Dr. Phil Episode Notes: Troubled Teens: Crisis Point
Today’s Dr. Phil episode is called: Troubled Teens: Crisis Point. Here are the notes I took from it…
Segment 1
Summary: One of Dr. Phil’s most troubled parent couples returns. Their kids are spoiled and appear to control the parents. It seems like their last visit to the show hasn’t helped this situation much. Father spoils daughters. Wife considers him a pushover. Daughters behaving very badly (police records, incidents of violence against parents, drug use, Etc.). In spite of all this, the wife thinks girls are managing alright at home even though the children routinely scream at and show aggression toward their parents. In fact, this makes it seem like the daughters aren’t doing very well at all in their home environment. These guests have appeared on the show before, and frustrated the viewers as well as the studio audience.
Dr. Phil is now reading some of the messages he received after their last appearance, that seem to confirm this
Dr. Phil advised Kimberly and David to become stronger parents, as their daughters, Alexis (17) and Alaina (15) both appear to be way out of control.
Their daughters resist discipline, defy it, and seem to have no respect for their parents’ authority.
Now, they’re showing footage of what’s been broadcast on the Dr. Phil show so far.
Alaina cares not about getting into trouble. She admits to taking illicit drugs. She was sent to a boarding school and appears to be making progress. Alaina was doing well at Turnabout Ranch.
Alexis also finds herself in her parents’ doghouse more often than not. She drives the car without permission. In fact, she wanted a care for appearing on the show. Alexis was not doing as well as Alaina at Turnabout Ranch. But she liked the ranch because it allowed her to get away from home. She feels that the ranch made her less judgmental and less angry. She also felt that the ranch showed her how to be less “codependent” on her mother. But after she made these statements, she got into more trouble. She broke into her mom’s cell phone and read the text messages between Kimberly and David. Then, she attacked her mom, as though she’d learned nothing at the ranch.
David confirms that his girls manipulate him and that he’s just not strong enough to resist. He would like them to like him. David allowed the girls to go home before heading to Turnabout Ranch, against Dr. Phil’s advice and against his wife’s wishes.
Kimberly acknowledges as well that her daughter Alexis is a manipulator. She says that she’s worn down by Alexis’s verbal abuse, screaming, kicking, and hitting.
David and Kimberly broke the rules of the boarding school; they let girls use cell phones, and gave them makeup. They undermined the school’s efforts. They’re not unified as to how to properly raise their kids.
Dr. Phil points out to David that David is supposed to be a parent; not a popular friend. David purchased a car for Alexis apparently to placate her, though she seriously disrespects him. He calls them “clueless parents.” Had Alexis acted violently toward him, he’d have called the police and had her thrown in jail. Now, Dr. Phil is taking a poll, wanting to know if the current generation respects “parental authority” less than prior generations have. He’s ready to “stop rewarding bad behavior,” as he put it.
Next: David complains that Kimberly is too strict a disciplinarian. He says she kept them home too much.
Segment 2
David wishes to keep the girls happy but complains that they do indeed manipulate him. He did not want the girls to attend boarding school after having spent time at the Turnabout Ranch, because he does not want to miss their growing up. He accuses Kimberly of trying to enforce too many rules all the time, and wants them to feel somewhat free at least. David does not agree with Dr. Phil, and sent him a nasty email to that effect. He accused Dr. Phil of wanting to send the girls away because of some arrangement that David alleged that they have with the Aspen Education Group, the organization that runs the boarding school where Dr. Phil recommended the girls be placed.
Kimberly accuses David of “enabling” their girls too much, and she refuses to allow David to further spoil them.
Alaina has a police record.
Alexis was sneaking away at night, consuming alcohol, attending parties, taking Xanax, wrecked a car, being disrespectful and violent, and so on.
Dr. Phil suggested what he called, “commando parenting,” and feels that the girls need to be removed temporarily from their current home environment. Both the girls require intense counseling as I understood Dr. Phil, and the home environment (the parents) needs fixed as well.
