this episode. I doubt it will change the planned course, but I am hoping that it may make them think twice before doing it again.

Here is a link to the Dr. Phil contact form:

http://www.drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugID=9164

Thank you.

Kelly
 
Says a bit that they don't want you on the show if you aren't going to agree with the psychics. Seems like an opposing point of view would be educational, but I guess they aren't really going for that...

Oh, and hi, Kelly!!
 
Done.

Hello, my name is Alison Smith. Kelly Jolkowski of Project Jason contacted me recently letting me know that you plan to air a show during which you will showcase the abilities of psychics in relation to missing persons cases.

My uncle has been missing since 1989 - a fact that has haunted my family since, and caused me to become a private investigator and search for him myself. Along the way, I have had contact with a great number of psychics, all of whom claimed to be able to help me.

Let me say this clearly - all a psychic does is give false hope, and extend suffering.

I would hope that, in the interest of the guests you are having on the show, you reconsider the subject matter. I know that a great excuse for you will be that this gives the families more air time; and could lead to a viewer providing a clue (even if psychics are totally false). However, instead of using the paranormal to boost your ratings, you could give the families the same amount of air time and use real investigators who have gotten real results instead of perpetuating the lies of psychics.

Please do reconsider.
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Why do they always act as if the problem were someone being offended? It's as if only feelings exist and not facts.
 
godless dave said:
Why do they always act as if the problem were someone being offended? It's as if only feelings exist and not facts.
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Ding Ding Ding!

This is actually something that skeptical people should keep in mind. A whole bunch of people "feel" vs. think.
 
Kelly, awesome response! I hope they take your advice, but I'm afraid past actions of these shows indicates they won't. Sad, really.
 
Kelly said:
Today, I received a disturbing email from an Associate Producer at the Dr. Phil Show.

She asked me this question:

"We are doing a very interesting show on Oct. 15, 2012. We will be having a few psychics on the show and we are looking to speak with a few family members of person who have gone missing or vanished. If you could please contact me if you have any people in mind that maybe interested that would be great!"
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It would have been fun to have recommended someone, and then gave them the names of skeptics who would proceed to be totally uncooperative with the psychics.

Psychic: What was the name of the person you are trying to find
Guest: You tell me, aren't you the psychic one?

Or get them to find people that don't exist:

Psychic: Who are you searching for?
Guest: Ben. disappeared during the war. (Oh, did I mention his real name is Obi-wan?)

Of course, it might not have passed any sort of "background checks" that the producers do (although given that they contacted you, they probably don't do much fact checking). And even if you did get away with it and had it filmed, it probably wouldn't be aired.

(Plus, if there were other guests on the show who were looking for people, they might not like being caught in the crossfire, even if they were getting scammed.)
 
Segnosaur said:
It would have been fun to have recommended someone, and then gave them the names of skeptics who would proceed to be totally uncooperative with the psychics.

Psychic: What was the name of the person you are trying to find
Guest: You tell me, aren't you the psychic one?

Or get them to find people that don't exist:

Psychic: Who are you searching for?
Guest: Ben. disappeared during the war. (Oh, did I mention his real name is Obi-wan?)

Of course, it might not have passed any sort of "background checks" that the producers do (although given that they contacted you, they probably don't do much fact checking). And even if you did get away with it and had it filmed, it probably wouldn't be aired.

(Plus, if there were other guests on the show who were looking for people, they might not like being caught in the crossfire, even if they were getting scammed.)
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Sure - if you want skeptics to look like ******** and not convince anyone on earth to think critically. Haven't you heard? Psychics don't work that way. Additionally, berating someone on television isn't going to win anyone to your side.
 
RemieV said:
Sure - if you want skeptics to look like ******** and not convince anyone on earth to think critically. Haven't you heard? Psychics don't work that way. Additionally, berating someone on television isn't going to win anyone to your side.
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It also isn't going to help anyone to think critically if the show is run as the producers planned, with any sort of skeptic thought relatively silent.

And we might not have even had to "berate" anyone.... even letting them go through the entire program, then revealing after the program was broadcast that the "missing person" they were searching didn't even exist would be a pretty good way to do a 'gotcha'.

I'm reminded of an old swift article where Randi visited a psychic who could supposedly give details of a person based on an object they owned. So Randi got a friend to give him an object that belonged to someone else (a belt buckle in this case) to use, but made sure his friend didn't tell him who's it was.
 
Thank you to all who responded and to the "lurkers" out there who took the time to write.

Even if one seed of doubt is planted, we did our job. I know for the show, it's all about money and ratings. Truth, unfortunately, holds little to no value or meaning.

Waving hello to old friends as well!
 
Done.

I learned that Kelly Jolkowski of Project Jason was contacted by an associate producer to appear with alleged "psychics" on the Dr. Phil Show about finding missing people. I spent over nine years working in 911 emergency dispatch, and in that time I spoke on the phone with many parents whose children were missing or who were recently abducted. These were real people with a real problem, and the last thing they needed was the promise of a fake solution to help them.

There is no scientific evidence that anyone has psychic abilities. Alleged "psychics" interfere with genuine law enforcement investigations of missing people. It is grotesquely irresponsible for the Dr. Phil Show to present "psychics" who claim to have a supernatural ability to help find missing people.
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I wrote in as follows:

Dear Dr. Phil Show,

In years past, Dr. Phil has attacked psychics head-on when they used his good name and that of his wife in order to drum up business for themselves.

More recently, he's been encouraging them to use his good name by inviting them to appear on his show. This is a very distrubing turn-around which might be great for ratings, but I think it puts his audience in danger. By allowing psychics on the show with minimal criticism, he tells his audience that psychics are a viable source of important information. I think that's a much less responsible position than the one the show used to take when it ran sting operations against psychics.

Now, it has come to my attention that you are seeking families with missing children to appear on the show for a psychic reading. Allowing these "grief vampires" to prey on the Dr. Phil guests and audience seems cruel and useless.

I ask you to reconsider your position on psychics, if not for the sake of your guests and audience, at least reconsider it for the good of the show. I like the show very much and I would be disappointed to see it devolve into a Montel clone. Remember how the Montel show was publicly humiliated when they had a psychic on who told parents of a missing child that he was dead. He was found alive some time later and the show ended up with egg on its face. Please don't make your show vulnerable to events like that.

Thanks for your time and I hope that you reconsider the recent trend of giving psychics publicity on your show.

Still a fan (for now),
Ward"

I know "It rains into the sea and still the sea is salt," but it's still worth a try.

Ward
 
Just want to say Hi Kelly! It's wonderful to see you here! Keep up the good work!
 
Welcome back Kelly. I only wish that you had the time to post here more often. I miss you.

I did a search for Dr. Phil on this forum. Found a few threads. As a result I think you did a good call in refusing to be on the show. I predict the show will go on and not be very critical. It would not matter if he had a person like you on the show.

Some choice quotes. Read the threads for more info.

In this one Jim is the skeptic.
Careyp74 said:
Dr. Phil is arguing the psychic's powers. Jim is not given the chance to explain anything.

There were two gay men in the group, they were obviously gay. She guessed this. They were STUNNED. When the one asked Jim why he didn't 'know' this in his reading, and she did, he said "I didn't want to out you on national TV."

The guy was offended, but it is true, Jim didn't want to stoop as low as a 'psychic' so maybe someone else should have done the reading.
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Instig8R said:
I watched the second half of the Dr. Phil show. It was a psychic love fest. Same old JE cold reading routine, and nothing was challenged.
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Thanks for the kind words and research rjh. I wasn't invited on, but they wanted me to find families who would go on the show. Their research on us was either non-existent or close, otherwise they'd know our ethics would clearly rule out an appearance on a pro-psychic show of any sort.
 
For what it's worth (pretty standard actually):

I am writing in regard to Dr. Phil's upcoming show on psychics and missing persons, which I understand is scheduled for October 15, 2012. I suspect this topic, and similar ones involving psychics and the paranormal, may be good for ratings, and perhaps a segment of your audience may be entertained by this. But please don't be under the mistaken impression that such a show is harmless. Indeed, you'll be providing a venue through which family members of the missing, already victims of one of the most troubling personal events a human can endure, will again be victimized.

Even the most cursory review of the available skeptical resources should convince any reasonable and open-minded person that psychics offer no value or help in returning the missing to their loved ones. Quite to the contrary, they invariably waste police time and resources better spent following actual leads and evidence. Further, at best all they can offer family members is a vague sense of false hope that will soon translate into future bitterness. At worst, what they tell families is often disturbing and frightening, and further exacerbates their already deep sense of loss.

One may be tempted to justify such a show by pointing out that family members are coming on camera by their own choice, and may well seem gratified by what the psychics tell them. I would counter this argument by noting that these people are often desperate, at their wit's end for any news at all about their missing loved ones, and are willing to try anything however far fetched if it seems to offer even the remotest hope. I would like to think that no self-respecting person would use the family's desperation as an excuse for promoting nonsense.

Given that the upcoming program is only a few days away, I cannot expect you to cancel the show. I would hope, however, that you consider very carefully if this is the type of thing with which Dr. Phil and the show's staff really wants to be associated.

Sincerely,
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