Segment 3
David accused the show of not putting the girls needs first. David sought opinion from other experts, who he says told him that the girls would do better if they remained at home.
Dr. Phil was highly offended at David’s letter. He feels that things are very much out of control at home for the girls, and doesn’t see why David does not see that. The girls are suffering some of the difficulties that this “entitled generation” experiences. Dr. Phil explained that there are approximately twenty members on his advisory board that cover psychology, sociology, and medicine are covered by highly skilled and experienced professionals. Dr. Phil feels that the Aspen Group was the best organization to set the girls straight. Dr. Phil suggested that David is more concerned with making himself feel good (always giving in to his daughters’ demands), than actually helping them improve. Dr. Phil says to David that he’s certainly free to seek out other help besides what the Dr. Phil show has recommended, but that he should not expect Dr. Phil to pay for it. Dr. Phil says that since he doesn’t support this game plan, he certainly would not pay for it.
Though the Aspen therapist recommended the girls stay a while longer, he sensed that Kimberly and David were against this and that they felt they knew better about what’s best for their girls.
Next: David has misgivings about sending Alaina to Swift River.
Segment 4
Kimberly is concerned about Alexis’s new boyfriend of approximately seven months now. She wants Alexis to learn to rely on herself for happiness, and not so much on a boyfriend.
They’re discussing sending Alaina to Swift River; a continuation of her work on the Turnabout Ranch.
Alaina wants to come home and will in fact, once her parents repair their approaches in the home environment.
David, according to the emails he sent Dr. Phil, wants the Dr. Phil show to fund his choices of reparative programs for the girls, not the ones Dr. Phil has chosen.
Next: Kimberly discusses how alone she feels, with David and the girls against the discipline that she’s trying to bring to bear at home. Kimberly appears to be the one sane force throughout this family, while David is repeatedly manipulated by the girls and spoils them as a result.
Segment 5
Kimberly says that David avoids the conflict he’d encounter by avoiding disciplining their girls. She says that Alexis still manipulates them, is still quite unruly, and she set David and Kimberly against each other. When Kimberly makes a rule, David grants the girls dispensation from it. She wants to help the girls in the most effective way possible even if that means that they stay away from home for a time.
David wants to help them, but wants it done closer to home.
Dr. Phil says that there’s no way to straighten out the girls as well, that is closer to where they live. David is in over his head with these girls. It’s not always best for the children to do for them what makes their parents feel good. He listed the many problems the girls are continuing to have as evidence to David that keeping the girls at home is not fixing them.
Next: They’re going to talk about a near-death experience that may be making David hold onto and spoil his girls so much. David was shot once, and almost died.
Segment 6
David was shot by a would-be carjacker, who got into his truck along with him, and wanted David to drive. David decided not to comply and attempted to leave the truck, when the young punk shot him with a 40 caliber pistol. The result: David now fears dying without his girls near him.
The Aspen Group did not support David’s choice to bring the girls home after the Turnabout Ranch experience. But he did it anyway.
Dr. Phil apologized to a representative from Aspen (Patty) for David’s ungrateful email. After David’s ranting email, Dr. Phil is a bit reluctant to help them further.
Kimberly is begging David to agree to send the girls back to the Aspen Group’s care. Kimberly says that David may be a bit dense on these issues but that he does eventually come around. She asks Dr. Phil to consider this before deciding whether to continue with his help offerings.
Segment 7
Dr. Phil appears exasperated at David due to David’s ingratitude for all of the high-quality help that’s been offered. He says that David is not ready to accept help yet. Dr. Phil offered parenting help to Kimberly and David. Dr. Phil says that if David gives much more flack about the quality of the help offered, that he will help David no more.
Miles Adcox, CEO of an organization called Onsite, appears on the show today an has agreed to take Kimberly and David into their rigorous parenting program.
The Aspen Group is a member of the CRC health group.
That’s the end of this episode. Take care.